To say that I have a love affair with coffee may be something of an understatement. I will go out of my way, sometimes to great lengths, for a good cup o’ Joe. I’ve bought a round for everyone in the car just to justify a stop at many a coffee house. I’ve been known to ask for a sample even before finishing the coffee I’d just ordered. Whether hot and black, or foamy and fru-fru, I am enamored of our dark caffeinated mistress. So…would I choose a hotel based on the coffee they serve?
It’s a good question, and I may just put it to the test soon. It’s not hard to find a hotel that “proudly brews Starbucks Coffee” even in their in-room coffee makers. Unfortunately, it’s even easier to find hotels serving generic, no-name coffee. On the other hand, it will happily be easier soon to find a room with grounds and leaves from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. (Good news also for anyone disappointed to find only generic cut leaf black tea packets in their room.)
Guests waking up in more than 740 Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton and Embassy Suites Hotels properties across the Americas will now wake up to a new collection of in-room coffee and teas created by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf exclusively for the Hilton properties. Those guests down more than 100,000 cups of in-room coffee every day across the three hotel chains. According to Jim Holthouser, executive vice president of global brands for Hilton Worldwide, “six months of research and testing went into creating the perfect blend.” The result is Hilton Morning Blend, a full-bodied Arabica blend of beans from El Salvador, Brazil and Sumatra designed to “meet guests’ varying flavor preferences in the US, Canada and Latin America.” Tea options are an all-natural Chamomile tea, and a medium-bodied English Breakfast made from hand-picked Sri Lankan Ceylon Black tea.
Is that enough to sway coffee snobs or anyone else? All things being equal perhaps, but all things are rarely equal. I’m sure most travelers will still pick and choose from their favorite brands, the best rates and the best locations. For at least two upcoming trips, Hilton may be among the hotels under consideration but I don’t think it will be the coffee that determines where I book rooms. It’s going to take something considerably more substantial, I think, to sway loyalty. Something like a Nespresso machine in every room. For example, meet Pullman hotels, found almost anywhere except Central and North America, it seems. Yes, Nespresso in every room. Now we’re talking!
