The Breakfast in B&B

So when you book a room for the night somewhere, what do you consider? The price? Location? Facilities?

Well, yes, I look at all of these in great detail, but the most important factor to me of course is the breakfast! You have no idea how much I try to find out what the breakfast is going to be like, by looking up reviews on Trip Advisor and researching elsewhere online. And if they don't serve breakfast? You guessed it, instant rejection! I know, it's ridiculous, but with the price of some hotels, I think a decent breakfast should be a big part of a hotel's offer.

The best breakfasts I've had were at B&Bs, rather than hotels - not surprising really! This is the one I had last week at Hunter's Lodge (with lashings of toast, a banana and yoghurt - I stopped at cereal because I really did get full for once!):


Last year I was in Brockenhurst for my birthday and had a memorable New Forest Breakfast at The Cottage Lodge:

All of the food comes from the forest and they even point you in the direction of where to go and find the ingredients if you wish to take it home with you!

Most hotels (well the ones I tend to single out when choosing) offer a buffet breakfast. Now, with that in mind, you think, hey, if the hotel turns out to be rubbish, at least I can get my money's worth with the food - well, that's my line of thinking anyway!

I remember feeling quite upset that I wouldn't be able to take full advantage of the full hot and cold buffet at Premier Inn last November, during a weekend of Aikido in Stafford. Obviously, because we were training for two whole days, it would not have been a good idea to start the morning with a ridiculously hearty breakfast. I didn't have my camera on me at the time, but I felt like a diabetic in a chocolate shop when I saw the spread of food along the tables - all available for me to eat, but not a good idea to do so.

However, I made up for lost food when I ate at the Holiday Express Inn in Warrington, the first morning of Creamfields in August. With a weekend ahead of dancing-all-hours and living off cheap non-perishable supermarket goods, I needed to fuel up:

Even when I booked a cheap B&B in Victoria (which turned out to be a bit skanky really), I was pleasantly surprised by the light, yet fulfilling brekkie:

It certainly made up for the weird plane-toilet-sized bathroom, where the shower floor was the same level as the rest of the bathroom, and sprayed water everywhere! What was that all about?

But by far the worst was at the Travelodge that I stayed in Bournemouth for a Sigur Ros gig - even though the 'hot' items were stored under (initially impressive-looking) silver chafing dishes, everything was stone cold. And this after coming down to eat 10 minutes after breakfast was first being served! I was deeply disappointed. I know it's a Travelodge, but still.

So you see, I go to great lengths to find the best breakfast offer available when booking a hotel. I simply cannot function without a good breakfast - I mean, come on, I haven't eaten all night and Hungry Jenny needs to be fed in the morning!