Buenos Aires is the best value destination in the world for Brits for an overnight stay at a 4* hotel including breakfast, according to the inaugural TripIndex Breakfast, a TripAdvisor cost comparison study.

TripIndex Breakfast compares the cost of an overnight stay in selected hotels with breakfast included, versus an overnight stay at the same hotel with breakfast eaten at a local restaurant, during the months of October and November in 37 key tourist cities around the world.

The study, conducted by independent research firm Ipsos, analyses the following costs; an overnight stay in a selected hotel with breakfast included, an overnight stay in a hotel without breakfast, the cost of the hotel breakfast alone, and the cost of breakfast in a local eatery.[i]

It found that an overnight stay with breakfast included in Buenos Aires will only set you back £46.38, more than seven times less than the price of a stay with breakfast in the most expensive hotel destination in this study, New York City which comes in at an average of £342.90.

Hotel breakfast vs breakfast in a local restaurant

When it comes to the cost of a hotel breakfast versus the cost of eating breakfast in a local restaurant, the cheapest hotel breakfast can be found in Istanbul at an average price of £3.99 while the most expensive, at an average price of £19.29, is in Zurich.

Warsaw and Sharm el Sheikh tie for the title of cheapest local restaurant breakfast, both come in at an average of £3.03, while Hong Kong offers the most expensive local restaurant breakfast at an eye watering average of £23.95.

Save money by venturing outside the hotel for breakfast

For those travellers who don’t mind leaving the confines of the hotel in the morning, the TripIndex Breakfast study shows that for most destinations, opting for an accommodation only package and heading to a local restaurant for breakfast can save precious pounds.

For travellers choosing this option, the biggest saving can be made in Kuala Lumpur, where travellers can save an average of £17.10 by opting for a hotel package without breakfast and then dining locally, versus an overnight stay with hotel breakfast included. This is followed by Sydney where travellers can save an average of £13.92.

London fifth most expensive destination for overnight stay with breakfast

TripIndex Breakfast found that London is the fifth most expensive destination for an overnight stay with breakfast at £214.78 and fourth most expensive for accommodation only at £204.55.

The study showed that while choosing an accommodation only package in London is over £10 cheaper than a package that includes breakfast, when you consider that breakfast outside the hotel comes in at an average £9.88, the savings to be made by going for an accommodation only package are negligible.

“We recently conducted a study which revealed that 60% of travellers consider free breakfast to be very important when deciding where to book. In fact for leisure travellers, it’s the second most important factor to them when booking a hotel. However, as the results of TripIndex Breakfast show, travellers may do better to forego a hotel breakfast in favour of dining out locally in the morning since this is where the biggest savings can usually be made,” commented TripAdvisor spokesperson, James Kay.

Recommended value hotels and highly rated restaurants for breakfast in the three most expensive and best value destinations:

For travellers planning a trip to one of the three most expensive or three best value TripIndex Breakfast destinations, TripAdvisor has identified highly-rated value hotels with availability to book on TripAdvisor for October and November, as well as top-rated local restaurants for breakfast in each destination[ii].

Top three most expensive TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destinations:

1.    New York City – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: £324.67

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: 414 Hotel – Average nightly rate: £233.70

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Rustic Table and Best Bagel and Coffee

2.    Tokyo – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: £251.84

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo – Average nightly rate: £139.30

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Grand Kitchen and Lavarock

3.    Paris – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: £242.14

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Augustin - Astotel – Average nightly rate: £120.81

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Max and Britany and La Galerie

Top three best value TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destinations:

1.    Buenos Aires – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: £27.82

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Tucuman Palace Hotel – Average nightly rate: £26.32

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Arroyo Towers and Ristorante Cardinale

2.    Moscow – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: £47.06

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Ibis Moscow Centre Bakhrushina – Average nightly rate: £42.17

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Muesli and Mamma Dzhovanna

3.    San Jose – Average nightly hotel rate with breakfast: £58.35

Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Casa Cambranes – Average nightly rate: £47.69

Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: LA CAFETERA and El Brotario

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For more information, please contact Hayley Coleman / 077 398 27951077 398 27951 / hcoleman@tripadvisor.com

Full list of destinations included in the study is available upon request.

Notes to editors:

TripIndex Breakfast at a glance

10 cheapest for overnight stay with breakfast:

*n/a = hotel package without breakfast data not sufficient in that destination

10 most expensive for overnight stay with breakfast:

*n/a = hotel package without breakfast data not sufficient in that destination

Methodology

The TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destination list is comprised of 37 key cities within the top 37 most searched for countries by global TripAdvisor users over the past 12 months.

TripIndex Breakfast compares the cost of an overnight stay with breakfast versus an overnight stay at a hotel with breakfast eaten outside of the hotel at a local restaurant prices in each destination. Within each establishment selected to the study and where the item was available, the prices of the following were identified by telephoning the establishment:

·          An overnight stay with breakfast                  

·          An overnight stay without breakfast              

·          Cost of the hotel breakfast separately                        

·          Cost of breakfast at a local eatery      

Research was conducted by Ipsos and prices were collected through telephone and online web search.  Prices in each market were taken in local currencies between 7^th September 2015 and 1^st October 2015 and currency conversion rates were taken from xe.com on 1^st October 2015.

An overnight stay with breakfast: Prices were gathered from up to 6 of the best rated 4* hotels according to the TripAdvisor Popularity Index, cheapest available price for overnight stay with breakfast. An average based on the prices for the following three dates 31st October, 7th November and 14th November was taken.

An overnight stay without breakfast: Prices were gathered from up to 6 of the best rated 4* hotels according to the TripAdvisor Popularity Index, cheapest available price for overnight stay. An average based on the prices for the following three dates 31st October, 7th November and 14th November was taken.

Cost of the hotel breakfast separately: Prices were gathered from up to 6 of the best rated 4* hotels according to the TripAdvisor Popularity Index.

Cost of breakfast at a local eatery: Prices were gathered from up to 6 of the best rated restaurants according to the TripAdvisor Popularity Index, filtered by ‘breakfast’ ‘café’ and ‘mid-range’, when possible.

[i] Please see methodology for more details.

[ii] Recommended highly rated hotels in the five best value destinations have a minimum of 15 reviews, currently have availability between October 31 and November 14, 2015 and are less than or equal to the average nightly rate (without breakfast) for each destination. Hotel pricing is based on TripAdvisor data for October 31 through November 14, 2015, aggregated from booking partners, including online travel agencies and direct hotel suppliers.

Recommended highly rated hotels in the five most expensive destinations have a minimum of 15 reviews, currently have availability between October 31 and November 14, 2015 and are at least £50 per night less than the average nightly rate (without breakfast) for each destination. Hotel pricing is based on TripAdvisor data for October 31 through November 14, 2015, aggregated from booking partners, including online travel agencies and direct hotel suppliers.

Recommended restaurants for breakfast are the top-rated restaurants on TripAdvisor, with a minimum of 20 reviews, which serve breakfast and are located within 1-mile of the recommended hotel in each destination.