You mean free breakfasts at hotels included in the rate..?

Wouldn't know because I was having lunch at Iggy's.

I only like hotel and casino buffets that have an extensive offering of food or a good selection of seafood (specifically crab legs and u-peel shrimp). Not a fan of Chinese or Indian buffets since the food is pretty bad and/or the establishment is really dirty. There are a few exceptions to this but not many from what I've experienced. I must say that Korea has a good selection of seafood buffets at reasonable prices.

In terms of how much I eat, I eat till my heart is content and I feel I got my moneys worth. I usually just eat seafood and cuts of meat (prime rib, etc) since I feel I get my moneys worth from there. For example, I ate 3 fairly stacked plates of crab legs and 1 full plate of u-peel shrimp the other night for $26. Now that is what I call a deal! Can't beat a buffet that has both snow crab legs and dungeness crabs!

I usually did exactly this in the past.. nowadays it seems more veggies and fruit..

That way I can have an extra couple plates.. as fruit on a place turns to juice in the stomach..

I rarely eat at a buffet. I just can't eat enough to justify the price. I'm better off ala carte.

But the joy of a buffet is that you aren't limited to 1 or 2 items, like you usually are if you order ala carte. You can have little tastes of many different things, whereas if you order ala carte, due to the price, you're going to only want to order one or two items due to price.

At the Hilton LAX, I was trying that, by ordering an omelet for breakfast. The waitress suggested i took the buffet, as I could also order the omelet as a part of the buffet.

So instead of the omelet and my orange juice, I had omelet, orange juice, some fruit and yoghurt - and saved a few bucks

Selection at a buffet is a draw.. the continental if very few selections which happens rarely, I ordered a la carte..

So at Fairmont Newport I ordered Eggs Benedicts a la carte 3 days in a row.. Can't remember the last time I ordered a la carte.. but there was literraly nothing left on the continental the days I was interested.. eventually brought out more food so I could feed the kids.

true, I had not thought of that

It depends on the type of buffet if we're discussing only breakfasts. If it's a continental breakfast, then usually, I won't opt for that. If it's a brunch buffet with all sorts of choices, I'll opt for the buffet, because I can sample a little of everything.
For example, if you go to brunch and are given the choice of ordering standard fare from a menu, or for $1 or $2 more than your selected menu item, are given the choice of the buffet that includes your selected item and several other options, you can have your selected item, but also sample many other items, without cost limitations.

True, but 99 times out of 100 I'd rather have Eggs Benedict than a whole bunch of other stuff. Now if there's Eggs Benny on said buffet (which is sadly quite rare) then I'll gladly follow your logic.

The last breakfast buffet I had, I think the buffet was cheaper than ordering a la carte. I'm not that big of a breakfast eater and the selection was limited so I think I only did three quarters of a plate.
However, it did have eggs benny. While I love eggs benny, it isn't as big of a draw for me in a buffet (ie. when the they have a bunch in a heating tray) because I find the yolk regularly ends up getting overcooked sitting there (I guess unless you time it right ).

Anyone interested in this topic and in the UK .... or are lucky enough to be in an airport lounge with a copy ...... might like to look at Alexie Sayle's wonderful article in The Times (UK) on his passion for All You Can Eat Buffets. It's one of the funniest articles I've read. Also online on their subscription site - "How I fell in love with all you can eat bufffets ..."

It's worth the �1 trial subscription alone .....

I never do continentals.. (paid continentals)

Almost paid for one at the Fairmont Newport Beach but at the last second, I ended up ordering A la carte, which I usually never do at a Fairmont neither..

That's about how I feel. I don't do paid continental breakfast buffets.