Served from 7am-10am

I would not say that our standards are very high when it comes to picking hotels when we travel. It comes down to a basic few criteria that we are looking for:

1. Is it under $100 per night?
2. Does it at least appear to have been cleaned?
3. Is there a bed?

When all of three are met, we book it. In my mind, we spend the least amount of time in the hotel when we are on a trip and I would much rather spend my money on things like delicious meals, fancy gourmet mustards or yet another perfect pair of shoes. (This last trip, they were houndstooth flats, with a bow! Impossible to pass up.)

Sometimes, we get lucky are able to meet all three of our hotel must-haves and we get some added bonuses. But really, things like HBO and a pool are lost on Grant and me since I a) Netflix anything I want to watch from HBO anyway and b) choose not to be seen in public in a bathing suit. Regardless, when we book a hotel that offers these features, our eyes still light up as we excitedly say to the other, "Oooo, they have HBO and a pool!"

I don't quite get it either.

However, there is one added amenity that we will utilize: Free Continental Breakfast. It is the only time ever in the world of food that a pre-packaged butter horn can taste good.

We have had many different experiences with continental breakfast. On our honeymoon in Italy, despite having some very obvious perks, overall it was an odd free-dining experience to say the least. One of those perks for sure was an actual person hovering around the dining area at the ready to make you a fresh cappucino on demand. The other was the single servings of Nutella to spread on toast. Um, yes please!

What I had trouble with were the strange platters of mystery lunch meats and strange cheeses wrapped in foil. For me, things like that just don't go well with my cereal and OJ.

Hands down, the best continental breakfast we ever had was at the Embassy Suites in San Luis Obispo a few years ago. First of all it was a full hot breakfast buffet. Also, it was more than just free – Grant and I did not even stay the night there. My brother-in-law and his family stayed there and Grant and I just happened to find our way to a table with a plate full of food and no one happened to check room keys. Was it wrong? Probably. But on that particular trip our hotel of choice missed the above mentioned marks, if you will. In fact, when we checked into our room I actually asked this question aloud: "Why is the carpet moist?" We deserved that breakfast, stolen or otherwise.

On our most recent trip to SLO, our breakfast experience was fairly standard. Two kinds of cereal, a bowl full of hard boiled eggs, room temperature OJ and a variety of toasts and jams. The only significance being that at this particular breakfast I tried orange marmalade for the first time and it was delightful. In fact, at one point during the consumption of my newly discovered favorite way to eat toast, I think I blacked out for a moment while I dreamed of all the other things that would taste good with some orange marmalade slathered on top: shortbread cookies, pork chops, or my spoon. I also imagined how much more delicious it would have been on the toast combined with one of those individual packets of Nutella from Italy and a fresh cappucino.

Throw in a butter horn, HBO and a pool and you're really talkin'.