How do you like your eggs in the morning?

Billed as the most important meal of the day a hotel in the heart of the old town is taking the matter of breakfast very seriously.

22/011/16. Award winning breakfast at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the Hight Street Edinburgh. Picture Ian Rutherford

Dishing up over 120 hot and cold favourites each morning for the super breakfast buffet the four-star Radisson Blu on the Royal Mile has been recognised by hotel search website trivago as serving the best morning spread in the country.

Topping the hot plate is traditional Scottish classics including haggis, potato scones and black pudding.

General manager Richard Mayne puts their success down to a continued emphasis on quality produce. “Each morning there is a whole side of locally sourced salmon. Providing high quality produce demonstrates how importantly we take our guests and we pride ourselves on delivering that.”

Protein hungry international rugby teams from Australia and Argentina gave their seal or approval to one of the Radisson Blu’s breakfast initiatives.

“We cook omelettes to order and it went down very well with the Australian team in particular,” said Jonathan Gray, food and drink manager.

The food and drink team has also introduced special quirks to appeal to guests looking for a healthy start to the day.

Freshly squeezed juice is a staple now with an added option of smoothies made to order.

“The smoothies in particular have gone down very well with guests,” said Richard. “And it is guest feedback that helps drive a lot of ideas.”

As well as the lightly smoked, back bacon complete with perfectly crispy edge and the well-flavoured, meaty herb sausages, the kitchen also offer eggs as you like, made to order.

“Often breakfast is the only time apart from check-in and check-out that we have engagement with our guests,” Richard explained.

“We have put a lot into our training and our staff make a real effort to be as knowledgeable, helpful and give a very personal experience which I think is a big factor in why we have won this award.”

And the award-winning breakfast is not just available to residents, anyone can drop in to sample the spread for £17.95.

The annual awards use over 175 million hotel reviews to determine the best-rated hotels in regions across the UK.

This year, hotel’s in Edinburgh took awards in five out of the eight categories, including the Rutland securing the spot as the best 4-star hotel and the Chester Residence has been crowned the best 5-star accommodation and the best rooms.

The Knight Residence on Lauriston Street took the award for best accommodation for service not only in Scotland but in the whole of the UK.