Disappearing Breakfast

Interestingly, a couple of hotels I stayed in recently, gave me a free breakfast because I had high level status with their loyalty programs. Everyone else had to pay.

It was two different hotel companies as well.

I am sure that there are hotels in Europe that charge everyone for the same breakfast (also known as "free"), maybe it's the hotels I've stayed at but every place that offered breakfast had two room rates one with, one without "free" breakfast.

Interesting read. I do tend to like an included breakfast when staying domestically. Internationally, it depends on circumstances and location. But internationally I don’t tend to stay in the big brand hotels a lot. But I AM seeing a lot or instances of “breakfast or no breakfast” choice, with a pricing differential, on booking dot com. And sometimes I see it is included if you book direct, whereas it’s not if you book third party.

I think a lot of chain hotels are moving from "free" breakfast for all to free breakfast perk for loyalty members.

I'll be disappointed if complementary breakfasts disappear. On our most recent trip, our final stay was at a Radisson Blu and we appreciated the more North American style with the buffet breakfast. I still love the quaintness of some locally run Inns while in Europe but I do miss my creature comforts. If all else is equal I'll always take the hotel that offers breakfast, ice machine and mini fridge. Of those three, I value the ice machine the most, the mini fridge 2nd and then the breakfast.

I haven't stayed in a higher-end hotel domestically in ages; I have stayed at Marriott or Hampton Inn level hotels and I find their breakfasts truly dismal. Lots of plastic-wrapped processed white carbs, little or no fresh fruit, disposable everything. We "staycationed" at a Marriott in our town last summer when our AC was being repaired; there was only one room rate and breakfast was included. We got coffee, a small plate of (probably reconstituted) scrambled eggs for our dog, who was staycationing with us, and went elsewhere for an actual breakfast.

A lower end b&b or hotel in Europe has a much, much better breakfast, in my experience, than a mid range hotel in the US. Even if basic, they always have one or two fresh veggies or fruit, muesli, eggs, cheese, cold cuts, yogurt, juice and rolls. I would gladly pay extra for that.

We usually skip hotel breakfasts in the US. As long as my husband has coffee, he is good until we venture out and then we find somewhere to eat. In Europe though, we have had fantastic hotel breakfasts, but often times those come with an extra charge. The smaller inns and such do tend to go the extra mile for this.

Just over a year ago, we were staying at a very nice hotel in Amsterdam and breakfast was an extra 27 euro per person. My daughter found a promo on their instagram page that included breakfast. The breakfast was fabulous, and that was quite a cost savings!

I've been noticing that many of the places we've stayed at that had an included breakfast, now charge. My number one priority is always, clean, convenient location and price, but breakfast has always been a bonus, and sometimes a determining factor. We tend to stay at BnBs or small, local hotels. These places have tended to be more likely to have an included breakfast, and somewhat often reserved for those that book directly. In addition to saving some money, a hotel breakfast is such a convenience allowing us to get to our sight seeing efficiently and quickly often at opening time. (Yes, I know there is no such thing as a free lunch, or breakfast in this case)

The places I've noticed that now are charging for breakfast, are charging about 12 euros and up per person, and the room rate has stayed about the same. So, basically, its an increase in the room rate.

https://liveandletsfly.com/hampton-inn-largest-hotel-chain/ this may be apropos to the discussion. I came across an article by the Wall Street Journal yesterday but could not access it, entitled “ How Hampton Inn Built a Cult Around Its Free Waffles “. Hampton Inn is now the largest hotel chain in America. Can thirty million waffle eaters be wrong? I appreciate an included breakfast but coffee is paramount and ironically I don’t much care for waffles. We rarely eat much of a breakfast at home but when traveling we like to get it over with and hit the streets ready to sightsee. It makes for a pleasant start to the day and I like the” freebie “ feel even if it’s just my imagination.

