5 ways to get your hotel breakfast for free

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information and offers.

We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but odds are that on most days, breakfast at home is a pretty hasty affair. If we manage wheat toast, jam and a piece of fruit, we’re doing great. But, when we’re on vacation, it’s normal to want to take the time for a real breakfast, either to simply enjoy or to fill up so you can devote the better part of the day to sightseeing. So, access to a good breakfast at the hotel is important to many — especially if there are little mouths that wake up hungry.

Free breakfast is nice for everyone, but the math becomes even more important for families. For example, at the Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort — a popular hotel for families visiting nearby Walt Disney World — the breakfast buffet at the on-site Harvest Bistro costs $28 per person. Even just the continental version of the buffet (fruit, cereal, yogurt, breads and pastries, oatmeal, grits and smoked salmon, minus the made-to-order egg dishes on the full buffet) costs $18 per person. Normally, a family of four could spend more than $500 on continental breakfast alone on a weeklong visit. That money could be better spent elsewhere.

Even for solo travelers or couples, a hotel breakfast — while convenient — can break the bank before you even brush your teeth. Fortunately, there are a handful of ways you can be strategic and fill your belly without emptying your wallet. From hotel chains that give free breakfast to all guests, to loyalty programs that offer it as a perk for attaining certain levels of status, these are five easy ways you can snag free breakfast during your next hotel stay and keep more money in your pocket for the really fun parts of travel.

Hotels where breakfast is free

The easiest way to get free breakfast on your next vacation is to stay at a hotel that offers it for free to all guests. Plenty of budget and mid-tier properties, many of which TPG considers to be some of the best hotel chains for families, offer this amenity as part of the room rate.

Of course, not all free hotel breakfasts are created equal. Some chains offer a simple grab-and-go continental breakfast buffet while others up the ante with a hot meal that might include oatmeal, waffles, cinnamon rolls, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, potatoes or even made-to-order omelets. Due to COVID-19, however, you’ll find that many properties are handling breakfast slightly different than what they’ve done in the past.

Here are the major hotel chains and which of their brands offer complimentary breakfast to every single guest, every single day. (The meal has a hot breakfast component unless noted otherwise below.)

Best Western*

• Best Western.
• Best Western Plus.
• Best Western Premier.

*Breakfast is available at most locations

There are free breakfast options at many Best Western hotels, but individual hotels may have different policies.

Choice Hotels

• Comfort Inn.
• Comfort Suites.
• Econo Lodge (continental breakfast).
• MainStay Suites (continental breakfast with oatmeal station at most locations).
• Quality Inn.
• Sleep Inn.

Hilton

• Embassy Suites.
• Hampton Inn.
• Homewood Suites.
• Home2 Suites.
• Tru.

Hyatt

• Hyatt Place (you must be a World of Hyatt member and book your reservation directly with Hyatt).
• Hyatt House.
• Each of Hyatt's all-inclusive properties.
• SLH partner hotels (continental breakfast for two when booking through Hyatt).

Hyatt is still offering breakfast, but depending on the location — and mostly at Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties — you might find more individually wrapped, prepackaged items. Their all-inclusive brands are still offering a hearty breakfast.

IHG

• Avid.
• Holiday Inn Express.
• Staybridge Suites.

Marriott

• Element.
• Fairfield by Marriott.
• Residence Inn.
• SpringHill Suites.
• TownePlace Suites.

Radisson

• Country Inn & Suites

Wyndham

• Baymont.
• Days Inn (continental breakfast).
• Howard Johnson (continental breakfast).
• Hawthorn Suites.
• La Quinta.
• Microtel Inn & Suites (continental breakfast).
• Super 8.
• Travelodge (continental breakfast).
• Wingate.

Book the right way

Free breakfast as a chain-wide amenity is convenient, but sometimes your travel plans include a more moderate or high-end hotel that doesn’t normally include breakfast in the room rate. Then what? This is when you need to book through the right sites.

Many sites and agencies book travel on behalf of their clients in ways that include breakfast. The consortium could be run by a group of travel agents, like the popular Virtuoso, or as a benefit for customers of banks such as American Express or Chase. They add value to a client’s hotel bookings and sweeten the deal with bonuses like free daily breakfast, early check-in and/or late checkout, a spa credit or another perk. When you book through these sites or groups, complimentary daily breakfast is often part of the package.

