The Incredible Shrinking Breakfast...

...or another story about the recession. We were in Washington D.C. this past weekend and stayed at the Doubletree Guest Suites near the Mall. Pleasant place, nothing fancy but great when you're traveling with kids. We arrived on Friday and the next morning, as is the norm, went downstairs in search of the continental breakfast that hotels of this genre usually provide. It was a small spread of muffins, danishes, some cereal, tea and coffee. Not disappointed, we helped ourselves before heading out on the museum rounds. The meal just seemed to be a smaller version of the continental breakfast we have had before on numerous other road trips - perhaps an urban-sized version? But the hotel foyer was small here and we had to dance around other breakfasting guests as we filled our cups and plates. One of the other guests sighed and told me that he stayed at the hotel very often. Upto last year, they had had a much bigger spread laid out in a bigger room, with more items such as boiled eggs and toast. "And there was breakfast everyday," he sighed. "Now it's just this and it's only on weekend mornings."