As Kayla noted

A lower end b&b or hotel in Europe has a much, much better breakfast, in my experience, than a mid range hotel in the US

Domestically we are more likely to hit Starbucks (known quality and choices) than to participate in the carb-and-fat-festival in the hotel. (Remember when Embassy Suites did prepared to order? That was great!) In the US they can all disappear and we would not miss them but I would KILL for a Nespresso machine in my room.

We stay the Hotel Berna in part for that great breakfast spread and custom espresso drinks.

In the UK we usually repair to a Costa or Nero instead of paying £23 for a full English.

The value of 'free' breakfast might be of greater or lesser value depending on who you're traveling with? We very recently stayed in a large NYC Hilton 'combo' hotel (2 of their brands in one building; one a little more upscale/targeted to couples than the other) that was very busy with a diverse clientele; many guests from other countries, families, couples; some sizable traveling high-school groups, etc.

Breakfast was included with all rooms, and while we booked the hotel for other reasons, that breakfast was clearly a bonus for families with older children and those school groups. The amount of food I saw those young persons put away every morning was impressive, especially the boys! A considerable amount of fresh fruit, muffins and bagels also walked out the door (a no-no in the RS world) for later. The bill for a restaurant breakfast every morning - not to mention lunch, if that's what the extras were for - would have been considerable. As well, having to gather and herd those sizable school or larger multi-generational groups to a restaurant breakfast, finding enough seating, sorting the bill, etc. would have been a real PITA.

As a side note, not a single item was pre-wrapped. Every morning were eggs and potatoes of some form, bacon or sausage, 4 kinds of cold cereal, oatmeal, make-your-own waffles, toast, bagels, English muffins, blueberry and banana muffins. juice, yogurt with assorted mix-ins, bananas, oranges, apples, coffee, cow's and almond milk, Not too shabby. (I stuck mostly with cereal.)

@Denny, thanks for the link. I'm not suprised to read that about Hampton Inn breakfasts. I've always thought there's something about the word "free" that makes some primitive part of a person's brain take over and no matter what it is, they've got to have it. I agree that the Hampton Inn breakfasts are of a five dollar quality, and the gnarly waffle maker has never appealed to me, even when I ate a lot of white carbs. But when our kids were young, we certainly got our money's worth out of even the lamest of hotel breakfasts, so I can see the value of them to a large family. When we stayed at the Marriott last summer, there was a softball tournament in town with lots of families staying at the hotel, and the breakfast ladies were constantly refilling everything.

Now if breakfast is an Egg McMuffin it's worth it.

We have found B&Bs tend to have free breakfasts that are very high quality. Some offer omelettes or Eggs Benedict.

Regarding hotels, we have found in visiting third world countries (examples Egypt, Peru, Ecuador, etc. ) that we are on a tour and stay at a five star hotel where breakfast is included. Also, it is usually excellent.

In Europe, it varies, sometimes breakfast is included. Sometimes it is a glorified continental breakfast with no eggs, other times it is the full thing and good.

In the USA, the breakfast in a hotel frequently includes breakfast, but it may be very basic. We are Hilton Honors members as well as IHG members (Holiday Inn plus more). As members, we don't get a free breakfast unless it is free for everyone, which at Hilton, it usually is free.

I've never found European hotel breakfasts to be particularly worth the money or the calories. Even in more expensive European destinations, like London, we always choose to eat out instead of doing the hotel breakfast. There's only so many buffet eggs a person can eat in their lifetime.

One weird thing I've noticed in many American hotels now is that the lower priced hotels offer a free breakfast while the higher priced hotels often don't. Now of course the free breakfast is usually skimpy or low quality, but it is enough to get you started for the day. The higher end hotels have a very nice breakfast available in their restaurant, but you have to pay for it and the price is pretty steep.

I have a preference for aparthotels, then finding the grocery stores and making my own breakfast. Works out for me as an early riser. As I said I am not shopping for hotels based on whether they have breakfast, it's not a make or break issue for me. Though I do appreciate its availability and have selected those rates that includes breakfast when its not offered "complimentary". The benefit at least is I can tolerate waiting till 7-7:30 when the breakfast is served inhouse rather than going out to find a place that won't open till 9am.

