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Like any frequent business traveler, I have to deal with the dilemma of breakfast. At a hotel it is easily the most expensive meal per day when measured by dollars-per-calorie. It can be easy to rack up significant charges when ordering what would cost a few bucks at a coffee shop. It can also be slow just when I’m looking to get going. And let’s establish now that skipping breakfast is not an option — I need to refuel before beginning the day and preferably something nutritious.
I can choose room service and get a few extra minutes of e-mail, descend to the restaurant, or head off-property. Here’s how I make my choices; I’d love to hear about you make the call.
Room service is rarely an option I choose. Something inevitably arrives cold or incorrect and fixing it becomes a major time sink. Too much thought has to go into when to call (or when to schedule the arrival) and then waiting for the tray to show up. In the end, I wind up paying $25+ for tepid toast, a few berries, and coffee.
I can enjoy some time in the dining room as it gives me a chance to scan the newspaper before I start the day. Call me old-fashioned but I feel a bit odd propping the iPad on the table a restaurant so I’m happy to have the original app: ink on paper. I wish, however, that there was an easy way to control the flow of the meal. I find that hotels tend to pace breakfast as if it were dinner: decidedly slow. And the posher the hotel, the more gently paced the service. This is morning, folks! Up and at ‘em! Unless it is a breakfast meeting when you might want to linger. I wish that there were little disks or some device through which one could easily signal whether service should be fast, medium, or slow. Speaking with the waiter has only met with limited success for me; the kitchen seems to dictate food flow.
Cost can still be an issue. I applaud Henrietta’s Table at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge, MA for providing a healthy, reasonably priced breakfast. I can get out of there for less than $20. That isn’t as cheap as heading to the diner but compared to other hotels, it is downright thrifty.
I often head off property. I scout the neighborhood as I arrive and frequently take a late evening walk before I head to bed. One of my tasks is to size up the services in the immediate area. I scout out independents where I can and The Corner Bakery is a chain that offers great oatmeal for a price that will make your finance folks smile plus free wifi. I particularly like London where there are many options for fresh, low-cost, high health value food such as Pret a Manger and its competitors. When last I stayed at Brown’s, there were four choices within a short walk. Pret also has locations in New York. New York, of course, still has a wide array of greasy spoons with food that can warm the heart (if also boosting your cholesterol).
I know that our hotelier readers will be wondering how to get more of this business. After all, every overnight guest starts the morning on property. Think like restauranteurs (Kimpton restaurants operate separately from the hotel, for example — though I recently had extraordinarily bad service at one of their DC properties). There is no one in the food biz I’ve met who has ever said, “Let’s open a breakfast joint with premium prices and leisurely service.” Only your supposedly captive audience makes you think that it works. If you think about what will bring the most guests into your restaurant as the sun rises, your prices will come down, service will speed up, and you’ll be more in sync with the business traveler. If I can get out with a decent breakfast in about 20 minutes for under $20 you have a reasonable shot at getting my business.
I have a friend who is an accomplished painter. He tries never to spend more than 20 minutes on a canvas because more than that ruins it (sounds crazy, but it is true). When I travel, it’s a philosophy I share when it comes to a plate of eggs.
How do you handle breakfast on the road?
