To give a family run Hotel a Poor Review

[MistressMia]

I stayed at a family run hotel earlier this week in the Midlands and while on the whole it was a nice place a few things bugged me, notably the vegetarian / vegan option or lack off.

It was only 1 night with breakfast included.

Perhaps I'm just too used to London standards, but it really amazes me that things like soya milk / soya yoghurt are not available as standard.

I'm not fully vegan, but haven't drunk milk for ages now, so couldn't have the breakfast cereals.

The hot breakfast consisted of bacon / eggs / beans / mushrooms & grilled tomato. I don't eat eggs. Don't usually have a problem as used to having the option of hash browns. and other veggie alternatives.

AIBU unreasonable to expect establishments to fully cater for those with different diets ? It really peeves me off, considering the charge is the same and veg options don't cost more.

understand margins etc are tight and I am not saying that every single conceivable option should be catered for as standard.

Why should almost vegans be catered for, as standard, and not other dietary requirements. What makes almost vegans the main group of paying customers that should be catered for?

Soy and but milks are not mainstream. I work in the health and fitness industry. Almost everyone I know drinks almond or coconut milk. However it's not mainstream.

Not everyone has the foresight or sometimes the time to request ahead.

That's makes it your problem.

The hotel would have catered for you had you have told them. It's not difficult

nut milk

snigger!

Any establishment doing the above would stand out and get a reputation and recommendations for having such a great range and it would pay off in increased custom. I would happily pay extra.

But would only appeal to a very small minority of guests.

I always take my own tea bags to hotels as nowhere has decent chai, not even The Ritz and that's in London! Though I admit when I had afternoon tea at The Ritz I put up with their inferior tea as I thought my mum would kill me if I pulled my own teabag out my handbag!

You should have mentioned your dietary requirements when you were booking. Vegetarianism is catered for as standard. Veganism, gluten-free, dairy-free etc, are not.

Have you contacted the owners and explained your disappointment? Please do not post a public review until you have given them an opportunity to respond. That's just good manners.

I can't understand though why you couldn't or wouldn't keep things that IMO are now pretty mainstream such as soya or nut milks or frozen foods as a back up for guests

maybe they do? you don't know that either because you didn't even tell them the night before (when they could have defrosted any specialist foods they store in the freezer). You told them at breakfast, when it was too late anyway to defrost anything or pop out for extras.

Just skimmed through the thread. I agree with you OP. i think in this day and age Soya milk should be standard, even in small family run establishments, although it might have been wise to ring ahead and ask if they could provide some for you.
I have a friend who is vegan, and another friend who is not, bur cannot tolerate Cows milk.
I live in a smallish town and all the chains provide Soya milk, and even the independent small coffee shop does as well.

Travelodge provide Linda Mc Cartney Sausages which are Vegan. They also have hash Browns, and all the other usual stuff like Mushrooms and beans. They have a non dairy spread. They don't provide Soya Milk though which is a real pain for my friend, when she stays there. There is really no excuse for a national chain like Travelodge not providing Soya milk as standard in this day and age.

You remind me of the banker husband of a friend of mine, who when staying with us for the weekend about 15 years ago, went into a small and very traditional Cambridgeshire pub with us and fixed the publican with a townie banker glare before uttering the immortal words 'You do decaff cappuccino, I take it?' I think the whole pub rolled their eyes and it was a job not to laugh.

We didn't ask them back.

Try reading the thread properly petit

In other words, either ring ahead to check, take a carton of long life with you (which is what DD has to do) or just do without.

I am irresistably reminded of a relative of mine, who is very much a vegan. At one point I was living somewhere rather provincial, but had gone to a lot of effort not just sourcing vegan alternatives for meals in (frankly insulting to find them going through the bin to check labels, ffs), but I had also gone into my favourite local restaurant, as there was no local veggie venue, and conversations with the chef gave confidence of a good selection "from what we've got in the kitchen". Said relative insisted on not walking that far (a whole 50 metres further), marched into a different eatery, and then sulked extensively that none of the veggie options were vegan, without making them very boring.

Ffs, if you have a dietary requirement, tell people in advance. Or it's your own lookout.

Yes petit you probably should read the thread properly.

Do people have breakfasts at Travelodge? I would have thought do room only and go and find breakfast elsewhere.

Boffin The expectations from a tiny pub are different to that of a hotel that markets itself as a events venue and place to stay for International business travellers.

So no I wouldn't behave as your friend. I might ask politely if they did such a thing, expecting the answer to be no.

"IMO are now pretty mainstream"
Exactly - in your opinion. Despite pretty much everyone on this thread pointing out that it is not mainstream. 'Less than 1%' and possibly as little as 0.0025% does not equal mainstream.

Vegetarianism is catered for as standard.

That's not true.

travel lodge food is shockingly bad

FuckSanta

OK. You could reasonably expect vegetarianism to be catered for as standard.

the poster who worked out the proportion of vegans in the country adequately demonstrates why it would not be a good business decision to provide soya milk. To maintain a stock level costs, for which it seems there would be no adequate return. I only like a certain brand of yoghurt, not soya, but I don't expect hotels to provide my choice. After all soya milk is a choice you have made - equal to my choice. If it was a medical need you would get it on a prescription I believe.

Exactly - in your opinion. Despite pretty much everyone on this thread pointing out that it is not mainstream

Yes, I think I've realised that. That was probably the whole point of this AIBU. It's clearly unreasonable to expect this as standard.

Really no point then in saying anything to the owners.

I hope the owners are having a nice holiday abroad with all their dietary requirements catered for.

Oh dear advanced search does sometimes prove quite entertaining.

My DS is coeliac - I always ask before we stay at a hotel if I need to bring bread/cereal etc then when we check in I tell them again to make sure he's got something to eat at breakfast. It's lovely when hotels make the effort but tbh I don't expect them to cater for him exclusively, it's an expensive food option. Perhaps if they had had notice they might have been able to cater ?

Really no point then in saying anything to the owners.

No no no! Of course you should say something - in a polite, private email.

Small businesses don't have money for the kind of market research that the big chains can do. They rely on customer feedback to meet the needs of their market.

If you don't say something, the next keyboard warrior who is peeved by the lack of soya milk may march straight to tripadvisor without thinking twice and getting a second opinion, like you did.

We live in London, there are lots and lots of places here that wouldn't carry soy or vegan options as standard. Don't believe me? Try arranging a big family dinner for lots of people, some of whom are vegan, you can't just rock up to your local gastropub and have the needs met.

If you have dietary requirements you are the one that is responsible for making sure that they are met, ring ahead and check. Don't assume.

Ive just told vegan Dh about this. He travels on business a lot and says he's never seen soya milk available in the restaurant but he reckons the little cartons in your room are often uht soya milk.

Have there been any other reviews moaning about the lack of soya milk up til now?