Holiday Inn hotels in the U.S. and Canada are required to eliminate à la carte breakfast by December 1, offering breakfast buffet only. I reviewed the chain’s buffet standards that apply to all properties without “an approved waiver on file to deviate from this standard.” I think there are several pieces to it that will surprise guests.
Minimal Operation
The first thing is how minimal the required operation actually is. Breakfast only has to be open 3 hours a day. If a hotel offers breakfast, they’re not supposed to offer a cooked-to-order menu. No customized eggs.
Staffing can be as low as two people – one cook and one breakfast attendant per shift. They only “recommend” adding another front of house attendant when demand exceeds 45 guests. That can mean 60 – 80 people all hitting breakfast in a short wave with basically one person on the floor.
Minimum food variety is tightly defined. For example, only two whole fruits and two cut fruits are required, three bulk cereals, and very specific topping lists.
What Fresh Actually Means
Pastries can be reused for up to 24 hours at room temperature. Pastries not used on the buffet should be wrapped and stored at room temperature (specifically not refrigerated) and can have a 24-hour shelf life. “Fresh-baked pastries” can be from yesterday.
Leftover bread is supposed to be repurposed for the next day’s French toast bake. That’s not inherently unsafe, but a different reality than the “freshly prepared” language in the chain’s breakfast marketing copy.
Juice can also be “yesterday’s juice.” Procedures say to wrap juice with plastic wrap, chill it, and reuse it the next day, up to two shifts maximum (and “do not refill” the same vessel).
Almost everything is standardized and largely convenience product. Required use of branded ingredients—Pillsbury/Bridor all-butter frozen croissants, Quaker oatmeal, bulk cereals, Simply Orange —makes the experience consistent, but the “chef-driven” framing is not really delivered.
Condiments and toppings are turned over more slowly than you’d expect. Hot food itself must be discarded after service, but some toppings and condiments (jams, peanut butter, honey, etc.) are just topped off, wrapped, and reused; only oatmeal toppings are explicitly discarded and reset every day.
Where Did The Sneeze Guards Go?
Sneezeguards are not required over hot food by IHG. The planograms explicitly say sneezeguards over hot food are “no longer required by IHG,” only possibly by local health departments. Sneezeguards are required over the cold station (fruit & yogurt). If you see exposed eggs, bacon, potatoes, and French toast with no guard that’s in line with brand guidance.
Sell, Sell, Sell
Staff are coached to “sell” breakfast hard. There are detailed scripts for guests who thought breakfast was free, for guests asking for à la carte, for late arrivals, and for pushing room-charge to earn points.
Service is designed around one attendant circulating, not table service. The steps of service emphasize greeting with coffee, explaining the buffet, then mostly check-backs, bussing, and dropping the check “for guest convenience.” It’s closer to casual cafeteria service than a restaurant, by design.
What To Look For In A Holiday Inn Breakfast
If you care about quality, service, and hygiene that meets these minimal standards, then think of it in these three buckets.
If they’re following brand standards you should see scrambled eggs; bacon and turkey sausage; herb breakfast potatoes; French toast or a French toast bake; and at least one regional favorite in a chafer, rotated every few days (burrito, chicken biscuit, hash, etc.). Eggs and potatoes should be refreshed roughly every 30 minutes and oatmeal stirred every 10–15 minutes.
If you see congealed eggs with a thick skin, dried-out potatoes, oatmeal crusted on the sides of the kettle they’re not compliant. Hot food must be held at or above 140°F, and they call out failing to maintain temps as a critical violation of brand standards. You should occasionally see staff checking temps with a probe thermometer and adjusting, not just ignoring the line. I’d be surprised if this happens.
The cold fruit and yogurt station still requires a sneezeguard. You shouldn’t see any brown bananas, mushy berries, or bruised apples and pears.
Another piece that would actually surprise me if it were implemented on-property is chairs and tables sanitized (not just wiped) after each use; sugar caddies, condiment caddies, salt & pepper shakers cleaned and sanitized between guests; eggs held for just 15 minutes; every guest welcomed with a smile, “Good morning, come on in!”
Quick tells on compliance:
- Cold station: sneeze guard present and reasonably clean, fruit looks fresh not desiccated
- Hot items: eggs and potatoes look recently stirred, chafers aren’t half-empty and crusted over, staff open and check/stir.
- Pastries: in a proper case, not just open trays, case and tongs clean.
- Tables: bussed promptly, surfaces wiped down with proper sanitizer, caddies and shakers aren’t grimy.
- Service: someone greets you, offers coffee, and actually talks up the buffet.
Should I spend $75,000 on a CSR so that I can achieve this level of luxury?
I guess then it’s now safe to sneeze all over their bufffayyyyyy
@ Peter — As long as you use Gary’s referral link, absolutely. And, don’t forget, you also receive a $500 Southwest credit that you can use to fly to a beautiful Holiday Inn.
