10 Ways to Turn Your Hotel Buffet Gourmet

Make a Yogurt Parfait

Transform a continental array of cold cereal, fruit, and yogurt into something you'd find at a chic cafe. Layer cereal or a crushed granola bar, yogurt, and sliced fruit in a bowl or cup—it looks especially pretty in a clear glass—for a wholesome, sweet, and crunchy yogurt parfait. If available, add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup for some extra sugary goodness. A traveler on the go might want to skip the glass and add mix-ins directly to a container of yogurt for a more portable parfait.

Make a Breakfast Banana Split

Kids and adults alike will enjoy this sweet and creative dessert-inspired treat. Make a breakfast "banana split" using a sliced banana, a scoop of yogurt, a drizzle of peanut butter or fruit preserves, and some granola or fruit to top. There's an especially decadent-looking recipe on The Kitchn that features gobs of firm Greek yogurt (it looks just like scoops of vanilla ice cream), sliced almonds, fresh blueberries, and fruit jam piled on a halved banana. Use your imagination, and have fun.

BYOC

Bring your own coffee. Sure, there are ways to brew a decent cup in the crummy plastic four-cup coffeemaker provided in your hotel room; Lifehacker offers some good tips here. But make your morning a bit easier by packing your own joe-brewing provisions ahead of time. Our own Caroline Morse recommends Barnie's CoffeeKitchen's Pronto! portable concentrated cold-brewed coffee for an instant caffeine fix on the road. We've also had luck using Bodum's 16-Ounce Travel Coffee Press, a single vessel for brewing and drinking coffee (or tea) made with your own preferred grounds.

Make a Waffle Breakfast Sandwich (or Taco!)

Here's a constructive phrase you don't often hear: Take some cooking inspiration from Taco Bell. T. Bell's infamous new waffle taco is available at select locations in the U.S. It is also available at any hotel breakfast buffet serving waffles, sausage, and eggs; just make one yourself. Fold sausage, eggs, veggies, cheese, and whatever else your heart desires into a waffle, then eat. Or construct a savory-and-sweet breakfast sandwich using two waffles in lieu of an English muffin or bagel. (This kind of thing is exactly why hotels offer fitness facilities.)

Use A Smaller Plate

Don't have time to hit the hotel gym? This is a tried-and-true (and, admittedly, kind of ubiquitous) diet tip that works wonders for anyone who wants to control calories when faced with a literal buffet of food options: Use a salad or dessert plate instead of the standard dinner-size dishware. Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but that's no excuse to ingest the majority of your day's recommended caloric intake before you even leave the hotel. And since hotel breakfast buffets rarely come with nutritional information, it's best to err on the side of caution here. After all, you can always go back for seconds.

Use Mix-Ins in the Waffle Maker

We got this idea from Buzzfeed's list of Food Hacks for College Cafeterias. According to Buzzfeed, "Put the batter in a separate bowl before you make your waffles and go crazy: [add] peanut butter, sprinkles, nuts, chocolate sauce, cheese, and bacon, you name it." Just like college cafeterias, hotel breakfast buffets sometimes have do-it-yourself waffle makers alongside vats of premade batter. (We'd like to suggest one amendment, though: Refrain from using peanut butter in the waffle maker, as some people are allergic to nuts.) We'd add fruit—like sliced strawberries or blueberries—to our mix.

Bring Your Own Condiments

For some of us, breakfast isn't breakfast without a splash of sriracha or some Texas Pete. Throw a travel-size container of your favorite condiment in your zip-top bag to spice up a bland breakfast buffet. Travel writer Steve Jermanok, cofounder of ActiveTravels, told us, "[After paying a dollar extra for maple syrup], I was shocked when it came out in a small paper holder better known for containing butter for dipping lobster meat. About the size of a shot glass, I knew I would swipe up every last bit of syrup after two bites of the pancake. When I complained, the waiter said you can get additional increments for $1 each. It ruined my day and is the reason why I continue to travel with real maple syrup in my glove compartment."

Mix Up Your Juice

Pep up the boring carafe of from-concentrate orange pulp and mix things up a bit at the juice bar. Blend different juices together to create more interesting flavors, like orange-pineapple or apple-grape juice. Add sparkling water to your juice for a refreshing, non-alcoholic morning spritzer. Step it up sangria-style by topping your juice with sliced fruit. Or, if a mimosa's more your kind of morning pick-me-up, splash some chilled sparkling wine (there might be some in that minibar) in your juice drink. We won't judge.

Give Away Your Leftovers

Travel writer Johnny Jet gets the prize for thinking up the most generous breakfast hack we've heard yet. According to Johnny, "The worst breakfast that I can recall was also one of the most incredible. It was at Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, India. Breakfast consisted of all kinds of local food like 'upma' and 'poha' and international options like banana pancakes and made-to-order eggs. But it was also the worst breakfast because the server brought over a multi-tier tray stuffed with delicious pastries. My wife and I hadn't asked for them and didn't want to eat them. I asked our waiter what he would do with that tray and despite the fact that it had been untouched, he said the pastries would be thrown away. That was heartbreaking since there were millions of people, less than a kilometer away, that were, quite literally, starving. Luckily, the waiter was kind enough to wrap the pastries up for us and we later distributed them."

Make A Breakfast Pizza

"When pizza's on a bagel, you can eat pizza anytime," said the astute jingle in that circa-1990s Bagel Bites commercial. There are myriad ways to construct a delicious breakfast pizza: For the crust, use toast, a sliced bagel, an English muffin, or a croissant. Top with scrambled eggs, shredded or sliced deli cheese, and chopped bacon; microwave it to melt the cheese—and bring it to your room if you have to.

What are your best hotel-breakfast hacks? Share them in the comments.

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