Why Hotels Keep Getting Coffee Wrong – A Review of RACV Cape Schanck
This blog was originally published in January 2019.
Running an online business means working weekends and public holidays. Like bakers, fishermen, and dairy producers, freshness never stops. That’s why we only take a short break at Christmas when shipping halts.
This year, we chose the RACV Cape Schanck Resort for a few days of luxury. The breakfast buffet was impressive, but once again, the coffee setup ruined the experience.
The Problem with Hotel Coffee
Most hotels rely on Nespresso machines instead of investing in quality coffee solutions, or they have commercial cafe style espresso machines sitting idle in a corner area operated by unskilled staff.
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Guests pay premium room rates ($600+ per night) but are offered capsule coffee.
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“Paid upgrade” options often use stale supermarket brands, or worse, imported from Europe.
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Machines produce tepid milk froth and inconsistent flavour.
For coffee lovers, this feels like a betrayal—especially when hotels promote local food sourcing but ignore coffee quality.
Nespresso in Hotels – Why It Fails
At Cape Schanck at Xmas 2019, two large commercial Nespresso machines (known as Professional series) were stationed in the breakfast bar: These are different from the typical home Nespresso capsule machine as they use a higher dose capsule.
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Capsules offered in confusing colour‑coded displays, difficult to read.
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Long queues as guests struggled to choose capsules, obviously seeking the strongest cup flavor.
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Machines frequently ran out of milk or displayed error lights requiring bins or tanks emptied.
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Coffee tasted weak, bitter, or dominated by leathery robusta notes.
Even the strongest capsules produced flavours of wood, tar, and leather. Milk was lukewarm, leaving guests disappointed.
It might be easy to think I'm just a coffee snob spoilt by my own delicious tasting coffee, but I can and do act objectively when assessing coffee - it's my job to review coffee all week, every week.
Why Batch Brew is Better
Modern batch brew systems (filter, drip, or percolator) can deliver:
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Consistent, hot coffee.
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Better flavour clarity than capsule machines.
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Lower environmental impact (no capsule waste).
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Efficiency equal to or better than Nespresso stations.
Hotels miss a huge opportunity to differentiate by offering quality batch brew coffee instead of following the capsule trend.
The Guest Experience
For coffee lovers, the morning ritual is sacred. Poor coffee can ruin the day before it begins.
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Guests queue impatiently for capsules.
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Staff spend time refilling machines instead of serving.
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Environmental waste piles up from aluminum pods.
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Premium pricing feels unjustified when coffee is an afterthought.
My Solution – Bring Your Own Coffee
After repeated disappointments, I now travel with:
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A stovetop brewer for reliable espresso (needs a heat source in the room), or a plunger/French Press.
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Nespresso‑compatible capsules (classic size) roasted by us at mycuppa.
Disclaimer: Our mycuppa Nespresso‑compatible capsules are not suitable for the commercial systems used at RACV resort breakfast bars, but do work in the room machines.
Final Thoughts
Hotels like RACV Cape Schanck invest heavily in food and design but neglect coffee.
For 93% of coffee drinkers who rely on milk‑based drinks, capsule systems deliver only lukewarm froth and mediocre flavour.
Coffee deserves the same respect as food. Until hotels embrace batch brew or specialty coffee solutions, guests will continue to feel short‑changed.
