American Mid: Hampton Inn’s Good-Enough Formula for World Domination

There’s a reason Hampton Inn has become the largest hotel chain in the United States. It’s the waffles. No, really—it’s the waffles. Last year, the chain produced more than 2 million gallons of sweet, gooey batter, enough for satisfied customers to make 30 million waffles on Hampton Inn’s iconic self-serve irons :

When Hampton standardized hot breakfast, customers noticed. By the time its competitors followed suit, execs had decided to test additional options. One contender included a sausage rolled in scrambled eggs, then rolled again in pancake batter. Test crews called this good-morning turducken “breakfast on a stick,” though they could have just called 911.

This is where the waffles came in. Nowadays, a typical Hampton has two irons. One has the classic waffle shape, divided into four slices, while the other yields four circular mini waffles to limit food waste and help guests with portion control. The batter has been extensively tested to find the one customers like best—lightly sweetened, with a creamy, aromatic hint of vanilla and a touch of buttered toast. They say similar testing is required before they’ll introduce limited-edition flavors; these have included pumpkin spice, red velvet and a glitter-flecked strawberry batter released in partnership with Paris Hilton, whose great-grandfather founded Hampton’s parent company.

But the most important function of a Hampton waffle seems to be as a scaffold for ample toppings. If you don’t like the whipped cream, syrup and strawberry slices, Hampton bets it’ll get you with the rainbow sprinkles and caramel sauce.

“Everybody’s like, ‘Oh, waffles are just for kids,’” says Buckley. “It’s surprising how many men in suits will pretend nobody’s looking and grab their little waffle.”