The ‘one-use’ hotel!

A few weekends ago my son had a swim meet in Windsor. We booked a room at a downtown hotel and settled in for a weekend of racing and enjoying what the city had to offer. The room at the hotel was lovely and the service top notch.  The hotel was an ‘extended stay’ suite hotel with our room having a full kitchen.  Though they didn’t have a restaurant, the hotel offered a complimentary breakfast that was served in an extended area off the lobby.

All three mornings we took advantage of the complimentary breakfast.  The ‘buffet’ offered scrambled eggs, sausages, a variety of fruit, cereals, yoghurts, juices and coffee.   While I had no complaints about the food offering I was horrified that the entire breakfast was served with disposable plates, cutlery and cups.  The first morning I reluctantly used these one-use items.  On the second and third visit we ate off ceramic plates and mugs, and stainless-steel knives and forks that we brought with us from our rooms.

On the second day of my stay I spoke to the manager about how the use of these items bothered me only to have her tell me they did it for labor savings.   She explained that all the cooked breakfast items were microwavable, and by having all the utensils and plates disposable they only needed one staff member to serve the entire breakfast.  This she explained is how they could offer the breakfast complimentary.

This hotel flies the flag of one of the worlds most famous brands, a company that I’ve always respected for being progressive in its thinking.  I must tell you that this visit has made me re-visit the way I view this company.   It’s hard to believe that in 2018 such a large hospitality company could be so blind to the obvious. There is no acceptable reason for a hotel property to use 100% disposable items for a meal service…….FULL STOP!

Hopefully other guests who feel the same way will speak up via social media and demand change. Meanwhile, I won’t go back to that hotel and I’m even questioning staying at any of the brands properties again.  Any hotel that I stay at that uses ‘one-use’ items to serve meals will become a ‘one-use’ hotel for me!