Of the many conveniences that hotels offer, few are as welcome as the in-house breakfast. Whether you’re raring to go or still slumped over after that early morning wake-up, there’s no better reward for having made it out of bed at all than the sumptuous spread that awaits. Here, we’ve rounded up the most sublime hotel breakfasts our editors have enjoyed this year, comprising national dishes, pastry repasts, snow-day bread baskets, and so much more.
Hôtel Lutetia — Paris, France
I arrived in Paris on a wet gray Tuesday, exhausted and injured. I had just been hit by a car two weeks before (no broken bones, but a fairly debilitated left foot and ankle) and, as such, was especially sensitive to kindness; when a friend offered to pick up my pain meds from the pharmacy, I was so touched that you’d think that he had offered his hand in marriage and his good health insurance. So it was par for the course when, upon checking into the plush Hôtel Lutetia and hobbling into my room (already pressed and primed upon my 8:30 a.m. arrival) only to find a basket of fragrant, buttery croissants, a bottle of freshly-squeezed orange juice, and a warm jug of coffee waiting for me, my immediate reaction was to weep. It was the simplest of breakfasts, no different from what I’d grab on any other wet gray Tuesday at home in New York, but it was also a thoughtful expression of care. Little touches like this throughout my stay (e.g. being escorted to the restaurant, receiving a pedestal at all meals on which I could keep my foot elevated, even getting a pillowcase at turndown service personally embroidered with my initials) are what will make me remember this palatial hotel—and its ambrosia of a jus d’orange—for a very long time. —Matt Ortile, associate editor
Jua House — Lamu, Kenya
I’m entering the new year dreaming of my mornings at Jua House on Kenya’s Lamu Island. The bed-and-breakfast, in the beachside village of Shela, has a breezy terrace with ocean views and in-house bakery. The two meet every morning, with an included breakfast feast—there are eggs, fruit, fresh juices, yogurt, but also your choice of Swahili baked goods. It’s the type of breakfast that is delightfully simple and yet totally decadent. Sitting up there in the morning, as the sun got stronger and the chatter from the street rose up, was the kind of luxury that is so hard to pin down. (But, if you are looking for luxury in the most traditional of senses, the breakfast buffets at Tivoli Doelen Amsterdam or Immerso Hotel in Ericeira, Portugal, were two other hotel breakfasts I can’t stop thinking about.) —Megan Spurrell, senior editor
Casa del Mundo — Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
I could eat this hotel breakfast, desayuno chapín, every single day and be satisfied: Scrambled eggs cooked with peppers and onions, a small ramekin filled with black beans, a generous heap of fried plantains, and a cube of delicious, crumbly queso fresco, served with warm tortillas and a juice of the day. The lake, mountain, and volcano views surrounding you at La Casa Del Mundo’s restaurant didn’t hurt, either. —Madison Flager, senior commerce editor
Eastwind Oliverea Valley — Catskills, New York
What happens to hotel breakfasts when you wake up to find yourself completely snowed in overnight? Well, we found out earlier this year when we visited Eastwind Oliverea Valley, a glamping-style retreat set in Central Catskills. The answer: Breakfast in a cloth-lined wicker basket delivered right to your doorstep. Inside, a camp flask with freshly brewed coffee, still-warm pastries (how?), OJ, boiled eggs (also still warm), granola, yogurt, and preserves and condiments. It was more than enough to start our day off on the right note, weather be damned. In fact, we used it as the perfect excuse to climb right back under our Pendleton blankets and spend the morning watching the snow through our expansive A-frame cabin windows—not a care in the world. —Arati Menon, global digital director
Villa Pescadores — Tulum, Mexico
Villa Pescadores is a (seriously) eco-friendly hotel in Tulum’s national park zone modeled after a traditional fishing village, so you can count on their meals being made from local, fresh ingredients. Each morning, breakfast and coffee were delivered to the front porch of our bungalow, where we ate under the shade of rustling palm leaves. The dining experience is worth ranking on vibes alone, but the food was just as memorable. The avocado toast and acai bowl with homemade granola, local honey, and seasonal fruit was anything but basic, and I have yet to find a worthy match. —Hannah Towey, associate news editor
Round Hill Hotel and Villas — Montego Bay Jamaica
When you stay in a villa at Round Hill as I was lucky enough to do this past June, your breakfast is made and served mere footsteps from your bedroom—filling out the menu slip and leaving it in the kitchen are the only tasks that fall to you. During my time there, I started my day with various meals: a perfect yellow omelet with herbs from the garden stays on my mind, as does a big stack of golden pancakes, each accompanied by a plate of exceptional mango, papaya, watermelon, and pineapple. But nothing does it for me quite like Jamaica’s national dish—ackee and saltfish, fried dough on the side. Ackee, a cousin in texture but not flavor to such fruits as lychee, comes off here almost like a batch of scrambled eggs. Mix in that salted cod and add some heat with scotch bonnet pepper and it is just plain fabulous—so full of flavor and protein. That there was such fine fruit and coffee on hand, as well as a fabulous view of the water, were just icing. —Charlie Hobbs, editorial assistant
Le Meurice — Paris, France
Is there anything more deliciously, indulgently Parisian than starting your day in a gold gilded dining salon, observing a flurry of bow-tied waiters ferry petite trays of cafe au lait and pastries to women in furs and faces of make up at 8:30 a.m.? This is the scene I couldn’t wait to leave bed for each morning at Le Meurice, one of Paris’s Dorchester Collection Grande Dames. And then there was the actual breakfast. Mine started with a silver pot of hot, strong black coffee, and a selection of eye-rollingly divine pastries from the master himself, Cédric Grolet (outside the hotel, a queue waits round the clock to snatch one of his pain suisse and croissant). I’d then move onto toast with lashings of French butter, a plate of cloud-fluffy eggs scrambled with spinach (something has to off set the butter, right?), fresh berries, and green juice. A tip: if you want an extra pain au chocolat, just ask. My waiter was always glad to bring one, conveniently in a bag, to nibble on for the rest of the day. —Erin Florio, executive editor
Hotel Cellai — Florence, Italy
Florence’s Hotel Cellai takes its opportunity to show off how a hotel breakfast can really shine. Every morning, the staff works diligently to prepare a gorgeous buffet-style breakfast fit for royalty. Freshly baked pastries, ripe Italian fruits, and savory Italian cured meats spread across a large table in a small room that makes guests feel as though they are visiting someone’s home. Staff is also on duty to serve espresso and tea drinks, made to order. Sit and relax in the gorgeous Hotel Cellai dining room, sip on an Americano, try a pistachio-filled croissant, and get ready for the day of sightseeing ahead. —Lauren Alberti, social media manager