Large capacity storage for water and coffee beans. 1.72 Gallons of Water. 2.1 Pounds of Coffee Beans.
Simple dispensing options for Espresso, Cafe American and Hot Water.
Negative Product Points
This machine delivers quite a bit of coffee ground sediment in each shot. The plastic brew group doesn't seem to be exceptionally sturdy or precise.
Using factory default settings, the espresso comes out a bit tepid. Only by raising the temperature setting to maximum does the unit provide a sufficiently warm cup of espresso.
For a double or triple shot of espresso, one must wait for the previous shot to finish before selecting another shot. It isn't possible to simply press the espresso (small coffee) button multiple times for multiple shots.
No area to warm cups.
No milk frothing option.
Too tall to fit under most cabinets.
Detailed Commentary
The Saeco Royal Office is the semi-commercial espresso machine designed for high volume office use. The design philosophy behind it stresses speed and ease of use over having a myriad of features. Unique to this machine, Saeco deliberately left off a frothing wand because of the skill level required and the extra time involved for each user to finish a turn. The Royal Office also offers a optional vending coin box, in case the owner wants to charge each user individually. It hold about 220 oz. of water anf over 2 pounds of coffee beans for extended use.
Since this is my first espresso machine, so I don't have any basis for comparison of quality. That said, the Saeco Royal Office seems a little cheaply made. The plastic brew group looks no different from any other Saeco I've seen, and the pump is a bit loud for an office environment.
Due to the size of the machine, I also ended up buying the matching "Mobiletto" stand for an additional $204 w/shipping. The Mobiletto base unit offers cup dispensing options for impossible to find cup sizes. There is also an optional dump chute that replaces the traditional dump box with a direct to garbage bag solution for the used pucks.
Buying Experience
I bought this machine on eBay for what I thought was a great price ($510.00), but I ultimately had to send it in for service before it would operate. There was no water in the pump or internal lines and it was vapor locked. I tried every procedure Saeco recommended, but it had to be disassembled to solve the problem. Somewhere in the service shipping process, the unit received a small cosmetic crack. Even though I live in the fourth largest city in the USA, Saeco does not offer a local service center.
