We always prefer to go out for a breakfast. In Paris, we'd trade off between the local crepe place or the cafe, where we'd just get cappuccino & croissants. We enjoy the people-watching and interactions at the cafes.

At the hotels I've been at it's typically a roll & so-so coffee. Some places have better breakfasts but at an additional price that's more than we spend at the cafe.

It's a matter of preference. One of my favorite parts of traveling in Europe is the hotel breakfast, something I realized after maybe 2 trips. Now I look at the breakfast room/breakfast reviews when booking the hotel. At home I'm not a big breakfast person, but when traveling I like to have coffee and something before going out; plus on vacation my DH and I actually have that meal together, something our schedules don't allow at home. Having breakfast in the hotel is one less thing we have to decide for the day, too.

I like to rent apartments. That way, some members of the family can be eating breakfast while another is showering, another is dressing, etc. It saves our family a lot of time in the morning.

One thing I hate is hotels with tiny breakfast rooms, where you feel like you have to leave your room super-early if you want a table.

I adored the hotel breakfast in Paris, and because I had paid for it and it was delicious, I made sure to get down in time for it everyday (no matter how tired I was from the previous day's sightseeing!). This meant a couple days racing downstairs with my wet hair in a ponytail. It will, of course, depend on the individual hotel, but I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't have gotten as nice a breakfast if we'd had to go in search of it ourselves - we'd have probably just grabbed something small and quick on the way to the day's first sight, as opposed to haing a nice meal complete with extraordinary pastries and the little jelly jars. I personally can't get enough of little jelly jars.

I don't eat breakfast normally, just coffee, so it doesn't matter that much. When traveling, I prefer a hotel with breakfast when I'm in an inconvenient location or in an area in a city without good choices nearby. In Paris, I prefer never to have breakfast in my hotel, although sometimes I've enjoyed the coffee when it was free.

I have never stayed in a hotel where the breakfast was cheaper than eating out (in US or anywhere), and have never seen that in Paris. You have to pay for breakfast in Paris (and in many other hotels), although all hotels I've stayed at from 2* up offer it. There are only a few hotels I've ever heard of that claim it is "free" (or included) in Paris, and that is illegal as I've read the regulations. I guess it's not illegal to say it is free, but illegal to force you to pay for it there.

Almost all hotels have breakfast in Paris because they make a lot of profit off it. I don't think it's usually very good in Paris, at least not where I've stayed (just juice, a croissant or bread/butter and coffee). I mean it's fine for me, but not for folks that like to really chow down in the am. There are some that do have large buffet breakfasts with all kinds of food, but it's not free or cheap.

I like having coffee and small breakfast at the hotel... then we might have a "cafe" coffee mid-morning.

Our Paris hotel gives a small pot of coffee, hot milk, orange juice, jams, butter, 'cream cheese', honey, and 3 kinds of bread/rolls(a basket for each person) - it's included in the room price. I just survey the baskets as we walk to the tables so I can choose a seat with a different array of rolls than I had yesterday. I can't eat 3 rolls anyway, so this is plenty of food for me. The room is inexpensive so it would be ok if we went out, but we never do. I usually pour one more cup of coffee and carry it back to the room while we finish getting ready to go out.

What hotels are you looking to book, they will have details of what type of breakfast they provide and if you can book room only. I must admit I prefer to book breakfast with the hotel. That way I know I can have a good breakfast to set me up for the day and not worry about searching a place out.Most hotels can now be booked room only and then if you want breakfast on any particular day they just charge to your room for the days you had breakfast. This would be a good option as you could use it on the first morning, and then you go out and see what else is out there for the other days your staying, or if the weather is bad. I have stayed in sevral types of accomadtions from Hostel to 4* hotels and it varies as to what they think is a good breakfrast. I must add some of the best breakfast that I have had in France have been in some of the 3* hotels. So it is not always correct that the more you pay the better the breakfast. The service maybe be better and the actual breakfast room maybe laid out nicer, but that does not mean the food is. One of the things that can be confusing is when the hotel says conitental breakfast. In the past this just meant things like ceral, fruit juice, breads, pasteries jams etc tec and maybe some hams or cheese etc. Now days this maens a buffet breakfasts
with a very large choice of things including some hots food.

for my preferred b'fast (yoghurt, fruit, cheese, bread, coffee) i can get that in any european hotel's included breakfast and usually it is good. therefore i don't have any reason to seek out different places to eat breakfast.

i never eat lunch or dinner in hotels (except if i have to for a work event).

