Hotel Coffee

My line of work requires staying in many hotels up and down the UK. Different and varied in both size and star ratings they each have their faults and plus points in varying degrees

Pro's and cons of hotels are, in many ways, personal to the guest that is visiting. While working all I need are a clean room, good power shower and more than 5 TV channels but at leisure the pool, bar and restaurant figure more so. And I am sure we are all different in our likes and dislikes of our temporary accommodation.

What I do not understand is the inability to provide good tea and coffee especially at breakfast and especially the coffee.

With too few exceptions we are blandly offered 'tea or coffee' if the answer comes back tea it is never followed with any questions like 'English Breakfast or Earl Grey' milk or lemon' etc. You'll get tea, one to two bags plonked in a pot and doused in boiling water and then set before you. It is then up to us to manipulate the cheap, weak bags around the pot to stimulate some form of colour and flavour.

If coffee is your thing then you will get a vessel of luke-warm brown liquid, that has taken minimal effort, either as bland as a tax inspector's speech or as thick and heavy as a stupid boys rugby team.

Over the last 15 years coffee houses have flourished and prospered with choices of cappuccino, latte (lattai or lartee?) Flat white, Americano (blue jeans and chino's) they offer a wide range of tea's from dark and strong to fruit, iced or hot!

Yet hotels remain in the dark ages when it comes to our most important tipple of the day. So come on Hilton, Holiday Inn (other hotel chains are available) sit down and be the 1st to have us all talking about your wonderful coffee and tea selection.

Chirton Grange Ltd