Translation of incomprehensible in German

We started the next day with the famous breakfast at our famous Rex hotel. The breakfast was not good at all and they tried to mimic an American continental breakfast, instead of using typical food.
I understand that you use the article 'die' when talking about a feminine object, das when the subject is neutral, and der when talking about a masculine object. But how can you remember all these?
All taxi drivers recommended that we stay in the hotel, watch TV, refrain from physical effort and drink Mate tea in order to get used to the altitude. We made the mistake and didn't listen to them