Donna

Because this forum has been so helpful to me in the past, here is another question for all seasoned Paris travelers. I notice that most Paris hotels quote a price for their breakfasts. The Hotel Muguet (where I will be staying) quotes a price of 35FF for breakfast. All of the travel books I have read (including Fodor's) state that the hotel assumes you will be having breakfast at the hotel, unless you tell them otherwise. I've also read that one can get a better breakfast (quality and value) at someplace other than the hotel. I've found this to be true in the U.S. Here are my questions. If I do not state my preferences regarding breakfast, will be automatically charged whether I eat there or not? Do I need to inform them of this fact in advance of my arrival, or can it wait until check in? Thank you again for your helpful suggestions!

Lori

I don't know about anyone else but unless breakfast is actually included in your room rate (and in most cases it is not, as in yours) if you do not go you do not pay. We've never had a problem with this (but you can check your bill carefully to be sure). Personally, I prefer eating at the hotel and then going back to the room to collect our stuff for the day (& use facilities!!) and go on out then. Breakfasts can range from so-so to quite good. Last year at our hotel we had a selection of pastries, cheeses, meat, cereals, juice, coffee, etc. for 50FF - it was very good, we ate there every morning. <BR>

Jill

I never had a hotel assume I was eating there and charge me for it. If it is included in the room rate you will be charged if you eat or not, but if it is separate no.

Richard

Over the last 10 years we've been to Paris 8 or 9 times, staying at a hotel on the I'le St.Louis or the Place de la Madeleine. The traditional le petit dejeuner (sp) is coffee, croissants and rolls, with butter and jam. However, on our last trip in May our Madeleine hotel had a more 'German' breakfast, the above and in addition eggs(you cook to your order in boiling water), meats and cheese. I agree with Lori, we could not find breakfast cheaper elsewhere and it is convenient. I would advise the desk clerk if you don't intend to have breakfast at the hotel, as a courtesy.

Thyra

Donna, I always like having the breakfasts, but I have always specified that with the correspondence I send. As a rule of thumb, I always state how many people, with our without bath or shower and with or without b-fest. Even at bed and breakfasts in the UK. That way there is less chance of misunderstanding.

Christina

I have never had a hotel charge me automatically for a breakfast if I didn't eat it except when it was included in the basic rate (true in more hotels outside of Paris, in my experience); I have never had it in hotels where it is added on, so am not quite sure how it works, but I think you sign a slip when taking it or something so it gets added to the bill; they do verify with me on checkout that I had no breakfast/things from minibar, etc. As for whether you can get it cheaper, that depends IMO; there is a rather rock-bottom travel expenditure attitude, which I do not ascribe to on my travels, that you should buy the cheapest things possible and not enjoy sitting in a nice restaurant or cafe if you can buy some food product off the shelf cheaper; this train of thought proposes you buy pastries directly from a store or bakery and eat them on the street corner or on the run or something. If you do that, it will be cheaper than the hotel, that is probably true, and if you regard a meal as simply a way to put some food inside you as quickly as possible, that's the way to go (although not as great in bad weather). I do not have that attitude, and enjoy reading the paper and a leisurely breakfast and have a favorite cafe near where I usu. stay that I prefer for breakfast, so I go there arhter than the cafe. But it is not cheaper than the hotel, and I happen to know of a cafe that is very close and convenient; often there won't be one. You are going to be hard-pressed to find a complete breakfast for 35F in any cafe in central Paris, I think (I have never seen it that cheap as coffee is usually about 25F and one croissant maybe 10F). The few hotels I did have breakfast in because it was included in the rate had a very nice breakfast that was much better than the corner cafe for the price and variety. I don't stay in real cheap hotels, however, which may give you terrible breakfasts to save money--but I do stay in 2-3 star places, not luxurious ones. Breakfasts in US hotels are not really comparable to the idea in Parisian hotels IMO as including breakfast in a room rate is just not the norm in the US, so the breakfast is usu. either vending machine junk at motels (ie, Days Inn) or overpriced hotel restaurant fare. This isn't the same thing as the breakfast room in a 2-3 star Parisian hotel. In any case, you don't need to tell them before getting there, and even when there, you should be able to decide on a daily basis; you might change your mind if there is no good cafe right nearby and it looks good in the hotel. If the hotel has a good breakfast, this can be more convenient and save time in comparison to going out. I'm not sure what travel books say about this assumption stuff, but I think that's an outdated concept stemming from days when it was much more common for Parisian hotels to include it in your rate automatically. In fact, no hotel that I've heard known to have an optional breakfast ever gives you something that requires cooking, so they don't need to know that much ahead of time(ie, there will probably only be cereal,bread products, fruit perhaps, and maybe cold cuts/cheese if they are catering to Germans or Austrians or Dutch).

