The Best Hotel Breakfasts in the World, According to Our Editors

25.10.2024 - 16:47 / cntraveler.com / Megan Spurrell

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.

Selections from Titilaka's breakfast, including the daily fruit medley

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

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