I was fascinated to read that Rick Steves recommended, basically, stealing from those buffets. But given the potential for waste, was he really wrong?
I don't care for the buffet breakfasts that are practically omnipresent in French hotels now. I just stayed in a Mercure (yesterday) where the breakfast buffet was almost 20 euros.
As always, I negotiated a "café-croissant" for a much lower price.
Recently I stayed in a 3-star French hotel that proposed an interesting formula: get the traditional coffee/croissant/jus d'orange for 6 euros and add a few extras if you want, for example a yogurt for 1 euro, a small plate of cheese for 1 euro, a fried egg for 1 euro and so forth. They explained that they had tried the buffet formula and that it had been catastrophic as far as food waste.
Great comment, Betty. Thank you. To his credit, Rick Steves corrected his recommendation many years ago, but people still blame him for it. I love your negotiation skills and the fact that hotels are moving away from the full-price, full-buffet toward a basic offering with specific available add-ons. I'm sure it is a trend that will stick. Better value for guests, better food cost management for hotels, and better for the environment with less waste! Hope you had a great break. I'll look forward to learning more about "France in Between".
An outstanding, and all too accurate look at Americans in foreign lands.
(Including Canada, which most Americans don't think is a different country)
This is a great reminder to be kind, ethical, and appreciative wherever we are.
Thanks, Paul. Another terrific chapter.
Thank you, Gene. Your kind comment means a whole lot to me. Truly appreciated!
I was fascinated to read that Rick Steves recommended, basically, stealing from those buffets. But given the potential for waste, was he really wrong?
I don't care for the buffet breakfasts that are practically omnipresent in French hotels now. I just stayed in a Mercure (yesterday) where the breakfast buffet was almost 20 euros.
As always, I negotiated a "café-croissant" for a much lower price.
Recently I stayed in a 3-star French hotel that proposed an interesting formula: get the traditional coffee/croissant/jus d'orange for 6 euros and add a few extras if you want, for example a yogurt for 1 euro, a small plate of cheese for 1 euro, a fried egg for 1 euro and so forth. They explained that they had tried the buffet formula and that it had been catastrophic as far as food waste.
Great comment, Betty. Thank you. To his credit, Rick Steves corrected his recommendation many years ago, but people still blame him for it. I love your negotiation skills and the fact that hotels are moving away from the full-price, full-buffet toward a basic offering with specific available add-ons. I'm sure it is a trend that will stick. Better value for guests, better food cost management for hotels, and better for the environment with less waste! Hope you had a great break. I'll look forward to learning more about "France in Between".
I'm not so sure it's a trend...I've just seen it once. It makes so much sense, though.