Lori

I didn't mention in my post that in all the places we've stayed in Paris over many trips when we went into the breakfast room we'd just give the person behind the desk/counter our room number and he/she would tick it off..it would then show up on our bill that Room #22 had two breakfasts@50FF each (or whatever the price was). Christina is right about people saving money eating a pastry on the run - sure they may save a few francs but they are missing the experience of sitting down and having breakfast and starting the day off in a nice manner which is important on vacation I think. Unless you are running to catch a plane or something relax and enjoy the moment. I enjoy my coffee and breakfast at a table in a pleasant room and not eating on a street corner! Incidentally in most hotels in Paris you can have continental breakfast delivered to your room at a specific time. You fill out a card and turn it in or hang it on your door. That is usually a simple breakfast like coffee/tea and a roll/croissant & juice. Usually it is a couple of francs less then eating in the breakfast room because you get less.

Meg

Regarding breakfast: remember that it costs more to sit down and eat than stand up and eat. I personally don't find standing up to eat very pleasurable and don't forget you're on vacation. <BR> <BR>If I may make another note: while it doesn't apply directly to the question, I personally would find it helpful for the person who said they've been to Paris for the last 8 years (indicating a stay at different hotels) to mention which hotels they were pleased with and perhaps especially those who included breakfast that they were pleased with.

patti

Donna-Hi! This forum has helped me a lot too and I have so much more to learn! So, I have lots of questions! <BR>I wanted to know when are you going to stay at the Hotel Muguet? I have booked for late June 2001. The rate list shows breakfast for 45FF and you said 35-has it gone up? <BR>Also, I would LOVE to hear what you think of the Hotel Muguet. Would you mind letting me know about it? Is it convenient to get around from there, what was your room like, was there enough room, what was the breakfast like? Those would be my main questions-any info. would be appreciated! Have a great time! Thanks-Patti

Al

Let me rain on your parade. Breakfast in a small French hotel is a pitiful culinary pitstop. Please, Francophiles, hold your razzberries while I explain. It consists of a smallish glass of an ersatz sour orange juice, a croissant, an 8-piece of French bread, butter (in a plastic tub or wrapped in foil), jam (in a little glass jar), coffee-tea-or-chocolate. Make sure you order cafe au lait--otherwise you get a noxious tar-like substance that will remove tooth enamel. Pour on the hot milk. Add sugar. And stir forever (European sugar doesn't seem as strong as American, so pour it on if you like your coffee on the sweet side). Be prepared for lots of crumbs from the croissant and the bread. Your table will be a mess. But it's a start for the day. Bacon? Eggs? Ham? Are you kidding? Never. Pancakes? Waffles? Meats or fish? Friends, you must travel to Holland or Germany if you want something in the heroic line for breakfast. The French excuse for a breakfast is no big deal, as you will discover. And it's the same from Marseille to Strasbourg, from Brest to <BR>Rouen--been there, done that, had them all.

Donna

We stayed at Hotel Muguet in June. Breakfast was 45F/person and included the hot beverage of your choice (coffee, tea, chocolate), orange juice, croissant, rolls, butter and preserves. In my opinion, the coffee at any of the neighboring cafes is far superior. Normally, I enjoy coffee before I'm dressed, so we ordered the breakfast to be delivered to our room the first morning. After that, we dressed and headed for a nearby cafe instead. There are choices in every direction. Rue Cler (of Rick Steves fame) is very nearby with a magnificent crepe stand and several cafes. If you leave the Muguet and walk over to LaMotte Picquet and go right, you'll run into LaSource which has terrific crepes (buckwheat) along with breakfast specials that include eggs, bacon, sausage, omelettes, etc. If you go left, La Terrasse, a lovely cafe on Place de l'Ecole Militaire also serves breakfasts with eggs and so forth. There are other choices galore. When we checked out, only the one breakfast we ordered was included on our bill.

Maira

I have stayed at the Muguet and what they do is they ask you for the room number when you are seated. We left very early one day and had breakfast on the road and it was not included with the hotel bill.