Use one of these booking methods, and you might just secure a free breakfast. However, in today’s world with COVID-19, you’ll want to call the hotel directly to see what the breakfast options entail. What was once a top-of-the-line five-star buffet breakfast might end up being a continental grab-and-go bag, though things are changing rapidly. Sometimes you can find slightly lower rates by booking directly with the hotel and using a discount code such as AAA, so you’ll want to ensure if you are paying a slightly higher rate, the benefits are still worth it.

American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts

Those with a Platinum Card® from American Express can access the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program that specializes in bookings at, well, fine hotels. It doesn’t cost extra to book hotels through this portal and all reservations receive the following perks:

• Room upgrade upon arrival (when available).
• Daily breakfast for two people.
• Noon check-in (when available).
• Guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi.
• Unique property amenity worth $100 or more (could be a spa treatment, food and beverage credit, etc.).

Enrollment is required in advance for select benefits.

Capital One Premier Collection

This booking platform went live in January 2023 and offers free breakfast on luxury hotels booked in its platform. The Capital One Premier Collection is available to those with the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card (a personal credit card) and Capital One Spark Travel Elite card (a business credit card).

Benefits built into each reservation include free daily breakfast for two people, free Wi-Fi throughout your stay and bonus miles on paid reservations — or the option to redeem your Capital One miles to pay for the reservation. Benefits like room upgrades and early check-in may be offered during your stay, depending on availability.

The information for the Spark Travel Elite card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: A comparison of luxury hotel programs from credit card issuers: Amex, Chase and Capital One

Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

If you carry certain Chase cards — think: the Chase Sapphire Reserve — you’re in luck. The bank offers a similar program in its Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection. The benefits of booking a hotel through this method include:

• Room upgrade (if available).
• Daily breakfast for two people.
• Early check-in (when available).
• Late checkout (when available).
• Complimentary Wi-Fi.
• Unique property benefit (lunch or dinner for two, golf greens fee waiver, a spa treatment, airport transfers, a welcome gift, etc.).

While this program is very similar to Amex’s program, there’s a slightly different hotel lineup for each and the perks can vary, so we recommend checking both sites when possible.

Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection

If you have certain Visa cards in your wallet (including the Radisson Rewards Premier Visa Signature Card), you can access the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. The benefits when booking a room through this collection include:

• Best available rate guarantee.
• Automatic room upgrade upon arrival (when available).
• Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi (when available).
• Complimentary breakfast for two.
• $25 food or beverage credit.
• Late checkout (when available).

Virtuoso

If you usually stay at luxury hotels, you’re likely familiar with Virtuoso travel agents. If not, add this research to your to-do list. Members of this group offer clients a range of benefits and extras at hotels that participate in their program. The perks may include:

• Room upgrade on arrival (when available).
• Daily breakfast for two.
• Food and beverage credit.
• Early check-in (when available).
• Late checkout (when available).
• Complimentary Wi-Fi.
• Spa treatment credits.
• Special Virtuoso experiences.

Signature Travel Network

Like Virtuoso, the Signature Travel Network comprises travel agents that offer personalized service and benefits to their VIP customers. When you book a hotel reservation with a Signature Travel Network agent, you’re entitled to:

• Daily breakfast for two.
• Benefit that’s unique to each property ($100 dining or resort credit, spa treatment, airport transfers, round of golf, in-room gift, etc.).
• Room upgrades (when available).
• Early check-in (when available).
• Late checkout (when available).

Room rates that include breakfast

If the hotel you’ve chosen doesn’t offer free breakfast as part of its regular room rate, and it’s not part of a luxury booking option, you may still be able to get a break on breakfast.

Price out rates that include breakfast and compare them to rates that do not to see if there’s some value in booking it upfront. See the example below that displays rates for room only and room plus breakfast for up to two people.

Eat free with elite status

Hotel loyalty programs reward repeat guests with many perks, sometimes including free breakfast for elite guests when other folks have to pay up for the eggs and bacon.

Hilton Honors elite breakfast benefit

Gold and Diamond Hilton Honors elites can receive food and beverage credits at hotels in the U.S. Internationally, many hotels still offer full breakfast as an included benefit for those with Gold or Diamond status.

You can read more here about how to qualify for Hilton Honors elite status. Or, you can level up to status immediately just by having the right credit card.

Related: How to choose the best Hilton credit card for you

Enjoy Hilton Honors Gold status by having the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, The Platinum Card from American Express or The Business Platinum Card® from American Express. Enrollment required for select benefits.