A huge devaluation for IHG diamonds who counted on the breakfast benefit and eggs made to order or some other a la carte breakfast. It makes going for IHG top-tier status less attractive.
Those are some of the most cringe tag marketing lines ever, who the F came up with that crap. When I see writing like that on a hotels website I know it’s going to be garbage, but I mean Holiday inn is catering to middle America I guess, not actual travelers.
@Gene — HIE!
@Peter — I know I’m doing it by default, and, I already have Platinum through IHG Premier card anyway, so I guess it’s all for that $500 SWA discount…
An example of the demise of Service in America,
Recycled pastry, from one day to another, wow! Remember, that pastry started out as once frozen, industrial grade pastry. And, the staffing level, wow. There is no way in the world that a hotel with 50-room occupancy, or more, could keep up with the demand, at the buffet, or Holiday Inn’s own metrics for guest NON-service.
In my opinion, the breakfast buffet at Holiday Inn Express looks and sounds better than Holiday Inn’s new buffet at their Full Service hotels. Come to think of it, what is Full Service, these days? Is the new, full service, limited service?
The only way that Holiday Inn’s latest extravaganza will change is if guests, in number, start staying elsewhere, and advise Holiday Inn of their displeasure with their new, value-engineered buffet.
It always shocks me how important hotel breakfast is to some. I mean absolutely no criticism. What is important to you is important to you. But, IRL, I know of no one who has this very high on their priority list. But, then again, I never was a breakfast person. Maybe that’s the problem. Bigwigs at HI might be folks like me who underestimate how important hotel breakfast is to some (many?).
“It’s all about the quality.”
That sure is what comes to my mind when I think Holiday Inn.
I’m also wondering what the response from the road warrior in his/her fourth Holiday Inn this week will be when the server talks about the French Toast bake that’s the house speciality made by the chef fresh every day.
Unless a hotel is in the middle of nowhere or someone else is paying, I don’t know why anyone would pay for hotel breakfast. Just go outside and find even a rubbish coffee shop. It’ll still be better than a hotel
So compare the minimum staffing/quality standards to Hilton & Marriott properties. Seems like complimentary breakfast is not even a perk to list anymore, anywhere.
@this comes to mind
I have a VP at my company who chooses where to stay solely based on breakfast. He always stayed at the Marriott Perimeter Center in Atlanta when we traveled together because it had a made to order omelet station. Until a few months ago they closed the omelet station.
I switched to Hyatt recently and I also find myself staying at a Hyatt House in the area because they also happen to have an omelette station.
I’m not too picky for breakfast, and I’m fine with a buffet but that little extra touch tilts the scales.
You must be either desperate or a fool to stay at POs Holiday Inn.
Just another reason not to stay at a Holiday Inn.
Tim Hortons sounds better. I’ll order my usual: dutchie, maple, OJ, and a large double-double.
I never get in time to use it
Someone at IHG seems to have forgotten that Holiday Inn made itself by offering a real breakfast and kids eat free. They’re now offering some worse than the free-for-all buffet at a Holiday Inn Express. But what do you expect from IHG, which doesn’t even require hotels across all brands to provide a bar of soap?
I really did/do chose full service Holiday Inns over Expresses because of the bar and cooked to order breakfast availability .
Test test test
I will never pay for a hotel breakfast.
Free buffet or even just Continental is fine, but if I have to pay for food anyway, I will go to a real restaurant.
We love the H.I.E. in Lafayette, IN. Love the free breakfast they provide and honestly it is a main driver of why we stay there when other maybe fancier hotels are closer to Purdue. When we stay on the sand beach front at the Moana, we expect eggs to order. When youre staying at a H.I., no knovk cause we stay there too, be appreciative of what they offer and feel fortunate for them puting up with your attitude…its just eggs.
“Leftover bread is supposed to be repurposed for the next day’s French toast bake.”
On the one hand, this conflicts with ot being fresh-made. On the other hand, it is arguably authentic “pan perdu”…
I think the biggest head-scratcher for me is “What is the practical difference between HI and HIE?”
Probably the other snarl is that contra the scripting, there /are/ breakfast-included rates at lots of hotels…
If it is free, I love it. Love the free holiday inn Express buffet. I like a little of a few things, a Danish for carbs, a yogurt for probiotics, eggs for protein, milk, coffee. And I’m completely okay with the buffet.
If it is free, I’m in.
Using a Chase Sapphire Reserve with IHG benefits.
Maybe Jimmy Buffet said it best ‘ reminds me of a menu at a Holiday Inn’. This did not sound overly complimentary to me.
