One of the best parts of staying in a hotel is the breakfast – although they’re seemingly becoming more and more of an expensive addition.
But there’s a way of getting the same food for a fraction of the price – and you don’t even need to be a hotel guest to reap the benefits.
Hundreds of hotel chains have signed up to Too Good To Go – an app that allows users to buy a bag of perfectly good leftover food that would otherwise have gone to waste for a very small price.
For as little as £2.99 in some cases, you can bag yourself a Full English if you’re prepared to collect it from your local hotel in the allotted time slot.
To find out how well this app really works, I headed to six hotels across London to pick up Surprise Bags full of – hopefully – delicious food. As well as on taste, I tested each on value for money.
One five-star hotel let me fill up a takeaway box of a huge breakfast buffet, for just £8 – and another property gave me enough to feed two people for just £4.
This is how I got on…
Novotel Greenwich – £4
To find out how well Too Good To Go works, I headed to six hotels across London to pick up Surprise Bags full of – hopefully – delicious food. My first stop is the Novotel Greenwich, where rooms start at £91, or £109 if you want breakfast included
I pay just £4 and walk over from my flat on a Saturday morning. In the box there’s enough food to provide me AND my partner with a hearty breakfast
My first stop is the Novotel Greenwich, where rooms start at £91, or £109 if you want breakfast included.
But rather than paying £18 for a hotel breakfast, I pay just £4 and walk over from my flat on a Saturday morning.
At the hotel reception, I show my app, am handed a cardboard box (which feels very heavy), and am sent on my way.
When I get back home, I open the box and there’s enough food to provide me AND my partner with a hearty breakfast – two sausages, four pieces of bacon, three (delicious) hash browns, scrambled egg, mushrooms and baked beans. For the most part, this was the perfect hangover cure – and incredible value for money – but the egg was very congealed.
Wilde Aparthotels Paddington – £4
Studio apartments at Wilde Aparthotels Paddington start at £198 a night, with breakfast included.
But it’s only £4 for a Too Good To Go breakfast – although don’t expect a fry up for that price.
I’m handed a bag of three big pastries – a croissant, a Nutella pain au chocolat, and cinnamon bun.
Studio apartments at Wilde Aparthotels Paddington start at £198 a night, with breakfast included – but it’s only £4 for a Too Good To Go breakfast, and I’m handed a bag of three big pastries (right)
My next stop is a five-star hotel in Marylebone, where rooms start at £370 a night – and breakfast is available for an extra £37. But I save £33 by picking up a breakfast through Too Good To Go
It’s a heavy bag of about 12 pastries – mini croissants, cinnamon swirls and pain au chocolats
While I didn’t get as much in this bag, all three pastries were very tasty – especially the pain au chocolat.
Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill – £4
My next stop is a five-star hotel in Marylebone, where rooms start at £370 a night – and breakfast is available for an extra £37.
But I save £33 by picking up a breakfast through Too Good To Go.
And it’s a heavy bag of about 12 pastries – mini croissants, cinnamon swirls and pain au chocolats.
The cinnamon swirls are absolutely delicious, and the bag is great to snack on throughout the day.
Hilton London Metropole – £8
As the most expensive breakfast I try at Too Good To Go, I’m expecting big things from the Hilton London Metropole.
I can’t quite believe it as I walk over to the Hilton London Metropole’s restaurant, am handed a cardboard box and told “fill it up with whatever you want” for £8
And I can’t quite believe it as I walk over to the Edgware Road hotel’s restaurant and am handed a cardboard box and told “fill it up with whatever you want”.
Prices at this four-star hotel start from £195 – and breakfast costs an extra £24.50 – so this works out an absolute bargain.
I pile my box high with sausages, bacon, baked beans and cured meats.
I even add in a few little cheese and chive omelettes on offer, as well as a doughnut (which I put into my bag, away from all the savoury food).
This is definitely the best offering I get until I reach my next stop.
Ibis Earls Court – £4.50
The breakfast at the three-star Ibis Earls Court usually costs £19.95 – but I can get it for just £4.50 on Too Good To Go.
Like with the Hilton London Metropole, I’m given a cardboard takeaway box – and I go even more mad with the food than the first time this happens.
The breakfast at the three-star Ibis Earls Court usually costs £19.95 – but I can get it for just £4.50 on Too Good To Go. I’m given a cardboard takeaway box – and I go even more mad with the food than the first time this happens
I leave with a box full of fried eggs, hash browns, sausages and bacon.
The fact that there are hash browns makes it a winner for me – but the sausages are also tastier than the Hilton’s too.
For £4.50, you absolutely can’t go wrong – but some Ibis hotels are even cheaper on Too Good To Go.
A Surprise Bag at the Ibis Shepherds Bush, also in London, is £3.50.
Stamford Bridge Hotel London – £2.99
My last stop is, unfortunately, also the worst – and Chelsea fans won’t be happy about it.
Despite the Surprise Bag from here being cheap, I have to sit and wait in reception for it for about half an hour.
And what I receive isn’t worth the wait either.
At Stamford Bridge Hotel, the Surprise Bag is cheap at £2.99, but I have to sit and wait in reception for it for about half an hour – and what I receive isn’t worth the wait either
Although I’m paying £2.99 for a £16.50 breakfast, all I get is a few little pastries, an apple and fruit bar.
The only saving grace here is the little carton of orange juice that’s included.
It was lovely and refreshing after running around London in the heat to pick up all my Surprise Bags.
To find out what you can save in your area, head to to the Too Good To Go app.