While I like the idea of included breakfast--and sometimes there are no other price options noted so I assume it's truly included for all room levels--there is likely to be a few mornings where I need to be gone well before breakfast starts, or I know I won't have time for it, so I wouldn't go out of my way to pay for it. I always have Clif bars etc with me in case I really don't have time to find food.

I do not look for a hotel with breakfast included, if they offer, fine. I often though use Booking.com, and even if the hotel does not publicly offer a rate without breakfast, they may through booking. The savings can be significant, 25 euro per person/per night at some places.

But then, we prefer heading out for coffee (hotels rarely have good coffee, and rarely milk alternatives for a latte), check out bakeries, maybe get something light mid-morning, so it works for us. I know many strategize to eat a more than big breakfast to be able to skip or snack lunch, but I just never really understood the appeal. For them, this is bigger news than me.

An included breakfast is where i try all the things i would otherwise have had to seek out and pay for and not like and maybe even not knowing what they were.
Best to try black pudding at the hotel breakfast. Assorted cheeses many places save you from tracking them each down and buying more than you would eat. Various olives in Turkey. Yogurt. Assorted breads in Germany. In Asia many things you may not know to order, fish, noodles, Assorted pastries all over. Athens, Turkish coffee on the buffet, copper pot, hot sand, fine ground, terrible. I am glad I never had to seek that out and pay for it.
All this to try, maybe you only want a little bit. How is it? Not to want a restaurant and a whole plate.

If there's a mini-fridge and coffee/tea maker then no breakfast isn't such a big deal. Get some cereal, milk, and fruit and you're good to go. Sometimes the cost of a hotel breakfast is ridiculous for us because we don't eat that much.

Upon seeing the thread title, I was expecting either a crime story or a ghost story.

What a disappointment.

I was thinking about what happens over the course of about 30 minutes every morning.

Mr. E: Bowel movement?

I was all ready to say how much I enjoy the breakfasts in Europe where I stay. But opening up the link after reading all of your replies, I see the article is talking about chain hotels where I never stay unless it’s to be near the airport.

I have seen price options for breakfast or no breakfast for hotels in Spain on Booking. If I’m catching an early train, I choose the no breakfast option and just pick up a pastry & coffee in route.

I prefer hotels that charge for breakfast. I do a daily 16 hour fast (from dinner until lunch) and only have coffee at breakfast.

As long as Hotel Harmony in Ghent doesn't stop serving their amazing breakfast buffet. You can gain 5 pounds just looking at it.

-- Mike Beebe

As Milton Friedman said, “There is No Such Thing as A Free Lunch.”

Do you prefer an increase in price, or the end of Breakfast? How about 14 oz. packages that used to be a full pound? Do you remember 5 pounds of sugar and flour?

It has always been my experience that the price of a European breakfast is much too expensive if not "included" in the room rate. The items on the breakfast buffet are usually not my typical go to breakfast items, so it seems expensive for just some cereal, bread or some fruit. Also, I am not much of a big breakfast person. I prefer a larger lunch and a smaller dinner when out and about for the day.

An included breakfast is where i try all the things i would otherwise have had to seek out and pay for and not like and maybe even not knowing what they were.

That is the ideal, however, often the exception.

I recall at the end of our first month long trip "back in the day" being almost sick to our stomachs seeing another spread of bread, cheese, and cold cuts. I find an included breakfast is a nice treat once or twice a week, but daily messes with my routine too much, especially in countries where meals are shifted later. I can go seek out good examples of those things I want to eat, usually better than those off a hotel breakfast buffet. That said, have had some good breakfasts at small B and B's, but again, choose those places as a treat.

I prefer hotels that charge for breakfast. I do a daily 16 hour fast
(from dinner until lunch) and only have coffee at breakfast.

I'm the opposite, I rarely eat lunch, even at home. I have a large breakfast and then my next large meal is at about 5pm.

