To give Hotel Chocolate as a present

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Earlier there was a thread about a work raffle where people donated prizes. The OP mentioned Hotel Chocolate as being one of those "junk presents" that people would donate.

I'm feeling a bit sheepish as I would have bought it online to send as presents to friends in UK (I don't live there myself).

What do people think?
IABU - It's got a bit of a crap reputation
IANBU - It's a premium brand that you'd be glad to get as a present.

Gosh, I can’t stand those seashells. I thought everybody regifted that and that there was one box going round and round people’s homes in perpetual circulation!

Well my rellies have specifically asked for HC chocolate. Having said that, they want the 70% dark solid stuff, the batons and such like. The wreaths are good.

I like it, but only the plain stuff. The filled chocolates are a bit challenging.

I greatly dislike anything milk, anything Cadburys, anything that comes in a tub. Tony's is vile.

Premium brands are not that different in recipe terms. Most of the difference is marketing.

I think many choc boxes are full of prauline mush.
Some good threads on here have recommended handmade chocolate that doesn't use palm oil

We have ordered some from Kennedy's handmade where you can choose your flavours.

I'd very happily accept anyone's unwanted Hotel Chocolat especially if it is dark or involves nuts.

I like it, i like they're hot chocolate too (I have a velvetiser).

There's an awful lot of crap chocolate that isn't cheap but Hotel Chocolat isn't one of them.

Hotel Chocolat doesn't use palm oil in their chocolate either. That's a big tick for me, anyone that doesn't use palm oil gets my custom.

It used to be lovely but as with all brands after they are bought up by some mega company they then become shit as the mega company cuts costs and tries to make a load of money off the back of the established brand. The chocolate does not taste as nice as it used to.

MN is weirdly snobby sometimes. To the vast majority of the population hotel chocolat is in the category of expensive/posh chocs.

Because of the spelling, I thought the OP was referring to those chocolates left on your pillow in hotels. Now that would be a crappy gift!

Hotel Chocolat is fine to give as a generic gift ofc.

Blimey, I'd love those as a gift! You must work with some very Hyacinth Bucket types. Though to be fair the first time my older sister got them as an end of year gift at work, many years ago now, the chain had just arrived in the UK she was mortally offended that she'd been given hotel castoffs until I explained that really wasn't the case.

She's not the family chocoholic though...

Chocolate is always a welcomed gift.

https://www.chocolatefayre.co.uk/ These are very good. They don't cost the earth and are less 'generic' than hotel chocolat.

I’ve not tasted this chocolate but it looks gift-worthy.
I think it’s an odd name for a brand - it sounds like a company that supplies hotels with chocolate for their pillows.

Love Hotel Chocolat

I like Hotel Chocolat!

But I also like Cadburys just as much, if not more.

I do get a lot of use out of my velvetiser though (I have the hot and cold drink version), as I love chocolatey drinks.

I would be pleased to receive it. Some people are so ungrateful!

Of the brands, Ombar is amazing, it melts in the mouth so nicely, but is expensive. Seed and Bean, Equal Exchange, Divine, make good gifts. Something organic / fair trade, then you’re gifting more than just the pleasure of eating the chocolate.

In all honesty that isn't true.

If you try brands like Maison du Chocolat, Amadei or even Valrhona, it doesn't really taste much like a lot of these other brands.

That is not to say everyone would like it - or even that it is reasonable to suggest as gifts, as the former two, in particular, can be really pricey.

But there is no way it the same quality in a different box with different marketing.

I love HC stuff. I find the scale on Mumsnet tends to go from Celebrations to HC and whilst I won't eat Mars or Cadbury chocolate (I lost a lot of weight 30 years ago and determined I would only eat 'better' chocolate than that if I ever did), I would never be as snobby as the Secret Santa OP who called HC "junk". If you like something - carry on liking it!

That Op also seemed to think Joe Malone stuff would be rejected by charity shops as "junk", so I strongly suspect she lives inb Knightsbridge and only shops at Harrods...

A really good chocolatier in London is William Curley - though it tends towards the dark end of the spectrum. It is also more expensive than HC though, so many may simply appreciate something else for the price, and I wouldn't bother unless I had good reason to suspect they would like it.

For milk chocolate lovers Laderach can be ok, though many would say milk chocolate lovers are candy lovers not chocolate lovers!

ETA Actually, I just looked online to see what the offerings were and to be honest Curley isn't really that much more pricey than HC. If people really want to know what to gift and it really is for someone who likes "chocolate" proper, I would say they are a different class entirely from HC. That would be my suggestion.

This!
We are happy to be gifted HC.

Yes, I agree it is fine for most. And anyone should be grateful for it.

But if you like them, there isn't anything that tastes all that much the same.

People will just have wildly different tastes.

To me it's kind of milky candy not chocolate, but there's no rule that people have to like a dark chocolate.

Definitely not a rubbish present. It's expensive and I appreciate when I've had it as a gift before, so I've never even thought someone might feel different (anyone that likes chocolate ofc).

Nah, see you're weird to my family😄 DH and I love the Guylians chocolate, and so does our 3 year old! In fact this has reminded me to get some for both of them as a small gift!

Sometimes coming on here is actually mind blowing.
Hotel Chocolat is lovely and I don't know one person who would turn their nose up at it.

If they went to my DD they she would've eaten them PDQ.