The Good Sandwich Hypothesis

 

Glitz in Vegas but terrible service and bad pillows

Sketchy shipping container in NZ with incredibly nice bed inside

I first came up with the “Good Sandwich” hypothesis while traveling around the world. After a long day of travel, I would stumble into a medium-sized town, desperately in need of a bed and a shower and a good meal. I would browse the local directory for lodging and food in some little Spanish or Australian or Norwegian town and a pattern emerged in the listings. When I eliminated the places I obviously couldn’t afford and the places that were too decrepit even for my basic tastes, there would be three or four affordable yet nice places on the list to eat or sleep. I always chose the food place with pictures of sandwiches and I always chose the hostel or hotel with a photo of the shower head and/or unlimited wifi. I began to call my selection process the “Good Sandwich” hypothesis. 

I realized that the most comfortable places to eat and stay were the ones that did the basic things well. The service industry is highly competitive, with numerous competing design trends and styles always shaking up the tastes of the customer or tourist. While chasing customers, some places go for the hip styles, current colors or some other flashy feature to make them stand out. But the flash often disguises the fact that their product is not very good. The gimmick will get people in the door, but it won’t make them return. If you want contented, cheerful return customers, particularly in a tourist town, you need to satisfy the basics. You can lose a shocking amount of business from return customers with small issues like a shower head being mounted nine inches too low. I know because I ditched entire hotel chains because of two bad shower experiences. Goodbye Holiday Inn, hello Comfort Inn.  

Modern travelers are fickle creatures, accustomed to comfort and certain standards, myself included. Every human living or traveling in most first world countries needs four things; a comfortable bed, a decent shower, a filling meal and access to the internet. Since the smartphone 5G revolution has taken off since I first started hitchhiking, wifi is not as crucial as it used to be, but let's say that connection via the internet in any form now counts as important. But a fluffy pillow, warm shower and an affordable, filing meal will sway even the most cynical traveler. Likewise, a bad night of sleep or a scarce meal will chase out return customers too fast, depriving a community of much needed income.  

When I would arrive in a hostel or hotel, there would be advertisements abound for all the services offered by the lodge. All the luxuries of life from group activities, flat screen tv’s, shuttle services, etc. It was shocking how many places advertised luxury but could not offer a solid ten minute hot shower. I understand that America has a slightly different set of rules and expectations to live by, but there are similar basic needs that are overlooked just as often. 

Everyone needs to eat. I see this happen consistently in American towns. There are seven restaurants often competing for a population that can really only support three restaurants. So many focus on the things that aren’t as important. A fancy neon sign in the window, a menu with curly, nigh-unreadable fonts designed by a hip graphic designer, a selection of entrees that are spelled in French or German or whatever, a quarter million dollar renovation of the space to make an atmosphere that is so dim you can barely see the other side of the table. Unless you own a Michelin star restaurant, you do not need to give your sirloin steak and asparagus a fancy name. If you think you need an exotic name, really you need to improve your cooking and your serving size. 

It doesn’t matter how many spicy aioli sauces you offer if the burger you are selling is inferior in cooking quality, too small to fill a man’s stomach or the side salad has less density than a down pillow. Or, if the restaurant isn’t open when people need food. Thus, I came up with the “Good Sandwich Hypothesis.”

Sandwiches are a staple of every societal income level. A quality sandwich can be made from simple or fancy ingredients. The menu options that are available to go on a sandwich are infinite. Centuries of practice have optimized the standard size of a sandwich to be perfectly filling for any normal meal. The ingredients can be easily mixed and matched, they store for long periods of time and the basic heating of a sandwich in a toaster oven somehow adds a level of sophistication and ecstasy in eating that seems magical. A sandwich can be made by just about anyone from middle school to the nursing home with minimal training in a very short amount of time. No fancy chef needed. No refrigerated delivery flying in from Seattle every other day. No need for lots of silverware; most sandwiches can be eaten with your hands. A sandwich can be eaten at any meal of the day, thus opening hours can be consistent. Every town’s first restaurant should be a sandwich shop. 

The same principles go for lodging. It is different in the luxury realm of travel, but in the middle class, where a predominant number of travelers reside, sticking to the basics will fuel consistent business and profit. Once you have mastered the basics, then focus on the gimmicks. This is the “Good Sandwich” hypothesis. To recap…

Is your restaurant open when people are hungry?

Does the meal fill them up?

Can they start or end the day with a long hot shower without craning their neck?

Will they get a good night's sleep with a proper pillow?

Do they have access to the Internet if they need it, either to communicate with home or just watch a movie?

If yes to all those items, they will come back again and again. If not, they may not come back at all and will not recommend others to come back. 

And that’s all I have to say about that.

A pretty but very uncomfortable bed in Yuma, AZ hotel