Interesting. I'm in the middle of planning a trip to the UK for next Spring. We don't necessarily look for breakfast at our lodging because we also like to explore the options in the area. However, of the 9 places I have booked, 7 of them include breakfast.

I have a large breakfast and then my next large meal is at about 5pm.

Same here, Allen. We'll pack along a protein bar or similar but otherwise skip lunch when we travel.

I prefer to rent apartments on my travels, but occasionally I’ll book a hotel for a night or two.
The first thing I look for is their reviews and photos of their breakfast!
Sounds crazy, but that’s me.
I absolutely love my breakfasts and if I’m going to be in a hotel, then it has to be a good one!
Especially in the UK with their amazing sausages…..
This year I’ll be in Paris for five nights in a hotel, as the vacation rental laws there preclude an apartment rental that may or may not exist when I arrive.
My hotel looks as if breakfast will be pretty good.

When I travelled for business, I was keen on getting a good breakfast. Some of the hotels I stayed in had mind-blowingly good breakfasts. I never got too carried away with them, but I did make sure I was not going to get hungry halfway through the morning. In China I learned to love a good congee with thousand-year egg, white pepper and vinegar. The coffee, even in top hotels, was often horrible. Worse than US coffee. Turkish breakfast. Now you are talking. The variety and quality of foods provided in a good hotel, epic.
In SE Asia, the fruits were always the star. So many of them, all fresh. Lovely. In Germany, I love a good fresh Brötchen with cheese and sweet butter, or good black cherry preserves..and a good cup of coffee. Sorry, no tomato for me.....
A thing that I have noticed is the trend away from the included breakfast. It used to be bread, butter, a bit of cheese and sausage, yogurt and possibly some fruit. It became more and more fancy to the point of silliness. Salmon, ham, cheeses, breads, bowls of fruit to go with the yogurt....even smaller family run places got into it. Hotels and others began charging extra for it, possibly due to the staggering cost of offering so much variety. Hey, I did not ask for caviar. I just want some jam with my Brötchen, butter and coffee.
What is mind blowing is to sit and watch how some people approach breakfast. There are people who load a plate to heaping and the then pick through it leaving half of it before going back to do it again, several times. There are people who build sandwiches and fill a bag with them and fruit and whatever they can carry out. In SE Asia, watching tour groups feed on the fruit is something you have to see to believe. I guess if you come from a place where an apple costs a small fortune, finding a whole tray of them offered can result in a feeding frenzy. Dragon Fruit, I'll take a dozen.
To survive the breakfast escalation, it makes sense for hotels to cut back on it. It's sad to see it go, but offering piles of free food to people who carry and pack it away without concern, it makes sense. We brought this on ourselves.

I've never really witnessed the breakfast buffet feeding trough frenzy. Not that I doubt it happens, I'm sure it does. My hotel stays where breakfast is included, it's at the associated restaurant without buffet, with table service and menu. I have to look back to 2018 staying at Hotel Reine Mathilde in Bayeux, with included and a continental breakfast buffet.

99 times out of 100 I'll simply do as the locals do in terms of breakfast: stop by the local bakery, greengrocer, cheese monger, etc. to cobble together my food. I'll pick up an espresso or latté at the local café. Then I'll find a place to sit down and enjoy everything.

I know that hotel breakfasts are convenient - and some are quite good, I must say - but part of experiencing a new place is diving into the local scene. Breakfast is one of the simplest exercises to do. Also: it's often a lot cheaper than the hotel's offering.

Just my $0.02. YMMV.

The ability to have cold cereal for breakfast every morning as I do at home is yet another reason we like AirBnB accommodations. Granted, the exact cereals in the bowl are likely different.

In general, we find breakfast is the meal at which our tastes diverge most from European norms. A full English is really nice for a few days, though.

We skip the breakfasts at the low-cost chain hotels. They feed you cheap carbs; waffles, cereals, bread, doughnuts, muffins.
In case we must stay at one of these places, we just enjoy the coffee in the morning and then we're out the door for sightseeing.
We need something substantial with protein and low-fat for breakfast.