Lori

I hate to spoil Al's day, but we had some very decent breakfasts in 3 star hotels in France. Last year at Residence Hotel Trocadero, 3 Ave. Raymond Poincare (at Trocadero) they had a counter set up with a selection of 4 or 5 kinds of pastries, a selection of harder type rolls, croissants, 2 kinds of cold cereal, a tray of various cheeses, a tray of what I would call lunch meat (did not eat these), a large bowl of fruit (bananas, oranges, etc.), coffee, tea, milk, toast/toaster, orange juice (as much as you wanted) - you just helped yourself and could eat as much as you wanted. Last yr. it was 50FF per person. This was a small hotel with no more than about 35 rooms. On other visits to Paris we've had breakfasts of about the same, only once did we get 2 croissants & coffee per person and that was 20 yrs ago! The Novaltel Les Halles had a wonderful buffet breakfast by the way too, lots of goodies.

Patrick

I never eat the breakfast at a Paris hotel and have never been charged for one, even though I never told them that I would or would not be eating there. The one exception was at the Relais St. Germain where breakfast was included. It was served in their very popular wine bar/cafe, but only opened to residents in the morning. Freshly squeezed orange juice, still warm croissants (unless we slept in), selections of yoghurts, cheeses, and jams, and superb French coffee (or cappucino if you asked). After we half jokingly mentioned we would miss our usual pain au chocolates that we normally ate every morning in Paris, they appeared on our table each day thereafter (except Sunday, when they apologized that that baker was closed). Apparently they had been making a special trip to another baker to get our pain au chocolates. One morning we overhead a guest saying that she didn't take breakfast two mornings and was demanding a refund. They stood firm that breakfast is simply included in the room rate, there is no refund if you choose not to eat it. But delightful as their breakfast was, I must admit I sort of missed going out each morning to a little cafe and doing my own thing. I also love the fact that you can get a pastry (our pain au chocolates) at a shop and take it to a cafe where they don't mind that you eat it with your coffee that you get there. <BR>

Donna

Hello! Once again, thank you all for the wonderful advice and insights. I must apologize, but I'm afraid I made a typographical error in my original posting. The breakfast at the Muguet is 45FF, not 35FF. The old fingers slipped at the keyboard. Patti, I will be back from Paris June 14, and I will let you know all about Hotel Muguet. Thanks again everyone!

Ess

The room rate at our hotel in Paris included continental breakfast, but we had coffee and croissants or bread at the cafe around the corner each morning. We didn't feel like sitting in the hotel breakfast room each morning with a bunch of fellow Americans, preferred to head straight out to the streets of Paris. Why sit in the hotel when there are more interesting places to have breakfast? But, if your hotel rate includes breakfast maybe you'd want to save a few extra francs by having it there. We felt the price of a cafe breakfast was well worth it, and even though it was only coffee and bread, it seemed to keep us going until lunch.

julie

Aside from the beautiful city and sights, another element of Paris hotels makes my visits divine--Breakfast in Bed while reading the International Herald Tribune, and enjoying the leisurly pace of vacation. The few dollars extra I may pay for this is worth not having to shlep around to find a place to eat on the street. Enjoy this--it is a rare delight! Just check ahead of time to make sure you know the costs and stipulations.

Janice

Hotel des Grandes Hommes and Hotel du Pantheon (owned by the same person, and side by side) offer a pretty complete breakfast for around 50FF per person if you go down to the basement dining area (and then never ask our room number) or you can get a continental breakfast delivered to your room for the same charge. I've done both - the breakfast buffet is quite complete - including cereals, cheese, meat, a wide variety of breads and juices etc. But some days, you've just got to do that breakfast in bed on vacation lolling around thing. Sometimes, depending on your travel companion this can save time - if you have breakfast delivered at the time you planned to get up, one of you eats while one of you primps etc - you can get out the door pretty quickly. One woman's wonderful experiences...

Steve

I just stayed at The Hotel Muguet and it was a great hotel. The front desk ladies were always very nice and very helpful. At check-out, they will ask how many breakfests you took. I think they charge 35 FF. Pastries, juice and coffee...and at 7.5 FF per US dollar that's just $4.70. A great value as is the are The Hotel Muguet room rates...don't forget to ask for a room on the 5th floor street side! (effiel tower view)

patti

Donna-thanks! I would love to hear about your stay at the Hotel Muguet! Also, tell us about Paris and your trip! <BR>Will love to hear it! I have not booked our flights yet but I think I will soon-our trip is to Ireland (10 days), London (3 days), Paris (3 days). <BR>My husband, myself and 8 friends are all going and I am doing all the arrangements, etc. Fun and challenging to put this all together! <BR>Take care! <BR>Patti