Hotel Breakfast: Do or Don't?
 

I am looking for opinions on the hotel breakfast in France. Are they worth the money?

For example, when my wife and I were in Italy we soon figured out that the hotel breakfast should be avoided at all cost. We found it much better to find a small cafe for coffee and a pastry. Plus it was more exciting.

Should we expect the same thing in France? Any other thoughts?

Cheers

I am one of those pathetic humans that cannot manage without that first cup of coffee, so we almost always, have room service or coffee in the hotel.
French hotel breakfasts, in the hotels we have stayed in, are not big affairs. Toast/croissants and coffee are about it. So if you require more, you will most likely want to go find a place that suits you.
Some Paris hotels, will bring you room service without charging because the breakfast rooms are too small for everyone.
Have a wonderful time~

Sorry for posting the message twice. I guess I got a little excited.

LOL, think nothing of it..I would be excited too!

France for breakfast? No way.

6 to 12euro per person for an espresso, a pat of butter, a couple of slices of baguette and a croissant. What a rip-off.

Even if I were a caffeine fiend (thankfully I'm not) I'd walk to a cafe in my jammies and get a jolt for 2 euro. :-)

indytravel, I wish you would, then Fodors would have all these lovely discussions on the new trend of Americans wearing their jammies to the cafes in Paris ((F))

Too funny Scarlett.

I leave for France Thursday. I think I'll stay in my room with my jammies. :-D

My first couple of nights in Lyon I did get a "stay one night get one night free breakfast included" deal. I will of course take advantage of that since it's included in the price.

Bon Voyage my friend, Indy.
I'll await the highlights.

indy!! How great is that! Just a couple more days~
If you fly First Class, you can fly In your Jammies!!
Bon voyage~

Forgot to answer wm's question.
In Paris there is too much to see to have breakfast at your hotel and the cafes are usually better. In the countryside, it's usually included and very good.

Sometimes the cost isn't much cheaper to go out to a cafe for breakfast. And it's convenient to have breakfast at your hotel. But it depends on if you think the cost is worth it or not.

Thanks for the kind words cigale & scarlett.

As always I'm so excited I'm about to burst. If my co-workers had their way they'd have put me on the plane today just to get rid of me.

It depends...

If it's expensive, and a big buffet, we don't, but if it's the simple croissiant and tartine breakfast with POTS of good coffee, it's worth it to us.

One of the things that brings me back to Paris each time is cafe and croissants on the terrace of the Cafe Bonaparte in the 6eme. It is such a lovely experience each morning that we almost never have breakfast in the hotel.

You'll need to do a cost benefit analysis. One intangible is your "French" comfort level. Sometimes I just don't feel up to trying to speak French/pantomime early in the morning (I'm not good with French), and some local cafes can be pretty busy in the morning. So, we tried different things. We ate at the hotel (overpriced for a pot of coffee and a croissant (sp)), went to a local bakery where I could just point (and buy a diet coke or coke light), and (gasp) we went to McDonald's (not all in the same day, of course).

Jammies? We ain't got no jammies. We don't need no jammies. I don't have to wear any stinkin' jammies.

I like having breakfast in my hotel.

I don't want to pay 50 euro for it and I don't want stale bread or bad coffee, but if the hotel breakfast is decent, even if it's not included with my room, I'm willing to pay the premium for it. I love having the luxury of just taking an elevator, carrying only my room key, and having breakfast served to me and my companions before going out for the day. When I've finished, I can return to my room to freshen up and have a filled-up and caffeinated start to the day. I'm not at all criticizing those who want to seek out the town's best bakery or cafe first thing in the morning, in fact, I admire their adventurousness at dawn, I'm just offering an alternate opinion.

That said, the hotel breakfasts I've had in other countries have been better on average than in France, but it probably depends on the individual hotels.

We stayed at the Champs de Mars, and I have to say the hotel breakfast was wonderful. They'll bring it to your room (on a nice tray), or you can go to the breakfast room. Great croissants and bread, yogurt, jelly. Coffee and juice. Was about 5 euros a piece. It actually was too much to do everyday foodwise. But I'd say that for how much we got the price was not bad.

On the corner was a wonderful bakery where we bought pastry for breakfast too. Like said above, the French aren't big on breakfasts, and the places that advertise American breakfasts may either charge you an outrageous amount for a fried egg, give you canned fruit cocktail, or some other cockamamie thing.