If you want top-tier Hilton Diamond status, consider the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

The information for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Free breakfast for Marriott Bonvoy elites

Marriott’s breakfast benefit for elites is complex, and it’s not that easy to figure out what your status should get you at the chain’s more than two dozen hotel brands. TPG contributor Ethan Steinberg has you covered with his complete guide to Marriott elite breakfast benefits. If you’re considering Marriott status, that article is required reading.

In essence, depending on which hotel brand you’re staying at, Marriott Platinum and Titanium elites can pick free breakfast (or a food and beverage credit) as a welcome amenity. At properties such as Courtyard that offer a $10 food and beverage credit, that credit is for the elite member and one other person on the reservation, so you’ll actually get a total of $20 to spend on food and beverages.

The following brands offer free breakfast or a food and beverage credit as a welcome amenity:

• AC Hotels.
• Aloft.
• Four Points by Sheraton.
• Gaylord Hotels.
• Le Meridien
• Luxury Collection.
• Moxy.
• Protea.
• St. Regis.
• Tribute Collection.
• W Hotels.

At the following brands, Platinum and Titanium elites have guaranteed lounge access (though there’s not always a lounge), so you could enjoy free breakfast each day (meaning you can select points or something else as your welcome amenity):

• Autograph Collection.
• Courtyard (outside the U.S. and Canada only).
• Delta Hotels.
• JW Marriott.
• Le Meridien.
• Marriott Hotels.
• Renaissance.
• Sheraton.
• Westin.

But it’s not quite that simple. Some of the lounges at specific properties in the brands above aren’t open seven days a week, so there’s a backup plan: At the above brands, minus Le Meridien, Sheraton and Westin, you’ll get breakfast in the hotel restaurant when the lounge is closed. There are also 20 specific properties in the U.S. that don’t provide an alternative to breakfast when the lounge is closed.

Finally, the following brands do not offer any guaranteed breakfast benefit to elites:

• Design Hotels.
• Edition.
• Marriott Grand Residence Club.
• Marriott Vacation Club.
• The Ritz-Carlton.

The breakfast amenity, when available, is for the elite member and one guest on the same reservation. In practice, sometimes it extends to the whole family, but not always.

Staying 50 eligible nights will get you Platinum Elite status and 75 nights will earn you Titanium Elite status. If you stay 100 nights and spend $14,000 in 2021, you’ll gain Ambassador Elite status. For 2022, the pre-COVID $20,000 spending per calendar year requirement will return.

But, again, there are alternate ways to earn status — though not as easily as with Hilton.

World of Hyatt breakfast perk for elites

While Discoverist and Explorist elite tiers don’t get free breakfast on their own, you can earn two Club lounge certificates starting with 20 annual Hyatt nights per year. You can apply the certificates to stays at Hyatt hotels with a Club lounge, where you can enjoy free breakfast (and more).

Hyatt’s highest elite level, Globalist, gets you Club lounge access on all stays and breakfast there to your heart’s content. If your hotel doesn’t have a Club lounge, Globalists receive free full breakfast daily at the on-site restaurant for up to two adults and two children. (Continental breakfast is served at SLH hotels.)

Hyatt’s breakfast benefit is given to Globalists on both paid and award stays.

Globalist status requires 60 qualifying nights or 100,000 base points in a calendar year. However, you can spend your way to Globalist status with a hefty amount of annual spending on the World of Hyatt Credit Card.

If you are yearning to earn World of Hyatt status in 2021, the chain has slashed its requirements for achieving all status levels for this year.

Related: What is Hyatt elite status worth in 2021?

Use a secret password

Finally, here’s a fun way to possibly get free breakfast or another unexpected amenity when checking into a Kimpton hotel. This upscale brand under the IHG umbrella occasionally posts a “secret password” to its social media channels.

Before your next Kimpton stay, check the brand’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds to see if this promotion is running. If so, make a note of the covert phrase and mention it to the agent at check-in. You’ll get a random surprise perk. There’s no promise that it will be breakfast vouchers, though some guests have reported that to be the case. Other amenities have included complimentary parking, an in-room movie, a bottle of wine, dessert or even a room upgrade.

Bottom line

There are plenty of ways to ensure your family starts the day off with a yummy — and free — breakfast each day of your hotel stay. The only question is, what should you eat?

Additional reporting by Ryan Smith.