Hotel that Doesn't Have...Tea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for an org that is planning a multi-day event at a hotel in Puerto Rico. It is a large, major chain hotel in San Juan. Our meeting planner reviewed our food and beverage orders with the hotel today today, and since she and I are both tea drinkers, she confirmed what type of black/breakfast tea they serve. And the hotel told her that they don't have black tea. Not that they are out-- they just don't stock it at all. I told her that is unacceptable and they have to either get some, or discount our beverage service rate if I have to purchase tea for all of the tea drinkers at the event.

Am I being unreasonable to expect that a major hotel that hosts large events should have breakfast tea available? I am accustomed to being given limited/bad tea options at restaurants so I always carry some in my bag, but I've never been told by a hotel that they simply don't carry it.

I realize that in the grand scheme of life this is not a big deal, but I have been attending/managing conferences for 20+ years and this is not an issue I've ever dealt with.

Buy a big ol' box of Lipton from Giant and bring it with you and call it a day.

Would you say the same if a hotel said they didn't serve black coffee? Just bring a big ol' box of Nescafe?

I thought bringing a big box of tea is a great idea. And really, how many people drink tea? I think bringing one large box should more than cover it.

Lots. Lots of people drink tea.

Not in Puerto Rico. And not to many Brits travel there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously I'm not going to cancel the event. But I feel like it is not difficult for them to just buy tea as a basic level of service for their customers.

To be clear-- I am not talking about only my own needs. I am certainly not the only person in a conference of 300 people who drinks tea.

Is the conference going to be attended only by UMC females over the age of 60 who live in urban areas of blue states?

If so, tea is a must-have.

Sorry for being so snarky, but you’re in a bubble.

Tea (esp hot tea) is consumed by a very small subset of the population. Not at all surprising that a resort wouldn’t stock it.

LOL and you are basing this on what, exactly? Aside from the fact that large parts of world drink primarily tea, in my office of 25 we are half tea, half coffee drinkers. Our tea drinkers include younger people and men.

Urban & blue, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for an org that is planning a multi-day event at a hotel in Puerto Rico. It is a large, major chain hotel in San Juan. Our meeting planner reviewed our food and beverage orders with the hotel today today, and since she and I are both tea drinkers, she confirmed what type of black/breakfast tea they serve. And the hotel told her that they don't have black tea. Not that they are out-- they just don't stock it at all. I told her that is unacceptable and they have to either get some, or discount our beverage service rate if I have to purchase tea for all of the tea drinkers at the event.

Am I being unreasonable to expect that a major hotel that hosts large events should have breakfast tea available? I am accustomed to being given limited/bad tea options at restaurants so I always carry some in my bag, but I've never been told by a hotel that they simply don't carry it.

I realize that in the grand scheme of life this is not a big deal, but I have been attending/managing conferences for 20+ years and this is not an issue I've ever dealt with.

See, the thing is, you did ask ahead of time if they had the tea you want because you knee it wasn't a given that they would have it. When you ask a yes or no question you should not be surprised that the answer was no, it is a legitimate answer. If you thought your preference for tea was ubiquitous as water you would not have asked about it ahead of time.

She knew it wasn’t a given that they have her specific type of tea preference (ie that they only have basic Lipton yellow label and not earl gray) but to not have any hot tea available full stop is crazy for a major hotel/conference center anywhere in the world that caters to international guests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for an org that is planning a multi-day event at a hotel in Puerto Rico. It is a large, major chain hotel in San Juan. Our meeting planner reviewed our food and beverage orders with the hotel today today, and since she and I are both tea drinkers, she confirmed what type of black/breakfast tea they serve. And the hotel told her that they don't have black tea. Not that they are out-- they just don't stock it at all. I told her that is unacceptable and they have to either get some, or discount our beverage service rate if I have to purchase tea for all of the tea drinkers at the event.

Am I being unreasonable to expect that a major hotel that hosts large events should have breakfast tea available? I am accustomed to being given limited/bad tea options at restaurants so I always carry some in my bag, but I've never been told by a hotel that they simply don't carry it.

I realize that in the grand scheme of life this is not a big deal, but I have been attending/managing conferences for 20+ years and this is not an issue I've ever dealt with.

See, the thing is, you did ask ahead of time if they had the tea you want because you knee it wasn't a given that they would have it. When you ask a yes or no question you should not be surprised that the answer was no, it is a legitimate answer. If you thought your preference for tea was ubiquitous as water you would not have asked about it ahead of time.