I loved the smell of the baking bread early in the morning. Wow. Have a great time.

Actually the cafe on rue Cler just around the corner from the Hotel Champ de Mars charged 7E for an "American breakfast"--roll and croissant, jam, egg, ham, OJ, and coffee--the same price as the Muguet's breakfast.

I don't often choose the hotel breakfast, which at the hotels I stay at usually costs anywhere from 5 to 10 euros - a lot for a hot drink and bread with butter and jam. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I can make it to a nearby café without my jammies on. I like watching France wake up while writing in my journal or reading the newspaper.

I like the breakfast in Italy but would never be eating it without my Pjs. What a sight some of you present.

Mostly "Don't" but sometimes "Do."

"Do" circumstances are
1. When it's included in the room price
2. When time is tight in the morning, e.g., have to be somewhere at an early hour.
3. When we discover that it's better than what we find outside for about the same price, e.g., Hotel du Lutece in Paris.

Before you decide, check the breakfast in your hotel. If it's what you want and the cost is reasonable, have it there. If it is expensive or doesn't cover your needs, eat someplace else.

Our last hotel in Paris had an adequate breakfast for a reasonable price so we ate there a few times although we prefer Paul's around the corner. It's easy to pop upstairs and brush your teeth! 8^)

Have a wonderful time!!!!!!!!!!!! ((@))

I agree with Marilyn & StCirq and a few others.

My 1st visit to Paris I stayed at a hotel that included the breakfast in the price. The cafe decor was cool & eclectic, the cafe & croissant were fresh & perfect, the fresh-squeezed oj was superb. I wasn't as comfortable then as I am now seeking out a nice place for breakfast so I opted for the breakfast there.

Second year I went with a friend, she wasn't feeling adventurous, the breakfast was included in the price, but it was so so. We ate in the hotel every morning.

Last trip, the breakfast at 5.70 euro was ok. I did like having it brought to the room while I was getting ready. That was nice. But after the first morning I chose to seek out local cafes & boulangeries for my first meal of the day. Cafe & croissant at Miss Manon on rue Saint-Antoine was about 1/2 the price of the hotel's, so that was a good choice on my part. Plus I got to see the locals walking past the window as I sipped my coffee and got to check out the locals as they were preparing for their day. An added advantage was the wider selection (one morning would be plain croissant, another day would be pain au chocolat) at the boulangerie.

We prefer to have breakfast in a cafe, although we often end up eating at the hotel on the day that we're leaving.

On this last trip, we followed a trio of Paris streetsweepers into Au Bouquet St. Paul and had an excellent petit dejeuner.

Beatchick, the next day, we went to Petit St. Paul (right across the street from Miss Manon) and the owner went over to Miss Manon to buy our croissants.

The Hotel de Banville in the 17eme has hot chocolate that was so out-of-this-world that I did not want to leave for breakfast.

In the country, yes, we usually take it at the hotel.

I like how Marilyn put it: Mostly "Don't" but sometimes "Do."

If, for example, your hotel provides with you a pot of coffee -- along with your croissant, etc. -- then it may not be a bad value compared to paying for the same amount of coffee in a cafe.

There's also the matter of atmosphere, what your hotel's breakfast room is like compared to a local cafe. People-watching is likely much better at a local cafe but you may be able to meet, and swap stories with, fellow travelers in your hotel's breakfast room (if that's something that would interest you.)

One of my fondest memories of breakfast in France was having it at our hotel in Arles, the Hotel le Cloitre. Served in a gorgeous breakfast room, we had a pot of coffee, fresh-squeezed orange juice, croissants, and jam made by the delightful co-owner Agnes. Even if we had paid a little bit more than a comparable breakfast elsewhere -- and I'm not sure we did -- it still would have been well worth it.

Elle,

I SAW that yesterday in your trip report!! I just didn't get a chance to answer it. I do recall that you went to a lot of places that I wanted to try and I was tickled you mentioned Miss Manon. I'll have to try Au Bouquet St Paul next time I go. I'm surprised that I didn't notice it last time. Where did you stay in the Marais? I was at the Jeanne d'Arc last April. I love that area.

Hi, Capo!!