For 83 per cent of the 1,200 participants, as wide a selection as possible at breakfast time is very important.
Two thirds of respondents take an hour or more to eat breakfast as a hotel, compared to 30 per cent who only take half an hour. German guests in particular like to take their time, while Italians are amongst the fast eaters.
National differences
The English breakfast offering was high on the list of favourite dishes (39.2 per cent), followed by a sweet continental breakfast (24.4 per cent) – both accompanied by a glass of sparkling wine for 26.1 per cent of holiday makers.
Meanwhile the healthy options such as muesli, wholemeal bread and fruit salad came last on the list of preferences (10.3 per cent).
Unsurprisingly, 49 per cent of English people preferred an English breakfast to other options, but the dish was also appreciated by the Germans (45.3 per cent), Dutch (44.7 per cent) and Brazilians (44.5 per cent).
A sweet breakfast is particularly enjoyable for Italians (41.4 per cent), closely followed by the French (33 per cent) and the Spanish (31.9 per cent).
Local specialities
Offering local specialities, freshly prepared eggs and different coffee choices is a must according to the survey. "Hoteliers who offer these have already won the loyalty of their guests,” said Ralf Priemer, managing director at hotel.info.
On the other hand, guests are annoyed when they are served dishes from the day before or when the buffet is not regularly topped up.
Price-wise, almost 15 per cent of the hotel guests questioned were willing to pay more than €16 (£13) on top of the cost of the room, while 42 per cent were ready to pay between €11 and €15 (£9 to £12) and 43 per cent would like to pay €5 to €10 (£4 to £8).
