Why So Much Decaf? is part of the Gold Medal Trip Report.
I complain about everything (see Have You Ever Not Complained?). And I don’t apologize for it. I had legitimate complaints while staying at the Grand Hyatt BCN (see Grant Hyatt Barcelona: Good, Bad, & Annoying). I also had one that was just for laughs.
Nespresso
Let it be known to all, that the best pod espresso machine is Nespresso. The rest fall short. I will settle for an impostor machine over instant coffee. It is a devastating disappointment to check into a hotel and discover no espresso machine. Typically this happens in the US.
At the Grand Hyatt Barcelona, there was not a Nespresso machine but something that looked like it. Ready to attack the town (see Guns & Butter: Barcelona Travel Guide), I proceeded to make myself an espresso. To my amazement, I discovered 4 decaf pods and 2 normal. At home, I have decaf pods for the rare occasion when I want that espresso taste without the espresso bolt. It makes sense that hotels provide the decaf option, though I have to wonder how many people use it. What does not make sense is the ratio of 4 decafs to 2.
I could have let it go, but I decided to ask the front desk. Ever the smart ass, I showed the man the picture and asked him what he saw. He said cream and espresso. Like Rafiki, I told him to look closer. He said, “Ah ha! There are 4 decafs and 2 normal.” I queried in Spanish if in a city like Barcelona if this made sense. Unlike my last joke in Spanish that almost got me removed from an airplane (see Iberia Business ORD-MAD: Mask Jokes Literally Don’t Fly), he laughed and said no. He then sent someone to my room with enough espresso for Rick James and me.
You make a great point. I was horrified in a hotel room in Korea recently where the only non-decaf was instant. The front desk couldn’t understand the problem (just like they didn’t understand why the fact it was late May and they had the A/C still locked out for “winter” hotel-wide and it was 27C in the room at midnight would be a possible point to ponder). It was a Nest hotel which generally seems marketed to western guests (I mean, it had a German restaurant).
I surmise the excess decaf comes from a cycle of decaf being what isn’t used by guests, housekeeping has a glut of it on the carts and grabs pods to fill the open spaces on the coffee tray thing, and thus the world turns. I once asked a housekeeper at a Hampton Inn about such when she was replenishing my K-cups in a room and she told me their direction was “top row fully leaded, bottom row decaf”. Got them an extra star in the review.
It’s a Grand Hyatt, pay some attention to detail!
Exactly, if a Hampton Inn can get it right, a Grand Hyatt sure as shit better.
And there I was thinking that the hotel didn’t want guests to be too jittery.