The Hempel, Bayswater, London

Breakfast at the Hempel is thankfully a lot more wholesome than this hotel's minimalist design. Located in the middle of a once-upmarket district of Bayswater, it's a decent, if slightly intimidating place to wait for a train at nearby Paddington. You get a good-sized plate of grilled and fried stuff—the sausage is meaty and herby, the eggs cooked to perfection—but to offer only one rasher of bacon at twenty quid a plate is stretching credibility. Healthier, fruitier sustenance is available as a buffet. Extra marks go to our clumsy waiter, who collided with the edge of our table consistently.