What geovagriffith posted:

We have found B&Bs tend to have free breakfasts that are very high quality. Some offer omelettes or Eggs Benedict.

This is perfect for us. Just add fruit, yogurt, coffee or tea.
We find the small hotels and family run B&B's on the Rick Steves tours to be perfect for us, speaking both of rooms and breakfasts.

I won't forget my first proper fry up in Cork. There had been far too many Guiness the night before, a staggering amount. The fry up seemed to help me to overcome a bit of the related agony.
If I ever encounter a place that serves toasted English muffins and fried Spam and gallons of good black coffee, I'd make it a destination.

I only discovered English muffins when I had my first McDonalds breakfast in the 90's. English muffins aren't really English, funnily enough. There's similar pancake-y, crumpet-y items, but the English muffin is an American breakfast thing.

British expatriate Samuel Bath Thomas emigrated to New York in 1874 and opened a bakery.
The "Toaster Crumpet": He developed a thinner, pre-cut version of the crumpet, which he called a "toaster crumpet," later trademarking it as the English muffin.

There we go! Thanks Mr E!

Not to derail this thread further, but I have these for breakfast most days: https://www.warburtons.co.uk/products/pancakes-potato-cakes-and-muffins/4-toasting-muffins/

I think they are the same as an English muffin?

Yes, one and the same thing by the looks of it. Looks just like what you'd get filled as a Bacon Egg McMuffin or what have you.

But they are every bit English, originating in the early-18th century. That they became "English" was to differentiate them from the more recent sweet cakey concoction that is also now called muffin.

In her cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, from 1747, Hannah Glasse offered probably the first recipe for muffins. They were not something that you would have found in most cookbooks aimed at upper class households as in earlier decades. Glasse’s cookbook was intended to be used by domestic staff.

Glasse’s recipe for muffins - “To make Muffins and Oat-cakes. To a Bushel of Hertfordshire white Flour, take a Pint and half of good Ale-yeast, from pale Malt if you can get it, because it is whitest; let the Yeast lie in Water all Night, the next Day pour off the Water clear, make two Gallons of Water just Milk warm, not to scald your Yeast, and two Ounces of Salt, mix your Water, Yeast and Salt well together for about a quarter of an Hour, then strain it, and mix up your Dough as light as possible, and let it lie in your Trough an Hour to rise, then with your Hand roll it, and pull it into little Pieces about as big as a large Walnut, roll them with your Hand like a Ball, lay them on your Table, and as fast as you do them lay a Piece of Flannel over them, and be sure to keep your Dough covered with Flannel ; when you have rolled out all your Dough, begin to bake the first, and by that Time they will be spread out in the right Form; lay them on your Iron, as one Side begins to change Colour turn the other, and take great Care they don’t burn, or be too much discolored; but that you will be a Judge off in two or three Makings. Take Care the middle of the Iron is not too hot, as it will be, but then you may put a Brickbat or two in the middle of the Fire to slacken the Heat. The Thing you bake on must be made thus. Build a Place just as if you was going to set a Copper, and in the Stead of a Copper a Piece of Iron all over the Top fix’d in Form, just the same as the Bottom of an Iron Pot, and make your Fire underneath with Coal as in a Copper; observe, Muffins are made the same Way, only this, when you pull them to Pieces roll them in a good deal of Flour, and with a Rolling-pin roll them thin, cover them with a Piece of Flannel, and they will rise to a proper Thickness; and if you find them too big or too little, you must roll Dough accordingly, these must not be the least discolored. And when you eat them, toast them with a Fork crisp on both Sides, then with your Hand pull them open, and they will be like a Honey-Comb ; lay in as much Butter as you intend to use, then clap them together again, and set it by the Fire, when you think the Butter is melted turn them, that both Sides may be buttered alike, but don’t touch them with a Knife, either to spread or cut them open, if you do they will be as heavy as Lead, only when they are quite buttered and done, you may cut them across with a Knife. Note, Some Flour will soak up a Quart or three Pints more Water then other Flour, then you must add more Water, or shake in more Flour in the making up, for the Dough must be as light as possible."