We are Platinum members And have eaten all over the world, and most of the Holiday Inn expresses that we stay at are a buffet breakfast notting Some are better than others but we have found that the ones in the United States serve the same items over and over again Which can be very boring when you travel throughout the United States. It would be nice if they used fresh eggs instead of powdered eggs and not watered down juices. The Holiday Inns overseas have more choices, which seems to be a standard over in Europe. On another note, we have never witnessed any problem with service and the breakfast staff seems to keep up cleanliness (I was a food service director and I also taught culinary arts so I know what to look for).
Yuck.
I’m with @Lumma. I can’t think of any recent business or personal travel I’ve taken where I said to myself: let’s stay at this place because the breakfast is the best. Now, show me a hotel with breakfast eggs that actually.once saw the inside of a chicken, and maybe I’ll change my mind.
As one who travels a lot for work, I find that most hotels that charge for breakfast offer the same crap that most hotels offer for free. HIX offers a decent free breakfast with some really good cinnamon rolls! Embassy Suites has a great free breakfast with an egg station!
When I find a hotel that offers the premade fake eggs, I make a note not to stay there again, and when I find an exceptional breakfast, I make notes to make sure I return when I’m in the area.
Hotels may just think that the breakfast is just a bonus, for many, a good breakfast buffet is the reason many regular travelers choose that hotel.
Having gone through hospitality school and hotel management the changes are two fold with Holiday Inn is 1. They moved away from
A. Customer based service
B. Keeping and retention of not only employees but outside services that provide the products for safe successful breakfast.
C. Retention of maintenance staff inside and outside independent contractors for equipment maintenance.
D. Onsight training of staff to be not a separate position but a two job tasks within one job description preview.
2. Interviewing/Training candidates that possess what this specific area of the job entails.
2. Training and retention
A. Complete training and follow through making sure if things change that they change with those changes instead of letting them fall.By the wayside
B. Most important have people in charge with food area and preparation experience instead of today’s standards no experience not necessary we will train you.
I managed a Hotel/Casino with a buffet breakfast but also 2 additional sit down service based restaurants. Unless you have a management staff all the way from corporate to dish washer Training needs to always be done either through a hospitality degree or off property under the direction of that hotels staff. This ensured that all Training would become uniform and those with degrees still had to be trained on that hotels standards, but they did have a bit of advantage due to their degree but anyone who is genuinely interested and wanting to learn can get the same if not more out of Training without experience.
As far as the points of this article that explains some of the foods handling practices all depends on two key components.
1. Management’s involvement
2. A direct supervisor or kitchen director.
If hotels don’t keep their thumb on the pulse then everything this article says will and does happen.
Also remember as a customer of the hotel and the services they provide are all to be structured around the customer’s overall experience. If you read the scripts posted in this article you will see they say the words to every guest and boast about the amenities they offer,but it is all memory rot pre-programming if it is not backed up to meet those high standards they are wanting you to believe at check in. I set high standards that went beyond my Training. I implemented additional safeguards to ensure quality or quantity was always being used. Yes people get impatient but the alternative is highly to cause more problems than if you had them wait to get high quality food to them. Examples: Fresh eggs i implemented a discard time that was based on to key points. 1. Hotel current capacity 2. The switchboards schedule of wake up calls and how many fell into what time of the open breakfast buffet.
EX 2 Pastries breads, cereals
If at the end of the breakfast shift there were leftovers we did not reuse them for the next day, if it was a dispenser of cereal and it needed to be refilled I had a level checklist that went from the previous days levels and when it was filled how much was needed to be added. If we did not use at least that amount we threw it out.certain times of the seasons certain foods fall off and do not need to be reused to save money just taking the loss especially with dry goods lessens the chance for insect infestation.
Any leftover donuts or pastries that we had that were in good shape that were not spoiled.Or were not damaged or had other food products put on them which happens.Sometimes we donated to the local food.Shelter and wrote that off as a tax credit.Would you truly what usually people did?But people today have gotten lazy and they didn’t want to take that extra step or even to help the person that needs it.Anymore. Today’s hotels have allowed their standards to go down one because they don’t find quality people or interested in doing this work.And two, they think that it’s a cost issue, and it’s not, it’s all in the approach in which you facilitate these tasks.
The Holiday Inn adjacent to the Phoenix airport charged $15.00 for the crappiest hotel breakfast I’ve ever eaten and they wouldn’t give me my money back for the 2nd day after politely complaining the first day. It was nasty, in truth. Another reason I quit staying in any IHG brand. The typical English breakfast in British hotels cost a bit more but are so much better even though every hotel I’ve stayed in serves the same thing!
I recently returned from a trip to Japan and would say the breakfast included in the price of the hotel (4 star) was so far beyond even the service at European hotels. American breakfast ? A terrible joke on the consumer. Holiday inns have always been at very bottom of my list for breakfast.
Generally a 3 or 4 star hotel in the US charges an outrageous amount for a limited experience. A better breakfast can be had at a local greasy spoon.
