Buenos Aires is the best value destination in the world for Australians 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 38 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.

TripIndex Breakfast found that Sydney is the ninth most expensive destination for an overnight stay with breakfast at $367.33, and $312.33 for accommodation only. The study also revealed Sydney as a destination to save cash ($29.95) when opting for a hotel package without breakfast and instead dining at a local eatery, as opposed to an overnight hotel stay with breakfast package. A 2013 Commbank Signals report found that Australians spend an average of $70 per week on eating out at cafes, takeaway and restaurants, equating to a total of $60 billion per year.

TripIndex Breakfast found that an overnight stay with breakfast included in Buenos Aires will only set you back $99.81, 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 $737.95

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 eatery, the cheapest hotel breakfast can be found in Istanbul (Turkey) at an average price of $8.59 while the most expensive, at an average price of $41.52, is in Zurich (Switzerland).

Warsaw (Poland) and Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt) tie for the title of cheapest local restaurant breakfast, both come in at an average of $6.52.

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 dollars.

For travellers choosing this option, the biggest saving can be made in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), where travellers can save an average of $36.80 by opting for a hotel package without breakfast and then dining locally, versus an overnight stay with hotel breakfast included.

“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’s Communications Director for APAC, Janice Lee Fang.

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.

Top three most expensive TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destinations:

New York City – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: $698.72
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: 414 Hotel – Average nightly rate: $495.70
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Rustic Table and Best Bagel and Coffee

Tokyo – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: $541.97
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Ryumeikan Tokyo – Average nightly rate: $295.48
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Grand Kitchen and Lavarock

Paris – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: $521.10
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Augustin - Astotel – Average nightly rate: $256.24
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Max and Britany and La Galerie

Top three best value TripIndex Breakfast 2015 destinations:

Buenos Aires – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: $59.87
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Tucuman Palace Hotel – Average nightly rate: $55.82
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Arroyo Towers and Ristorante Cardinale

Moscow – Average nightly hotel rate without breakfast: $101.27
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Ibis Moscow Centre Bakhrushina – Average nightly rate: $89.44
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: Muesli and Mamma Dzhovanna

San Jose – Average nightly hotel rate with breakfast: $125.57
Recommended hotel available to book on TripAdvisor: Hotel Casa Cambranes – Average nightly rate: $101.17
Two top-rated local restaurants for breakfast: LA CAFETERA and El Brotario

-Ends-