s0ssos

Travelling in Asia there is always a full breakfast available. A spread you would never find even at a "Park Hyatt" in America (as Lucky from OMAAT always seems to think they have the best breakfasts). There is a real kitchen and a cook.
In Europe they have breakfast too, though not as much piping hot food as in Asia.

And these are even in cheap hotels!

In America you can barely get a breakfast. A luxurious buffet would have maybe 5 hot food items. Why is breakfast not important to Americans, whose cereals talk about it being a grrreat start of your day!

Kagehitokiri

ignoring low costs in asia? park hyatt (even NY) is not at the top in US.

what hotel brands in US are you talking about?

do all budget, boutique, select-service hotels in europe have that breakfast?

Doc Savage

Free breakfast was just not the rule in the US until a very few years ago. You find it more often these days, but it would be difficult to retrofit hotels in many cases to be able to provide a YUGE buffet.

Frankly, I'd rather get a lower room rate and choose my own restaurant in almost all cases.

Kagehitokiri

seemed they were not talking about rate, but all day restaurant ?

s0ssos

No brand in parricular, but $100 in US will get you nothing. In Europe 100eur will get you a nice breakfast.

In Asia even low-cost brands, like a Holiday inn Express for $45. Though in Asia I find hotels are a better value for the money.

CDTraveler

Neither of those statements is correct.

Hyatt Place, where I can often book a room for less than $100, has a variety of hot items in addition to cereal, pastries, yogurt, fruit, etc. Most Best Westerns now have a decent selection, and LQ properties also do okay breakfasts.

I've stayed at a few hotels in Europe (NL, Belgium, Italy) where you'd be lucky to find a room for 100 Euro and "breakfast" was bread, jam and coffee.

abmj-jr

Try Embassy Suites. Breakfast is one of their selling points.

mikew99

I think I know what the OP might be referring to. I travel to Asia a few times a year, and I stay in a mix of serviced apartments and Western hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, and InterContinental.

The breakfast buffets at most of the hotels I stay at in Indonesia (as one example) would put American hotels to shame: I can't remember the last time I had a hotel breakfast in the U.S. (much less at a Hyatt Place or an Embassy Suites) that can even remotely compare in variety and/or quality. I'm not talking about just a few items, but literally dozens of options including Western, Chinese, Japanese, and local food items, not to mention a variety of both stereotypical "breakfast" items and also seafood, chicken, beef dishes, and soups.

I wish I had taken a picture of the breakfast buffet that I enjoyed at the Crowne Plaza in Semarang, Indonesia, where I stayed earlier this week. The room rate (including breakfast) was US$67 after tax, and the breakfast buffet looked and tasted like it came from a 5-star restaurant. It really is several orders of magnitude better than what I typically find in hotels in the U.S.

Once you get in the habit of experiencing these repeatedly and consistently in hotels outside of the U.S., you'll find the hotel breakfast buffets in the U.S. to be appallingly meager by comparison.

Annalisa12

I don't think there is such a thing as a free breakfast. It is always factored in to the price of the room in my opinion.

Doc Savage

You know what they say...

TANSTAAFL

cbn42

Well, 100 euros is 106 USD, so maybe the extra $6 covers the breakfast?

I think that Americans might just be more price-sensitive. Just as airlines are eliminating the frills in order to lower rates, hotels may also be doing the same. Very few Americans will choose a hotel because of the breakfast, but many will choose a hotel because it was the cheapest option on Expedia. In Asia, the market might be less competitive and more focused on hospitality.

VivoPerLei

In my travels in recent years (almost all in Europe), I've noticed that free breakfast seems to be going away. I'm fine with that because I rarely eat the hotel breakfast anyway.

Annalisa12

What choo talking about Willis?

Dodge DeBoulet

You know ... There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lreakfast

CDTraveler

I've spent a lot of time researching hotels in the UK and Spain lately and I would say at least 75% of them have a base rate (pay in full now, non-refundable, no breakfast, no wifi) and then 3 to 5 more rates building up to fully refundable with breakfast and wifi. In the UK it seems to be common for the "with breakfast" rate for 2 people to be $30 to $50 more than the no breakfast rate*, and I personally have a hard time imaging a hotel breakfast worth more than $20 per person.


*compared with the same pay status rate, either pay now or pay later