When you’re traveling, there are a million reasons to stay in a hotel—the most obvious being a guaranteed place to lay that pretty little head of yours. But these days, when Airbnb and other alternative stays offer at the very least that same thing, it’s important to take into account the wonderful amenities hotels have to offer on top of the bare necessities. Consider the hotel breakfast, for example. Writing generally, if you’re staying in one of the best hotels in the world as our editors often do, you can count on some sort of solid-if-not-outright-sumptuous spread to see you out the door ahead of a day spent doing whatever it is you’ve traveled to do. While every meal is a privilege, we have some opinions about which breakfasts went above and beyond.
Below, Condé Nast Traveler editors look back on the favorite ways they’ve started their days while in a hotel’s hands. These are the best hotel breakfasts in the world, according to us.
Titilaka, Lake Titicaca, Peru
Andean’s luxury hotels throughout Peru have always delivered on breakfast—I’ve also stayed at their spots in the Colca Canyon, Lima, and Arequipa, and it seems they’re sort of known for a blow-out morning spread—but Titilaka has been among my favorite breakfasts of all time. Maybe it’s the fact that the breakfast is served in a room with panoramic views of the lake you’re here to see, with sun streaming onto sheepskin-draped armchairs that are an easy transition from your bed. The food is just as impressive: there’s the usual abundance of piping hot pastries, fruit juices, sliced cheeses, and beautiful cold cuts, but all of it reflects the local surroundings. There’s always a trout moment, either cured like lox, or cubed into a tartare perfect on crunchy toast, with fish plucked from the shimmering lake right outside the floor-to-ceiling restaurant windows. The daily fruit medley showcases local produce like aguaymanto, and fresh herb teas are made with muña (Andean mint) and coca leaves. That’s not getting into the à la carte add-ons, with hearty egg dishes and ancient-grain pancakes, which will keep you full for boat excursions and hikes to archaeological sites… or just an hours’-long nap on the deck. —Megan Spurrell, associate director, articles
Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Montego Bay, Jamaica
I’ve written about it before and, in all likelihood, I’ll write about it again: the traditional Jamaican breakfast of ackee and saltfish is the perfect way to start the day. Ackee, a relative of lychee in the fruit family with only the faintest whisper of sweetness takes on the texture and consistency of a scrambled egg once cooked. A bit rubbery, nutty, almost creamy, the ackee pairs quite well with the flaky saltiness of the cured white fish (usually cod) and a few dashes of tabasco. If you’re staying in the Round Hill’s hotel, you’ll eat this on the breakfast terrace looking out at the sea. If you’ve gotten yourself a villa of your own, you might leave your order in the kitchen for a member of the wonderful staff to whip up for you poolside. Add a side of fresh-sliced fruit—mango, papaya, and pineapple each at their most succulent—and you’re off to the races. —Charlie Hobbs, associate editor
La Mamounia, Marrakesh
It feels wholly insufficient to refer to the extravaganza that happens every morning at the Pavilion de la Piscine at La Mamounia as simply a…breakfast buffet. Yes, you get up and help yourself and of course there are the usual day-starters—scrambled eggs, yogurt, beautifully arranged cut fruit. But also so many more marvelous options–countless flaky pastries (Morocco was a French protectorate for nearly 50 years), dozens of different cakes (for breakfast!), perfectly flaky Moroccan flatbread, msemen, served with local honey and homemade jams, harissa soup, baghrir—a wonderfully spongy traditional pancake; coffee, fresh-squeezed juice and eggs, any which way, are brought directly to your al fresco table. The spread is special indeed, but it’s the overall setting–a breakfast theater of sorts–that really makes the experience. The tables all face the sprawling main pool. As you sip your first cappuccino and contemplate heading back for seconds, you see French women in Eres swimsuits already flipped once and working on their back tans; families from all over the Middle East and Europe staking out where they’ll spend the next several hours, honeymooners who may or may not leave the property over the course of the weekend, fit 30-somethings who (annoyingly) have already gone to the gym and are sipping green juices. It’s one of those fabulous people-watching places—sort of like being in a modern-day Slim Aarons photo. —Rebecca Misner, senior features editor
Four Seasons Ritz Lisbon
