How to Start the Day with Good Choices at Your Business Hotel Breakfast (Geneva Edition)

The buffet breakfast can often seem like a danger zone rife with many traps. With an overwhelming array of options—from sugary pastries to greasy bacon—making nutritious choices can feel like navigating a minefield. The temptation to indulge lurks at every corner, making it challenging to maintain self-control.

How do frequent travelers stay slim? The best option is usually to find somewhere else to eat. In other words, choose a dining option such as a nearby cafe or grocery store where each item is individually priced, encouraging you to make more mindful decisions about what to eat. “Buffet anything” should usually be avoided, but this isn’t always possible so strategic planning is important.

The good news is that you face this situation armed with the highest level of willpower you will ever have during the day (willpower is strongest after a good night’s sleep but gradually depletes throughout the day).  The great news is, when you do it right at by breakfast, it sets a wonderful tone to slice through the day with elan.    

Hotel offerings obviously vary depending on the establishment and culture.  Today’s perspective is based on Geneva’s Hilton Hotel & Conference Centre.  Generally representative of upmarket American chain hotels in Europe with a strong business clientele, Switzerland’s location in central Europe, and Geneva’s hugely international crossflow requires hotels like this to maintain a certain level of variety and palatability.  As with Marriotts, Sheratons, Holiday Inns, Hyatts, the breakfast caters to all.

Keep in mind the anchoring principles:

1.        Avoid eating more than 50% than you would at home.  While eating the same amount is ideal, it can be hard when you do want to try new things, or not feel deprived.  FOMO will kick in, so it can help to mitigate failure by not trying to be overly restrictive.  While 50% can already seem a lot, the tempting varieties on offer can lead to very significant overindulgence (sometimes even 3 to 4 times what someone would normally take in).  

2.        Avoid eating more than 30 minutes earlier than normal. If you would normally eat several hours later, but meeting or flight schedules require you to get to breakfast early, don’t knock your rhythm completely off by eating when you’re not ready to, or eating too early and getting hungry well before lunch.    

3.        Avoid mass-produced pastries. If you are hunting for delectable croissants, these are best obtained from specialized patisseries outside (unless of course you are at Le Meurice, Ritz Paris, or Mandarin Oriental…)

 4.        Avoid the gallons of juices.  Much too much sugar. 

Some of the best choices then, would be: eggs (hard-boiled, self-boiled, but not cheesy omelettes), fresh cut cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes, and nature or lightly flavored yogurts.  Smoked salmon and lean ham are also great (but not salty cured meats or heavy sausages). Lemon and herbed flavored water is wonderful.  Switzerland is famed for excellent dairy products and cheese, so this will bring great pleasure, with a high protein punch. 

When it comes to the cheeseboard – tread with care.  A good technique is to select one type of cheese a day only as a small wedge.  That also allows you to savor and remember the distinctiveness of each one.  Tip: when it doubt, go for Gruyere, of course.

When exiting the restaurant, you should feel energized and your belt should be as comfortable as it was before.  (How else will you make it through 8 hours of meetings and more food on coffee breaks?)  

Finally, keep looking for the non-obvious and what the frequent flyers are quietly eating. In the Hilton example we used has an interesting noodle bar in the corner (fish sauce, sriracha, cilantro all in), catering for many contingents of Asian flight crews.  Every hotel, no matter how commercial or mainstream will likely have an interesting, unadvertised twist based on culture or branding.  These may come in the form of customized menus included in the buffet option (look for these before entering the queue).  Searching for those subtler nuggets can be very fun and rewarding!