Breakfast at Tiffany's?

All great wartime leaders knew that an army marches on it's stomach. High carb breakfasts were critical to long hikes across unforgiving terrain and still having the energy to fight the enemy on arrival. For the troops, breakfast was undoubtedly the most important meal of the day.

Right now there are armies of global travellers waking up in unfamiliar beds, bubbling with anticipation of what their destination of choice has to offer. Downstairs in the kitchens and dining rooms hotel staff are preparing, cooking and assembling their guests breakfasts. Many travellers will leave their temporary homes with a full stomach and warm feeling but too often the day starts with frustration and disappointment. That's a shame and something more hoteliers need to understand when improving their offering and creating memorable experiences.

Bed and breakfast offers are common place at the moment but the approach to "petit-dejuner" is polarised. The good make it an event that brightens yours day and puts fuel in your body. Others only see breakfast a good way to increase customer spend and profitability.

One of the best breakfasts I've even had, hotel or not, was in The Bath Arms, on the edge of the Longleat Estate. It was a snowy morning but the sun seemed to shine in the restaurant as we contemplated a gorgeous cooked breakfast or a selection of homemade yoghurts and honey. It was a wonderful start a day and exactly the type of choice and selection that puts a smile on a traveller's face.

In contrast I've seen the other side of the coin, and not only when on a package tour to Agadir. You can imagine the scene. You've experience it I'm sure. A dining room capable of seating the entire hotel in a single sitting, crusty croissants, a selection of Aldi cereals and all you can drink concentrated orange juice that's brighter than a cheap spray tan. By the time you reach the buffet bar your heart has sunk and your stomach has staged a sit in protest. This is no way to build enthusiasm for a day pounding the streets of New York or Paris, both of which I have been forced to do on near empty stomach and a desolate soul.

I'm not looking for breakfast surrounded by diamonds but, now, when I chose a hotel, the quality of service I can expect whilst I'm still starting the engine is a very important factor.