That first morning of the first full day of your stay at the Four Seasons Ritz Lisbon, when you head downstairs for breakfast, you’ll feel a bit like Alice entering Wonderland. The whole hotel has a sort of mod grandeur that’s unlike like anything else, make no mistake, but that breakfast hall, man. It’s massive, first of all, with an off-white checkerboard motif on the ceiling, comfy armed dining chairs of military green with bright orange trim, and mirrored, tiered tables piled high with a buffet stocked with everything you need to start your day— delicate and creamy pasteis de nata, of course, made in-house but also pastries from cuisines across Europe and some seriously soft scrambled eggs. Decor does not a great breakfast make, of course, so it’s really that latter entry that secures this Four Seasons a place on the list. —CH
The St. Regis Mexico City
Sunday brunch at The St. Regis Mexico City’s open, airy Diana restaurant is like no other breakfast buffet I’ve seen before. The scope, for one, is enormous, with seemingly endless sweet and savory food stations. You won’t find bacon and eggs, but you will find Mexican food, charcuterie with freshly shaved meat, pasta, sushi, an elaborate dessert spread, and more. Highlights include the build-your-own ceviche, quesadillas, and gorditas; chilled shrimp and oysters; sushi bar; and the live music. If you have enough room for a cocktail, the Sangrita Maria’s play on a Bloody Mary with mezcal instead of vodka is the hotel’s signature drink. Once you’re good and full, step outside for a stroll down the lovely Paseo de la Reforma. —Madison Flager, senior commerce editor
Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia
This September, I woke up on Kangaroo Island, Australia, to the sound of the Antarctic sea rushing up the shoreline just a few yards away from my bed, the freezing spray catching the morning light like fog and hanging in the air for an extra second or two before fading into the pale sky. A striking nowhere-else-in-the-world view like this is best accompanied with a meal that doesn’t steal the spotlight, and that’s exactly what I had for my final breakfast at Southern Ocean Lodge: beautifully ribbony scrambled eggs, roasted mushrooms, and ricotta over toast drizzled with honey. I would have devoured this deliciousness even while blindfolded, but I’ll recall that morning for a very long time for what it offered me—a feast for the tastebuds as well as the eyes. —Matt Ortile, associate editor
Venice Simplon-Orient-Express
I have dreamed of riding the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for years. After a warm June evening of mingling and drinking and singing “O Sole Mio” with fellow guests and the good-time ragazzi that staffed the train’s iconic sapphire-swathed bar car, as we rolled through French countryside toward the Italian Riviera, I could scarcely believe that my dream was becoming a reality. When I returned to my compartment onboard and fell into bed, I half-expected to wake up back in my apartment in New York—plucked from the fantasy. And yet, after a wink and a blink, there came the sun, a knock on my door, and the smell of buttery croissants and an oat milk cappuccino as the glistening Mediterranean came into view and the ground beneath my slippered feet happily rattled and rumbled. I will be forever grateful to that basket of viennoiserie and little pots of compote—and the fantastic train steward for bringing me my breakfast tray—for reassuring me that I was indeed on the VSOE. Even if only for a few remaining hours, the dream could continue. —MO
Jack’s Camp, Botswana
What’s better than one breakfast? Two breakfasts, of course. At Jack’s, the first one arrives at your tent at six in the morning to prime you for your first safari of the day. It’s usually tea or freshly brewed coffee and buttery biscuits (toast if you ask for it), and it’s just enough to wake you up and get you on your way into the still-cold desert dawn. The second one comes midway through the safari—or in my case, after a two-hour-long horse ride through the desert. After having come within profusely-sweating distance from a lone bull elephant (when I was saved, presumably, by the shift in the wind’s direction—the bull could no longer detect us), the second round, set up in the shrubland on the hood of the safari vehicle, was the sign I needed that I was safe again. Our guide, Chemical, pulled out a hamper and laid out a spread of cereal, coffee, juice, muffins, and hard-boiled eggs on a checked table cloth—and I feasted like a queen. Another day, I slept through the safari and ate a cooked breakfast on the 36-seater dining table in the central mess tent, surrounded by Southern African archeological treasures and animal skulls in glass cases: there were eggs, muffins, cheese, and fresh fruit (bacon and sausages, if you like)—all made even better with a healthy pour of Jack’s special chili sauce. It all felt very Indiana Jones. —Arati Menon, global digital director
