LONDON, England (CNN) -- Britain is famous for its big breakfasts but a new travel guide says some of the country's hotels are failing miserably when it comes to serving guests the most important meal of the day.

The 2006 edition of The Good Hotel Guide of Great Britain and Ireland says some guests have experienced "watery porridge and cold eggs," "toast with the texture of cardboard," as well as bad service and overpriced meals.

The Good Hotel Guide has been reviewing hotels for 29 years -- it does not accept payment or free hospitality from hotels featured in the book.

Co-editor Adam Raphael told CNN that several hotels were letting themselves down with the quality of their breakfasts.

"It's often the last meal guests have in the hotel and it is the last thing they remember," he said.

"The fact is, Britain is renowned all over the world for its breakfasts. When foreign visitors come here and they are served a miserable croissant, they must think, 'What is happening when they can't even get a full British (breakfast) right?'"

Despite the criticisms, some hotels were still serving excellent breakfasts, Raphael said.

The best breakfasts tended to be at small, independently owned and operated hotels, and bed and breakfast establishments, he said.

The guide singled out Bark House Hotel in Bampton, southwest England for its "superb" breakfast of, "moist muesli, exceptional porridge with honey and brown sugar, meaty Bampton bangers, tasty mushrooms, dry-cured bacon, free-range eggs, crisp fried bread."

Raphael said some hotels served superb dinners but the next morning the breakfast was awful.

"One visitor reported that 'everything was beautifully done.' Our inspector agreed, but as he drove away, the exceptional breakfast was uppermost in his mind. And that is the point: breakfast is the meal remembered by the departing guest," the introduction to the guide said.

The Good Hotel Guide also said irritating background music in hotels had the ability to spoil the atmosphere.

"Intrusive background music is an issue that refuses to go away. More readers than ever this year complained about muzak spoiling the atmosphere in hotel lounges and restaurants," the introduction said.

Source: cnn.com/travel