For those of us who love coffee, love coffee—not “need” coffee, but want coffee that is fresh, tasty, and delicious- there is one truth – do not make and drink the in-room coffee in hotels.
There is one requirement- fresh coffee. Coffee beans should be roasted within a couple weeks prior to use. And those of us who are true snobs grind our own beans.
You cannot get Peet's in a hotel room, because they care about the freshness of their coffee
When a hotel has an in-room coffee maker there is a very high likelihood that the coffee served in it will be sub-par. Often the coffee was ground more than several weeks before, and has lost all the freshness and aroma that makes coffee great. What will be left is some coffee flavor, and enough bitterness that the tiny packet of creamer they provide won’t be enough to make the brown water taste better.
For the coffee aficionado, when traveling, one has to either locate a coffee shop close by, or call for room service (provided the hotel doesn’t use pre-packaged ground coffee). Room Service can be costly, but you do receive a large pot of fresh coffee, with real cream, and enough sweeteners to satisfy your liking.
A number of hotels have been installing the single-cup coffee makers, like the Keurig brand (K-cup). Coffee purists still find the coffee that goes into these to NOT be up to standard. Peet’s, for example, refuses to place its coffee into K-cups as it cannot insure the freshness of the coffee.
The coffee makers are often not sanitary. The water is hot- but really- do you want to drink out of that coffee maker- and some hotels even put the coffee maker in the bathroom. Arg.
On occasion you will run into the great hotel when, knowing you prefer fresh beans, will find out the type you prefer, provide you with the beans, a grinder, and a coffee maker – and keep the refrigerator stocked with real cream. Now those are luxury hotels that are high on my list. This happened to us at a Hyatt Regency Hotel once- they discovered we liked fresh coffee and quietly inquired the type– by that afternoon there were fresh beans, a grinder, and French Press.
When I travel there are a lot of reasons to miss home- this is one of mine