She knew it wasn’t a given that they have her specific type of tea preference (ie that they only have basic Lipton yellow label and not earl gray) but to not have any hot tea available full stop is crazy for a major hotel/conference center anywhere in the world that caters to international guests.

She said they didn't have black tea, not that they didn't have any tea. Which makes me wonder if the person she spoke with just didn't understand and thought black tea was a brand or something. I'd just call back and ask what type of tea they carry.

[Anonymous]

Op what hotel is this. It seems possible that the person you asked was confused. Maybe we can tell you if we've been and had tea there. Or call again and ask someone else.

[Anonymous]

Sure, call back and clarify in case there was a misunderstanding. But if my preference is strong for a food or drink, I would never rely on a place to have it and would just bring my own. If I NEED tea, I'm going to travel with my own teabags because you never know.

You're not entitled to tea just because a lot of people drink it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously I'm not going to cancel the event. But I feel like it is not difficult for them to just buy tea as a basic level of service for their customers.

To be clear-- I am not talking about only my own needs. I am certainly not the only person in a conference of 300 people who drinks tea.

Is the conference going to be attended only by UMC females over the age of 60 who live in urban areas of blue states?

If so, tea is a must-have.

Sorry for being so snarky, but you’re in a bubble.

Tea (esp hot tea) is consumed by a very small subset of the population. Not at all surprising that a resort wouldn’t stock it.

Asia would like a word.

[Anonymous]

Puerto Rico is a totally different culture than the US. Puerto Ricans don’t drink tea. I don’t have a fit when I attend a conference in the states and there is no espresso.

[Anonymous]

Teagate

[Anonymous]

What hotel is it? You should talk to the manager. Or bring your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Puerto Rico is a totally different culture than the US. Puerto Ricans don’t drink tea. I don’t have a fit when I attend a conference in the states and there is no espresso.

+1 this is cultural, if you want your event to go well you should supply the tea and ask for carafes of hot water.

[Anonymous]

As a tea drinker- I thank you! I also now carry my own stash because I need my caffeine hit but cannot stand coffee and so often there is no tea offered at events like this. Thank you, OP. Keep up the good fight!

[Anonymous]

NP: I found my favorite hosting tea at a resort in the Dominican Republic. Taylor’s of Harrogate Square! Nice variety, good flavor for bagged tea. Pretty presentation. Funny how a resort that from the beach can SEE PR had tea in gracious large supply throughout.

Those of you suggesting that it is a white woman of a certain age should get out more, all of Asia springs to mind as additional populations that drink a lot tea.

[Anonymous]

If it’s a major chain hotel, their sales rep/Food & Beverage manager can and should order whatever you want to serve. You absolutely can ask for substitutions/additions, etc. If they balk, simply say you’ll want them to provide carafes of hot water and you’ll bring tea bags.

Is it the Sheraton in Old San Juan? They should be able to order tea from their purveyor…or walk next door to cvs or Walgreens and buy something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for an org that is planning a multi-day event at a hotel in Puerto Rico. It is a large, major chain hotel in San Juan. Our meeting planner reviewed our food and beverage orders with the hotel today today, and since she and I are both tea drinkers, she confirmed what type of black/breakfast tea they serve. And the hotel told her that they don't have black tea. Not that they are out-- they just don't stock it at all. I told her that is unacceptable and they have to either get some, or discount our beverage service rate if I have to purchase tea for all of the tea drinkers at the event.

Am I being unreasonable to expect that a major hotel that hosts large events should have breakfast tea available? I am accustomed to being given limited/bad tea options at restaurants so I always carry some in my bag, but I've never been told by a hotel that they simply don't carry it.

I realize that in the grand scheme of life this is not a big deal, but I have been attending/managing conferences for 20+ years and this is not an issue I've ever dealt with.

Buy a big ol' box of Lipton from Giant and bring it with you and call it a day.

Would you say the same if a hotel said they didn't serve black coffee? Just bring a big ol' box of Nescafe?

I thought bringing a big box of tea is a great idea. And really, how many people drink tea? I think bringing one large box should more than cover it.

+1. It's not even that expensive. You can even bring a few boxes of different kinds of tea, if the hotel is not able to provide it. In fact, if they are so clueless about tea, whatever the hotel buys is probably not going to be good tea. So I would just bring a variety of good tea if you care that much.