KEY POINTS:
Auckland hotels are charging as much as $37 for a hot breakfast that can be purchased at nearby cafes for around $10.
Top hotels in the city offer a sumptuous breakfast selection, but at around $25 for even a simple bowl of muesli and a cup of coffee, it's not a cheap way to start the day.
Prices among five inner-city hotel restaurants range from $28 to $37 for a full selection buffet.
Meanwhile, Ronnie's Cafe and Bakery on Albert St - virtually opposite the five-star Stamford Plaza hotel - does a full cooked breakfast for only $10. It would cost less than $7.50 to make the same food at home yourself.
The Herald on Sunday tested the breakfast at the Stamford Plaza's Knights on Albert restaurant, which goes for $32 on a weekday.
There are six different types of fruit juice on offer, and every time the coffee dips below the halfway mark, your cup is filled again by an attentive waiter. There is a large selection of cereals, milks, yoghurts and different types of toast, plus pastries and croissants.
In the hot section, there are two types of bacon, eggs made to order, sausages, tomatoes and hash browns. Plus, the chef "will make anything you ask for, as long as he knows how to", we are told.
There is even a breakfast sushi bar, complete with pickled cucumber, miso soup and tofu, for the hotel's Japanese patrons.
Stamford Plaza food and beverage manager Christian Pulley points out that the same selection might be just as costly elsewhere. "If you were to compare it to a cafe and went in there and had an orange juice, a coffee, a bowl of cereal and a hot dish, you'd suddenly find it was adding up quite quickly."
At The Cafe at the Hyatt Regency, plenty of regulars come along to start their day with a relaxing breakfast at a cost of $32, according to team leader Lloyd.
The cafe serves all the usual breakfast staples and some more unusual dishes, including kiwifruit juice and rice congee (a rice porridge popular in China). If you want to go all out, you can also get a 300g sirloin steak with potatoes, tomato and mushrooms for $33.
Amelia Johnston from SkyCity Hotel restaurant The Terrace says customers sometimes flinch at the $35 cost of the buffet - "but they are all right, once they see the selection we have available".
All the hotels offer set menus, with meals priced from $10 to $30.
Over at Ronnie's, staff fry up big breakfasts for their regular city worker clientele. The meal includes two pieces of toast, grilled tomato, a hash brown, bacon, a sausage and two fried eggs. Owner Thai Lay says people are always happy with their breakfast and never complain about the price or the serving size. "If people want to pay more, that's okay. But this is good here, and a good price, too."
Hospitality Association of New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson says customers who breakfast at hotels pay for a dining experience.
"If you're at a little cafe, you'll get your sausages and your bit of scrambled egg... whereas at a hotel you will get the full smorgasboard with everything. You get a fantastic breakfast experience, and you pay a little more in value for that."
HOTEL BREAKFAST PRICES
Knights on Albert at Stamford Plaza, Albert St, Auckland
$32 for a full buffet breakfast, hot and cold selections, including juice, tea and coffee. $25 for continental only.
White at Hilton Hotel, Princes Wharf, Auckland
$37 for one hot meal from the a-la-carte menu and continental buffet, including juice, tea and coffee. $27 for continental only.
The Cafe at Hyatt Regency
$32 for the NZ buffet breakfast, which includes hot and cold selections, and juice, tea and coffee. $25 for continental only.
The Grill at Duxton Hotel
$28 for one selection from the hot a-la-carte menu and a continental buffet, including juice, tea and coffee. $18.50 for continental only.
The Terrace at SkyCity Hotel
$35 for hot and cold buffet, including juice, tea and coffee. $25 for continental only.
HOME-COOKED COSTS
2 pieces (200g) of shoulder bacon: $3.78
2 eggs (size 7): 32c
2 breakfast sausages: 50c
100g mushrooms: 99c
1 tomato: 65c
200g hash browns: 99c
Total: $7.23
(Prices based on Foodtown online, approximate only.)
