9 Superb Hotel Breakfasts Around The World Slideshow

The Peninsula, Bangkok

You could spend all day leisurely sipping exotic juices and European coffee at the Peninsula's peerless riverfront spread. The pastries are of particular note, a fusion of French technique (Thailand, then Siam, was surrounded by colonial French Indochina) and native ingredients.

The Inn at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.

What's good enough to draw vacationers from the comfy-luxe, khaki-and-buttercream-colored cottages at the Inn at Palmetto Bluff? Only the Lowcountry eggs Benedict at the Inn's a.m. restaurant, Buffalos, served in a pool of stone-ground Anson Mills grits enriched with white Cheddar.

Hacienda del Mar, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Colorful ponchos drape the chairs at Girasoles, Hacienda del Mar's open-air, ocean-view, rooftop restaurant. Morning in Cabo can be breezy, after all, though the huevos rancheros served with feisty fresh salsas are a far more delicious way to warm up. Don't miss the basket of Mexican pastries.

Bilila Lodge, Serengeti, Tanzania

The breakfast is first-rate at the Spartanly named (but not Spartanly furnished) Main Dining Room at the chic Bilila Lodge in the heart of the African Serengeti, but the views are the real draw. A sweeping convex wall of glass overlooks the infinity pool and beyond, an acacia tree-fringed oasis where elephants are known to congregate.

Lacroix at the Rittenhouse, Philadelphia

This serene restaurant at the luxe retreat on Philly's Rittenhouse Square does an elegant daily breakfast for business types, but the real jaw-dropper is the $59 Sunday brunch, when chef Jon Chicon puts out a spread featuring everything from foie gras granola bars and escargot palmiers to peanut-butter pancakes and Negroni-glazed salmon.

Bernini Bristol, Rome

While breakfast for locals usually equals an espresso and a cornetto consumed while standing at the neighborhood café, the elegant Bernini Bristol gives non-Italians plenty (eggs and prosciutto, jugs of fresh green apple juice, buttery croissants with Nutella) to fuel up on. It all just tastes better in the Berini's sumptuous breakfast room overlooking Piazza Barberini and Triton's Fountain.

The Athenaeum, London

A "Larder" of smoked fish, cured meats, fruits, crumpets, and more heralds breakfast at The Athenaeum in London's posh Mayfair district. Guests then choose from a selection of entrées (corned beef hash, American-style pancakes, and lamb kidneys on a "toasted doorstep"), though proper gents and ladies stick with the Traditional English Breakfast: two eggs, bacon, plum tomato, Cumberland sausage, sautéed mushrooms, and toast.

The Carroll Villa Hotel, Cape May, N.J.

Breakfast at the charming on-site restaurant, The Mad Batter, is included in the rate at this top-shelf bed-and-breakfast housed in a 130-year-old Victorian manse. Come summer, locals and vacationers flock to the scenic, gingerbread-festooned front porch, where the people-watching is almost as good as the thick-cut, orange-and-almond brioche French toast.

Castle Hill, Newport, R.I.

Breakfast is a blue-blooded, guests-only affair at Relais & Chateaux's Castle Hill, a windswept charmer perched on a bluff above the sea in Newport. Delectable lobster hash is the dining room headliner, topped with chive crème fraîche and poached eggs from Little Rhody Egg Farm in nearby Foster, R.I.