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Wednesday, October 9, 2024
HomeSpainBarcelonaWhy So Much Decaf in My Hotel Room?

Why So Much Decaf in My Hotel Room?

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.

a tray with coffee capsules and condiments

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4 COMMENTS

  1. 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.

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