Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Studies evoking the classic Wheaties cereal slogan, “The Breakfast of Champions,” show that breakfast provides energy and nutrients that lead to increased concentration. It also can be important in maintaining a healthy body weight. Breakfast provides energy for the activities during the morning and helps to prevent that mid-morning slump.

Those all are good reasons for travelers to make time for breakfast, whether they opt for a made-to-order breakfast in the restaurant of a full-service hotel or take advantage of the self-service buffets typically found at select-service hotels, including those operated by M&R Hotel Management. All of our select-service hotels offer complimentary breakfast buffets featuring selected hot items, fruits, cereals, breads and pastries.

From a business point of view, breakfast is an opportunity for hotels to gain an all-important advantage over competitors in the same market. Guests tell us breakfast is a key amenity and part of the value proposition that led them to choose our hotels in the first place. Just check through guest comments on TripAdvisor and you’ll see how many people choose to include their thoughts on some aspect of the breakfast service.

Consider some of the limited-service brands represented in our portfolio: Holiday Inn Express, Days Inn and Comfort Inn. Each has a branded breakfast program: Express Start, Fresh Start and Your Morning Breakfast, respectively. Holiday Inn Express even offers two “signature items:” cinnamon rolls and pancakes. The emphasis is on quality, quantity, ease of serving and range of options. When it comes to choice, brands look to provide a mix of traditional comfort foods – eggs, bagels, muffins – along with low-fat Items, including yogurt, oatmeal and fresh fruit.

Faiza Nadeem, general manager of our Days Inn Jamaica-JFK Airport hotel, notes that M&R always goes above and beyond the brand standard. “We’ve added more hot and healthy items like oatmeal while de-emphasizing muffins and doughnuts,” she said. “We’re getting a positive response from guests.”

Faiza and her fellow GMs are quick to note that their brands’ complimentary breakfasts also score points with guests because they represent a significant value both for business travelers – notably self-employed businesspeople, sales representatives and consultants who don’t have expense accounts – and leisure travelers, especially families traveling with children.

The savings can be substantial, notes Juan Soto, general manager of our Comfort Inn Midtown West in Manhattan. “For a family of four or five to order breakfast at a restaurant in our neighborhood could easily cost upwards of $50,” he said. “That’s a $50 saving” if they take advantage of the Comfort Inn’s breakfast buffet, which features eggs, cereal, breakfast meats, fresh fruit, Danish pastries, juice and waffles.

“Kids love it,” he said. “Where else can they get to try so many things?”