A former hotel employee has advised passengers to avoid these items when eating buffet breakfast in the hotel.
Brandi Augustus (36 years old, from Knoxville, Tennessee) started working in the hospitality industry in 2005. She worked in the front desk and night audit. At first, Augustus worked for a high-end hotel chain, then to more budget hotels.
In November, she caught the attention of millions on Tiktok for her advice on hotel foods to avoid, especially in budget hotels.
What should be avoided when having breakfast at the hotel?
Brandi advises guests not to eat meat, sausages or cakes and bread at the breakfast buffet.’
Brandi said: “The way they handled the bread and cakes was to make me stop eating those things while staying at the hotel and have to come up for something. Breads and pastries are often ‘recycled’ and sifted for reuse for days.”
“You know, they don’t use gloves, don’t know if their hands are clean and those items were kept from the buffet breakfast the day before. Who knows how many hands touched those items.” She added.
She also took issue with the quality of the meat at the hotel’s breakfast buffet. She said: “Stay away from meat. Sausage turns color and is no longer fresh, immediately discard it.”
The worst incident involving hotel breakfasts involved waffle dough, Brandi said. She said: “When I was asked to smell the waffle dough to check if it worked, I lost all hope. By that time, the dough had already shown signs of slight deterioration, but the container was more than half full, so instead of wasting the old powder, I was told to just mix in the new powder to cover the bad smell.”
Brandi said she reported some issues to her manager, but with no results.
“They don’t care,” she said. “They’ll say they’re done with the safety tests, to make sure the quality of the food doesn’t harm anyone.”
“I didn’t report it to the food safety authorities. The health inspectors would never come during my shift and I feel that, if I did report it, Outside of working hours, my work will be turbulent.”
Brandi also advises you not to touch the sample meat in cheap hotels
Brandi admits, as a mother of two, working shifts with no restaurants open, she will have breakfast at the hotel but will definitely be selective. “I’ll only eat what I make myself fresh, like fresh waffle mix or unopened pastries,” she says.
Now, after 15 years in the industry, she has switched careers and works as a coordinator at a social justice nonprofit. However, her previous jobs still make her think when booking a hotel somewhere.
She said: “I try not to stay in the hotels where I work… But overall, food service seems to be a gamble these days.”
She added: “The chance of getting food poisoning is lower, if you choose a dish where you can see with your own eyes how they prepare it. So always choose an omelette.”
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