The cooking and texture is every bit the “English muffin”.

John Mollard in his 1802 cookbook, The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined, gives a recipe for muffin pudding – “Muffin Pudding with dried Cherries. To a pint and a half of milk add a few coriander seeds, a bit of lemon peel, sugar to the palate, and boil them together ten minutes. Then put four muffins into a pan, strain the milk over them, and, when they are cold, mash them with a wooden spoon; add half a gill of brandy, half a pound of dried cherries, a little grated nutmeg, two ounces of jordan almonds blanched and pounded very fine, and six eggs well beaten. Mix all together and boil in a bason, or bake it in a dish with paste round it.”

Illustration of a muffin man - https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:12154

I'll go back to my corner

VAP....impressive and spot on.
Imagine (as I am) making a recipe that calls for a bushel of flour. Good grief. What an undertaking.
That is a massive quantity of flour that would yield a massive amount of muffins. That could most certainly feed a large number of hotel breakfast locusts.
Having just recently driven cross country here in the US, the reality for me is that I would appreciate a good cup of coffee more than I need to have a prepared breakfast. Most hotels offer something, waffles, sausage gravy and biscuits, a crappy bagel and cream cheese, a thimble of sugary yogurt, but what is lacking in some places is a decent cup of coffee. In one chain, they offered an instant coffee from a self-serve machine, in another, watery darkened hot water. It's like the early days of travel in Asia when coffee was simply not available, or if it was, it was swill. I would be fine with the end of complimentary breakfasts as long as a good cup of coffee is available.

Having just recently driven cross country here in the US, the reality for me is that I would appreciate a good cup of coffee more than I need to have a prepared breakfast.

Hotels who offer "free breakfast" try to keep costs way down on breakfast items. There is so much waste. People usually plate up more than they really eat and toss the remainder in the trash. Coffee, good coffee, is very expensive and if hotels purchased a higher quality of coffee, they would have to increase room rates. The hotel industry is very competitive especially with hotel chains which dominate the US marketplace.

I can't think of the last time I stayed in non-chain lodging in the US.

I know how much everyone loves a semi-tangential anecdote; I saw my Member of Parliament, the Right Honourable Diane Abbott, tucking into a McDonalds McMuffin a while back. I didn't say hello as she was getting stuck in and I didn't want to disturb her.

We just had a cross-cultural breakfast experience with back-to-back stays in Marriott properties in Portland, OR and Frankfurt, Germany.

At the Residence Inn in PDX, we walked into the breakfast room and did an immediate u-turn taking a 15 minute walk to Starbucks. Included or not, there was nothing we were willing to eat at the hotel except, maybe, weak coffee and an orange. Even the bananas were crap.

Two days later…

At the Frankfurt Airport Marriott, we encountered a buffet that makes the one at the Hotel Berna in Milano look like a Junior Achievement project. Massive, with endless choices, made-to-order omelets, exceptional service by the staff. We even had espresso drinks self-service or on demand from the staff. No cheap, weak, brewed coffee here. Feeding so many people so well and so quickly (planes and trains to catch!) is not easy. This may be our go-to in Frankfurt as we pass through there somewhat frequently.

just to steal the thread a bit, I haven't seen one recently but a few years back there were people who thought they were oh so clever and would "visit" hotel breakfasts where they weren't a guest. which of course just increases costs and makes it more likely a hotel will dump the program altogether.

If you really love hotel breakfast, I would suggest researching hotel loyalty programs to find out what level you have to be to get one for free, it might not be that hard to qualify. I have whatever level of Hilton thanks to my Amex Platinum and I always get free food. And two free bottles of water upon arrival!

We also typically rent apartments when we travel with family so everyone can caffeinate and have whatever breakfast they need (or not), but my husband and I have stayed at Smeraldo in Rome a couple of times and REALLY enjoy the made-to-order cappuccino and extensive spread they offer. Given the amount of coffee we drink, that is quite a value!