We do eat breakfast, but find most hotel breakfasts grossly overpriced. A well prepared breakfast buffet could be worth the price, but we don't like to eat all that much in the morning. So we usually opt to get something light after we head out for sightseeing each morning. If breakfast is included in the price, as in a B&B and some hotels, we take advantage of it, but seldom eat enough to make it any sort of "savings."

Noting on our trip to Prague and Berlin that hotel buffet breakfasts are mostly in the 10 to 15 euro range PER PERSON. That's a pile of money for breakfast unless it's some sort of a special brunch occasion.

Yeah, that's the one complaint I had about the Corte Grimini in Venice. Breakfast was 10 euro per person. For a family of 5, that's 50 euro a day, or 150 for our three day stay.

We went to the grocery store and a bakery and for under 40 euro got plenty to eat for breakfast for our stay, plus lots of other snacks as well.

If an accommodation offers breakfast with the room (free) I will take advantage of it, especially since our family has two small children and I can have it delivered or bring it up to teh room. Otherwise we bring something for the kids to tide them over until we are ready to go out and get it ourselves. :)

Tuscanfeedlit - I got one of these as a gift..
go to www.travelsmith.com and put this phrase in the product search:
Drip Coffee Maker

I love a good hotel breakfast for the first 2 or 3 days of the holiday and then I get fed up with it.

mousireid - TANSTAAFL, or, in this case, there ain't no such thing as a free breakfast. They just charge you more for the room.

Travelnut

Thanks for the lead on the coffee pot. Have you used it around the world, or at least in Europe? I'll need to use it in France.

One hotel I wrote to wanted to charge 6 Euro pp for coffee. I guess we would pay that, but our hotel wants 12.50 for breakfast, which I think is too much.

With and without.

With breakfast and without paying extra. It is possible to get an accommodation (all other things being equal) <i>with</i> a basic continental breakfast plus maybe some fruit and cereal for the same price as <i>without</i>.

It probably costs the hotelier $2, but you couldn't duplicate it down the street for $10.

We prefer staying in an apartment and having our own breakfast there, primarily because I like a large orange juice and we like tea, and you can brush your teeth and wash up after breakfast.

When staying at a hotel, I would consider:
1. The quality of the breakfast; some are quite good, some not.
2. When it is available. We like to eat early and get out on the town right away. Some hotels don't serve breakfast until later than we want to eat.
3. Whether they have a breakfast room. While I like eating in our apartment, in a hotel or B&amp;B I like the ambience of eating with other people and perhaps sharing a story or two, or a hint on something to see. In a breakfast room, you know you are with other tourists; in a cafe, who knows who you are with, and I have not found cafe's conducive to conversation.

In my hotel's breakfast room, I met a couple of Swedish models in Paris for a 'shoot'. Not exactly 'other tourists'. But maybe that's b/c we stay in a less-central arr.

No, I just got the coffeepot this summer, so haven't tried it out. It's very 'cute'.. :)

We prefer having breakfast in a cafe, as we feel like that's part of the experience. We don't want to spend more time in the hotel than is necessary. We are up very early and love walking around Paris when not many people are on the streets :-) We usually get to the cafes as they're opening and see people who stop by as they're walking their dogs.

Sandy

I usually pick a hotel based on whether I think it's good value. Sometimes breakfast is included, sometimes not. But even if breakfast is included, I probably skip it about half the time -- on days I need to be out early to sightsee. That's much more important to me.

If breakfast isn't included, I almost never have breakfast when I'm traveling.

We had breakfast included in our Latin quarter hotel this summer as part of a summer promotion...2 typed of baguettes, croissants, jams, cheese, eggs you cooked yourself in a boiling apparatus, cereal, yogurt, coffee, tea and hot chocolate - everything was delicious and unlimited! The breakfast room was large and sunny and on street level with big windows, had the friendliest French server who loved talking to us. It also saved the day for us with our 3 kids who ate and ate each morning. We just stopped at the crepe stands early afternoon when we needed a snack.

I wouldn't pay 10 Euros for each of us for a piece of bread and croissant though. In that case, I would pick up juice at a store and buy some goodies at the bakery. Better selection and much more fun!

Depends on where you are staying. If you are in a big city, you have lots of choices so it's not a major concern. In some of the smaller or more remote places, it's much more convenient to have breakfast at the hotel. In any event, you can usually add it at the hotel when you get there.

I almost never eat breakfast at home, but I admit to being partial toward breakfast buffets; the more extravagent and over the top it is, the better. :)

Definitely with, if the food is decent. We don't like to travel far for our first meal and coffee. :D

It depends on my mood. If I wake up truly starving, I eat at the hotel so I can avoid wandering around trying to find something.

If you're in Paris, make sure to go to Angelina on the Rue de Rivoli. Delicious hot chocolate!!!

Second the delicious, thick, rich hot chocolate...with that bowl of whipped cream on the side! ~o) Yum!

I generally skip breakfast but have to have my coffee in the morning. But when we were in Paris last fall, we frequently went to breakfast in our hotel, which was a real treat, and we only paid for it if we ate it.

Personally, I think it depends on how you feel about getting out the door on an empty stomach and looking for new places to eat, or if you're more of a &quot;head start&quot; kinda person who doesn't want to plan one more thing in your day and just wants to eat &amp; run, or wants to know a lavish breakfast is waiting for you.

Personally, I love London because I've stayed at the same hotel twice, where I could grab a latte at (gasp!) Starbucks, and walk to Buckingham Palace where I could drink it while watching the guard. Now that is my idea of a good breakfast.

There's no wrong answer, just do what feels right for you.

Happy travels,

Jules