The hotel experience in the U.S. is far behind that of the rest of the world.
After 50 years of travel for business and pleasure I think I know of what I speak
Holiday inn is getting close to making a mistake they can’t come back from. Once people notice you’re taking away product and service and raising the room rate people will move in droves.
@ 1990 — Ewww, you actually fly SWA? Yuck.
Well Holiday Inn definitely isn’t the Four Seasons. I think it attracts a certain type of traveler who stays there-: mostly budget conscious families with kids who want something fast and road trip commuters staying overnight. I don’t typically eat at those do it yourself breakfast stations . Usually we’ll just check out and go down the road to a place that I’ve researched on social media Eat there at your own risk.
Very disappointing
Holiday Inn just fell to the bottom of my list
IHG has fallen to several notches inland I’ll certainly avoid whenever possible.
I myself am a Platinum member. I’ve stayed at several different locations. Amazing how some are absolutely beyond expectations. Breakfast fresh, continously monitored by staff, yet YET as with anything some could care less. Breakfast can be better than expected for hotel buffet, then there’s those that charge $15 plus and water free. Coffee, OJ from $5 to $10.
IHG Batesville, Mississippi absolutely the worst.
I’m a little confused. All of the HI and HIE that I’ve stayed in already had a buffet type breakfast. All of the pastries have been individually wrapped with the exception the sliced bread and the hot cinnamon rolls. Cold items were maintained in a small refrig. on top of the counter.
Calm down folks Think of your “neighbor” sneezing on your eggs as, like, extra “flavoring.” mmm mmm
There is no way they pay for cage free scrambled eggs…. I guarantee it is the cheapest liquid eggs available… The cereal is always stale…. I would never pay for a breakfast at a cheap small hotel… Ur eating the cheapest old food possible and paying $25 for it
I seem to be different to everyone else – I detest US hotels selling ‘made to order’ breakfasts which are stupidly expensive and aren’t covered by Diamond supposedly free breakfast benefit. When travelling with my family, a buffet is much better and easier and keeps everyone happy. I am pleased with this change, tbh.
service & quality have decreased in America because Americans have decreased their level of quality demanded.
The Average American Seeks Cheap First…And will suffer the low Standards.
Education Standards are Decreased from ages past.
Mfg Standards are Lower.
Walmart Is low level Products from China.
Dollar Stores Are Abundant in “Every Little Hamlet, Village or Township.
It’s Hard to Fly like an Eagle When Your Followers are Masses & Multitudes of Ground Hogs & Chickens.
“Condiments and toppings are turned over more slowly than you’d expect. Hot food itself must be discarded after service, but some toppings and condiments (jams, peanut butter, honey, etc.) are just topped off, wrapped, and reused; only oatmeal toppings are explicitly discarded and reset every day.”
You’re a sheeple if you think oatmeal toppings are “explicitly discarded” and refilled daily. Not a chance in hell that happens at most if not all hotels that serve oatmeal. That brown sugar, walnuts, cranberries, etc. that is put out is wrapped over and over until it’s gone. Oatmeal at hotel breakfasts is not a big mover. It’s there because it’s comparatively cheap. Believe me, the toppings are reused for multiple days until they’re low or gone. Of course condiments are reused as most if not all are individually packaged.
Same with juice, hotels that have waffle batter, breads, bagels, muffins. etc. Wrap it up and put it back in the fridge until the next day. Also not uncommon for chafers of eggs to get wrapped and reheated the next day as the first batch out.
My husband and I definitely book hotels based on their breakfast options. We frequently stay at HIE because of the free breakfast buffet. It’s not spectacular, but it’s decent and fairly consistent across the chain. We eat low-carb, so continental breakfast and many breakfast restaurants don’t work for us.
If we had to pay for the buffet at a hotel, I can guarantee you we wouldn’t get it, and we would look for somewhere else to stay. Ironically, we already avoid the regular Holiday Inn hotels because we don’t want to deal with a restaurant. If they include a buffet in the room price, we might opt to stay at them again.
This sounds perfect for Brits who hate food waste and Eare fine with eating 2-day old pastries. As for me, I’ll be headed to Waffle House, where I can get a freshly cooked breakfast for less than $10 instead of a two-day-old buffet. At least I can see them make it.
Meanwhile, IHG is updating all its Holiday Inn (not Express) properties with new decor. It will be interesting to see when the US will get it, if ever.
Sorry to hear. Many go for the onsite restaurant. If want a buffet you go to HIE and get a fair price. I think you need to provide the trained staff to offer a hot breakfast made to order timely with excellent service at a reasonable price. Offer value worth coming back to. To me this is some executive at IHG wanting to cut pennies for a fat bonus. Open your eyes and see where that is taking other companies. I chose HIE or Hampton Inn because of the cold over prices HI buffet.