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When they're younger, I'd say tray is necessary. It's just SO much easier to feed them when they have a tray in front, especially if you need to step away for a moment (to get more food or grab a napkin, etc). You can turn them around to face you. I found it harder to feed when they're not directly facing you. Once my son hit 18 months, we pushed him up against our dining table and it worked well. But before then, I absolutely needed a tray on the high chair. We bought the Ikea Antilop high chair w/tray and LOVED it.

@LazyLightning: The antilop is awesome. I'd really recommend that one. It's super easy to clean, which is SO important. You can always take off the tray and just use the chair since it comes with straps. I've seen a lot of restaurants in my area use the antilop chair (without the tray). We also have the more expensive Stokke Tripp Trapp high chair and I actually prefer the antilop over that one!

We have the Tripp Trapp. M is still too young to use it but I think it I will buy the tray for when she first starts using it. But I want her pulled up to the table with no tray as soon as possible since it's good for their development to eat with you.

Ok I'll stop trying to cram this into twitter -

I think the tray is pretty crucial for cleaning and such. Mine is stained with pasta sauce no matter how hard I clean it. Some people just put a plate on a table, but Beatrix still likes to throw things off her tray, and I know she couldn't handle that.

My cheap ikea high chair is hard to use, hard to remove the tray, hard to clean, made of cheap stain-y plastic, irritating in general. I think the tray is crucial, personally. In retrospect, a fancier high chair would have been worth it to me for the look, the ease of cleaning, and the general fussing. You use it so often, and it's such a hassle to clean an irritating one several times a day.

ETA - I have the antilop, lol. I have to hook my leg around the back in this awkward position just to get the stupid tray off. Maybe that's not normal? Anyway, it's so cheap that it doesn't cost much to replace if you need to. I had the little pillow you use to make a smaller baby fit it, and it got so filthy with food that I threw it out. But it still feels huge for my (ok very small) 18 month old. I have to put a napkin on her lap to protect her pants from messy food.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4450272

That's my ideal chair - a friend has it and I totally love it. No dumb fabric to stain, really pretty, the tray removes easily and is hard to stain. And it doesn't leave a huge gap above the baby's lap.

@LazyLightning: I was iffy about it as well. But I love it now. We can easily take it with us when we visit friends or family and it is so easy to strap on to any chair. The only downside is that it has a fabric cover that I ended up taking off so it looks pretty dull now but is so easy to clean.

This is what we have: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12881351

@LazyLightning: yeah we got ours as a gift. I would never spend that much on a high chair if it were my money! But my BFF loved hers and wanted me to have one so I got lucky she is such a sweet generous friend!

Definitely need a tray!

We have the space saver & love it! I took the cover off so its easier to clean & have never had a staining issue on the tray so that's a plus! I've also occasionally used it without the tray pushed to the table & that worked as well.

The tray is a necessity for us!