Like other things, it's what you feel comfortable doing. Some people like myself prefer to eat the hotel's breakfast for convenience. However, personally, if the breakfast is really horrible I would choose to go to a cafe. Luckily I've never encountered a bad hotel breakfast yet. Others prefer to try the different local cafes. And I've read that the cafe breakfasts are cheaper than the hotels'. I think that depends on what is being served at the hotel. If it's just coffee and croissant with jam and butter you may get them cheaper at a cafe, but the coffee will be limited to just one cup. We did try Relais Odeon's complete breakfast at approximately 8.50 euro and it was a nice value (better value than at Paul in my opinion). They give you egg any style and it must've been at least three eggs they put in one order of scrambled eggs. The meal included baguette, toasted baguette, fresh orange juice, coffee, and the jam and butter. The hotel's continental breakfast cost 12 euro per person.

Well, if the B&B is at a reasonable price (I like the Hotel D'Argenson in the 8th Arr, they include croissants, cafe au lait, etc for breakfast and all at a great rate) then by all means go for the breakfast included. However, croissants, baguettes, and bread are inexpensive to buy at a local boulangerie, that it is almost more fun doing it that way and "winging it". IMO, you often save $$ doing it that way over getting a room that includes breakfast.

I like to eat at the hotel. I don't think of breakfast as my "gourmet" meal anyway, so it doesn't have to be perfect. Plus, if my wife wakes up earlier (or later) we can get a bite ourselves while waiting for the other to shower and dress.

My experience is only in two hotels in the Latin Quarter but the breakfast rooms were particularly unappealing. One in a basement and one off the lobby but dark and stuffy. We never ate at either.

This is a BK/AK type of question!

BK or before kids we prefered to get breakfast outside the hotel or skip it entirely....but AK or after kids it's tough to get them running on empty in the mornings. Both my kids have healthy appetites, eat well and love breakfast buffets. Believe me it does cost more to eat at a cafe with a teenager in tow.

I've actually grown accustomed to hotel breakfasts now and enjoy them... the highlight was a perfect buffet in an hotel in Crete with fresh yoghurt, honey, local olives, fresh baked bread, etc. I was kicking myself that we'd skipped breakfast here on day1 of our stay!!

Muc prefer with - as long as it isn;t unpleasant (stale rools or Tang "oranege juice"). Neither of us are hot breakfast eaters - we never do more than cereal or toast unless it's a bruch - so hotel breakfast is usually fine - esp when they deliver it to the room.

DH and I must have coffee. We are booked in a hotel in Paris where the breakfast is very expensive. I am not sure I can dress without coffee. I've been thinking of buying a hot pot or even a little coffee maker for the room. But it is really puzzling: where would I go in Paris to find one? BHV's basement?

At a minimum, I need coffee before I leave the hotel. Otherwise, I might not be able to find my way to the nearest CAFÉ!! Once there, the coffee is invariably better than it was at the hotel.

BHV should have a fine selection. They seem to have everything!

Tuscan... maybe it is possible to request just a pot of coffee to be brought to the room, not breakfast. You should ask them.

I want coffee in the morning and I don't want to go searching to far afield for that. Other than coffee, if the hotel has breakfast I'll eat it. At home I tend to eat a light breakfast- often it's just a green drink that I take with me on vacation.

I love excellent hotel breakfasts. However, at a certain price point, they are out of the question. We had an excellent breakfast buffet at Mercure An Der Charité in Berlin just over a week ago, with a special price of 13 Euros for two. It was very much worth it. The lox and cheeses and rolls were just one part of what made the buffet excellent. I've had fabulous breakfast buffets included with cheap hotel rates in several cities, and some that were pretty good if not stunning. I've found I have a better memory of those cities where I had good breakfasts at the hotel.