When staying at a hotel these days, pack breakfast, lunch and dinner

The hard-hit hotel segment desperately wants travelers to return. But with low occupancy rates, they are keeping staffing levels at a minimum. Kitchen personnel are usually among the workers who’ve been sidelined.

“Eventually we will bring back food,” explained one front desk manager. “Once we have more guests.”

Not all hotels are slackers in the dining department. Hilton Garden Inn, down the street from Sheraton Suites, offers a full breakfast.

A manager explained to me that the hotel believes if it offers amenities such as breakfast, then occupancy can only go up.

Another hotel offered breakfast, sort of.

A Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Worth that I called about a potential stay said it offered scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, but no omelets or bread.

The front desk clerk explained the hotel might provide bread again, sometime later in July. But really, is it that hard to buy a few bagels or English muffins to serve guests? And if you can make scrambled eggs, why not omelets?

Clearly, I like omelets. I’m surely not alone in this.

At another Hilton Garden Inn I stayed in last month in the Dallas area, the lobby snack shop was closed. It was under renovation, so the cold drinks for sale were kept in the front office.

I wanted a Diet Coke, but the front desk clerk only had Gatorade for sale. He explained the hotel’s limited business meant it didn’t want to stock too much soda.

No vending machines either! I understand it’s hard times for the hotel industry, but will a few extra cans of Diet Coke be the final blow before bankruptcy?

What’s shameful is that on their websites, hotel chains don’t let on that something is amiss. They tout private club lounges for elite travel members and bountiful restaurant options that don’t exist anymore.

Take the Sheraton Suites Market Center Dallas.

Marriott, which runs the Sheraton chain, advertises three meals a day in the hotel’s Arbor Kitchen.

“Experience The Arbor Kitchen, our Dallas Market Center restaurant, featuring fresh ingredients and farm-to-table dinning,” the Marriott site enthuses. “This combined with a refined ambiance, creating an effortless culinary experience.”

A spokesperson for Marriott International never got back to me about why the website had not been updated.

At Sheraton Suites, a lobby sign also touted the Arbor Kitchen and its fresh food. After being brought back to reality by the front desk clerk — for real, the Arbor Kitchen is closed — she handed me a list of nearby restaurants.

Apparently, the list has not been recently updated. The first few restaurants on the list I called were still closed because of the pandemic.

It was time for McDonald’s again!

randy.diamond@ express-news.net