Note: This article pertaining to 7 Things to Do When Breakfast Hours Do Not Fit Your Travel Schedule at Hotels was originally published on Tuesday, June 28, 2016 at 3:20 in the afternoon and has been updated.
You might have a flight included in your itinerary that departs very early in the morning — or perhaps you simply want to sleep in and wake up when you are ready — which may result in missing breakfast at a hotel or resort property. Here is a list of 7 things to do when breakfast hours do not fit into your travel schedule at hotel properties.
7 Things to Do When Breakfast Hours Do Not Fit Your Travel Schedule at Hotels
One might wonder why breakfast hours at many hotel and resort properties are not extended until later in the morning. At the other end of the spectrum is why breakfasts at hotel and resort properties are typically not available before 6:00 in the morning. The answer is cost: employees are needed to keep food replenished, wait on tables, or clean up the dining area. Also, those employees either want to go home after working since 5:00 in the morning preparing for breakfast; or they may have other responsibilities of which to take care for the remainder of their work days. As one example, members of the staff may stop refilling the bowls and clearing items away — or not having anyone at the entrance of the dining area of the hotel or resort property — greater than 30 minutes prior to the closing of a buffet are not uncommon.
Breakfast at a hotel or resort property is of no use when a flight is scheduled to depart at 6:00 in the morning or earlier and you are required to be at the airport no later than 5:00 in the morning. There is nothing like being bleary-eyed and hungry with no options for food while outside is still dark as you wish you were still sleeping back in that comfortable bed upstairs…
…and imagine doing that — skipping breakfast in the process — only to rush to the airport and find out that your flight had just been canceled until the next day. That is what happened to me, as the next flight was not scheduled to depart for another 24 hours — and I could have enjoyed a good breakfast that morning. Oh, well…
1. Be Prepared for a “Famine” and Bring Your Own Food and Snacks.
…or you can do what I do and ensure that there are snacks in your bag which will be enough to sustain you until you are either served something aboard the airplane or until you arrive at your destination or stopover airport. That — combined with a serving of orange juice aboard the airplane — is enough for me to be good to go, as they say.
You should have at least a few snack options — which are not easily perishable, of course — to carry around with you as often as possible in order to alleviate your hunger during those times when you are not sure when you will be able to enjoy your next meal. Your flight could end at a time when concessions at the airport are already closed or have not opened yet; and you are preparing to drive two hours to your destination — which could be a hotel property with no restaurant on site or nearby, for example.
I personally carry sealed items such as pretzels, chocolate, and small boxes of cereal — which at least offer some nutrients — to name a few examples; but they must eventually be consumed and replaced, as they can become stale or melted over time.
In other words: be prepared for a “famine” — defined in this case as a long stretch of time where little to no food is available due to your travel schedule, which could potentially include irregular operations to exacerbate the “famine.”
2. Go to Sleep Earlier.
If you really need your sleep, there is no need to miss breakfast in the morning. Simply retire to bed earlier to get a fresh start in the morning if you really need that much sleep.
I am basically a “night person” — it is not unusual for me to stay up as late as 6:00 in the morning — who is cursed with an appreciation for mornings. If I could, I would be both a night person and a morning person without requiring a nap during the day — but I do not believe that staying up for weeks at a time is good for my health. I have been known to do “all nighters” up to 50 hours without sleeping, though. Perhaps that is one reason why I can still function after being a passenger on an overnight flight and not need to be comfortably “ensconced in a pile of cozy pillows” — that statement is so Melinda Danielsen; and I hope she does not change — until later that evening.
It may even be one of the factors why I do not experience the phenomenon known as jet lag — but I digress as usual.
Despite my being a diehard night person, I have no issue with retiring to sleep as early as 9:00 in the evening if I want to enjoy breakfast the next morning — or if I need to catch a flight departing at 6:00 in the morning. Assuming that you do not wake up until 9:00 the next morning, that is 12 hours of sleep. I am not sure how much more sleeping in you would need after that…
3. Perform At Least Some of Your Personal Hygiene Routines Until After Breakfast.
…and if you can hold off on your morning hygiene, you can even defer routines such as brushing your teeth and showering until after breakfast. This way, you have a full breakfast inside you to satisfy you; and when you return to your hotel room, you can put out the Do Not Disturb sign and securely lock the door of your hotel room before you leisurely shower, shave, brush your teeth — and engage in any other habits of personal hygiene which will get you ready for your now-abbreviated day.
If, however, your hair looks like you put your finger in an electrical outlet while your breath or armpits emit toxic gases capable of instantly exterminating any living being within ten miles of you, you might want to reconsider this suggestion — or, at least, ensure that vital personal hygienic habits are satisfied before indulging in breakfast and complete the not-so-vital ones after breakfast.
4. Take a Nap After Breakfast.
If you really need to catch up on your sleep but want to partake in breakfast offered at the hotel or resort property, consider taking a nap after breakfast. Yes, it will cut into your day in terms of time; and no, this suggestion is not for everyone. Once I am awake, I am awake and I usually do not need to go back to sleep — but this is an option to consider, just the same.
5. Request For Breakfast to be Available to You During Off Hours.
Some hotel and resort properties offer a service where small bags of provisions are prepared in advance which you can grab and go with you, which is a nice gesture. Others may allow you to place an order the night before and have it ready at that ungodly hour.
You can try asking when you check in at the front desk if you can substitute breakfast for a voucher of an equivalent value for lunch or dinner. The worst that can happen is that your request will be denied.
6. Get Your Breakfast Elsewhere.
Unfortunately, you are more typically left to your own devices and have few options if your schedule is not able to coincide with that of the breakfast hours at a hotel or resort property — such as purchasing some overpriced and unappetizing food at the airport.
Fortunately, restaurants are not the only option in getting your breakfast elsewhere: if you have access to airport lounges via a membership or benefit of a credit card, finding one that is open before any restaurant is not unusual. Some airport lounges open as early as 4:00 in the morning; while others are open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
7. Skip Breakfast Altogether.
Not eating is usually not a viable option for many people — but it still is an option, which is why it was included in this list of 7 things to do when breakfast hours do not fit into your travel schedule at hotel properties.
Final Boarding Call
Breakfast is the meal which I favor the least, as I much prefer lunch or dinner. Still, there is nothing like a satisfying leisurely breakfast to start the day; and if one is available to me — especially if it is complimentary for me — I will ensure that I will be awake in time to partake in it.
As an example, the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Fujairah Resort before it permanently closed and was demolished in 2017 — which is included with the room rate — was outstanding, in my opinion; and only part of this extensive breakfast buffet is shown in the photograph at the top of this article.
If you follow even one of the suggestions posted in this article of 7 things to do when breakfast hours do not fit into your travel schedule at hotel and resort properties, you have the possibility of having your cake and eating it too — if chocolate cake is your idea of breakfast, with no apologies to Bill Cosby — meaning that eating a leisurely breakfast; still get your much-needed sleep; and accomplishing everything you have planned for the day is indeed doable, depending on your priorities…
All photographs ©2015, ©2019, and ©2023 by Brian Cohen.
