Hotel Breakfasts

I hope you'll get info on if this is a policy change, but even in the "before" times, this is why I usually rent an apartment. (Neither a pastry nor a buffet are the type of breakfast I need.) Are you there long enough to justify doing so?
Are you going through a website like Booking.com? Perhaps you can select for breakfast and get results.

I am in the process of rebooking for April/May 2022 and finding the same. I have noticed that often there is no price difference now on booking.com listings for example. I have emailed a few of the hotels and inquired about what their bkft consists of- some have sent a menu that you can select from, your selection will then be delivered to your room or to bkft area. Others indicate they offer packaged pastries, etc.

I do wonder if the self serve bkft buffet will be colateral damage from COVID and I can certainly see why. It is disappointing to us as well since we love a big bkft with protein and that is hard to find out in a cafe. A sweet pastry and coffee just doesn't cut it.

When we traveled in the US this summer, we were also offered “breakfast in a box” that we had to order the night before. There were no breakfast buffets anymore. This may be the trend for a while due to covid.

Yes this is the response I have received, a limited menu that can be delivered to the room for a small additional charge.

Vala: We do beach and ski trips domestically where we rent condo's and sometimes houses, and of course "eat in" most of the time. Most of our stops on a Europe trip are 2-4 nights, and my wife would leave me if I suggested shopping for groceries other than to picnic! To us the hotel breakfast is an important benefit of the trip, convenient and "different" from home. Try to stay at "Rick's" hotels and always meet interesting folks.

haha, I'm the opposite--I hate talking to people in the morning and love going to shops to stock up for breakfast. I will surely miss some of the gourmet breakfasts I have had at B&Bs though--I wonder if they are enacting the same restrictions as large places with buffets? I'd be fine with a delivery if it was of quality items. A prepackaged pastry, not so much. And those pod coffee machines, the horror.
Oh well, as least we are able to travel!

Some of the places I have been this summer and fall have drastically modified their breakfast offerings; a couple have kept the buffet the same.

It’s just part of the Covid reaction. I wouldn’t spend time now tracking down a hotel based on breakfast as things may change again by next March. There is just no certainty — except the certainty that things are not the same.

We have had breakfasts in Italy at two hotels this fall. One was a half-pension situation in the Alto Adige and one at an NH hotel in Torino. In Torino they had a server putting items on the plates for us, but in the Alto Adige it was self-service as usual.

We are in Paris now and breakfast is a buffet as usual as it was in Switzerland.

Maybe make reservations that are cancellable in case you find something that more suits your needs.

Breakfasts were a casualty of covid. In Italy at least, the breakfast room is treated like a restaurant for covid measures, so space becomes an issue as well as added requirements.

When we were there in September, one hotel had just restarted doing breakfast, another would bring coffee and pastry to your room, yet another gave out slips good for a coffee and pastry at a shop down the street, some just stopped all together.

One that did still do breakfast had you indicate what you wanted, a buffet, but the server assembled your plate for you.

I think that they will come back in time, just depends on when measures in place are retracted.

Myself, I can take it or leave it, if I get a discount for not taking breakfast, or have to pay extra, I usually skip it.

I was in Italy for about 3 weeks - late Sept to mid Oct (came back at the beginning of last week.) All of the hotels I stayed at offered breakfast, but I mostly stayed at large chain hotels (Hilton and Marriott) because I have status so I get free breakfast, upgrades, etc. There were some where I was allowed to serve myself at the buffet and others where I had to tell the hotel staff what I wanted and they would make a plate for me. I also like having hotel breakfast - it's just an easy way to get coffee and some food in me before attacking the day! At the smaller non-chain hotels, there was still breakfast, but I had to tell the front desk when I wanted to eat and at one place, I had to fill out a form with what I wanted for breakfast.
I'm not sure where in Italy you're going or what your budget is, but there is still hotel breakfast in Italy! As far as Bologna goes, I stayed at the AC Hotel (Marriott). Didn't love the location, but the breakfast was nice :)

Some Italian hotel breakfast rooms can be small, not very Covid-ready, especially when not a purpose-built hotel, and since a big breakfast is not a big tradition there.

The hotel having breakfast included in the room cost is a big deal for us too. I really enjoy the difference of foods and the slow start to the day. I don't know if choosing a hotel that serves breakfast outside as opposed to a small indoor room would make a difference?

Funny you should post this because I was going to submit a thread about how relieved I was that the hotel breakfast remained unchanged, at least at our hotel in Nice. We also love a good hotel buffet breakfast, and when we move from hotel to hotel we love working out how to get the coffee or tea, what's on offer, etc. I was so thrilled our breakfast was exactly as I hoped.

It's hard being home. No kindly woman laying my breakfast out with a smile...

Just like hotels in the states, a numbers of hotels that used to serve or offer breakfasts no longer do. A sign of the times, but will force you to go find that good local pastry shop.

I know that the B&B we are staying in in Venice is not offering breakfast through 2021. We have a suite with a small kitchenette in the B&B, so we will manage, but I do love having breakfasts provided when I travel. The hotels we are staying at in Verona, Florence, and Orvieto ARE providing breakfast still, but in Rome we are renting an apartment. So, it seems to vary, probably depending on the size of the facilities and the ability of the establishment to meet Covid restrictions.

I just got back from 3 weeks in Italy (stayed at 5 places) & though different from before, all did offer breakfast. Multiple places offered the same type food as usual (rolls, meat, cheeses, yogurt, granola, cereal, etc) but not self serve. One place asked you to fill out a request form the night before telling them what you’d like so they could have it ready. All served in some kind of breakfast room or patio.

The place in Varenna even packed me a nice brown bag breakfast when I was going to have to leave extra early to work around a train strike day. It was really nice to have things to graze on during a long & potentially stressful travel day!

Well, this should be interesting. Every reservation we have in Italy is supposed to include breakfast. We were in Switzerland in August. One hotel had the normal buffet, and the other had a small buffet with only one party allowed in the room at a time and then you could order eggs on the side.