No More Free Breakfast at Hyatt Place If You Don't Book Direct

Earlier this year, Hyatt announced major changes coming to the Hyatt Place brand's breakfast program starting November 1. And now, the time has come to for those changes to go into effect. The biggest hit comes to World of Hyatt members who book their stays via third-party sites such as Hotels.com, Expedia, etc. Hyatt Place guests who book stays via those sites, instead of directly with Hyatt — even if the travelers has top-tier Globalist status — will no longer be eligible for a free Hyatt Place breakfast starting tomorrow.

As TPG's Summer Hull originally reported back in June, this is a big devaluation and an over-complication of something that doesn’t need to be complicated. Free (and easy to access) breakfast matters tremendously to traveling families. Punishing loyal customers because they booked a stay via another booking channel is punitive and, in our view, somewhat ridiculous.

According to the latest information provided by Hyatt, this new version of Hyatt Place breakfast "will be complimentary for World of Hyatt members who book an Eligible Rate or a Points + Cash Rate, or who redeem a Free Night Award or Room Upgrade Award for stays starting November 1, 2018. Free breakfast will be extended to those staying in the same guestroom as the reservation holder, who must be a World of Hyatt member (maximum occupancy 4 guests) and who book an Eligible Rate."

Non-members can of course enjoy the breakfast — for a fee, described only as "pricing based on market." Or, these guests can sign up for the World of Hyatt loyalty program upon check-in to receive complimentary breakfast during the duration of that stay. Breakfast will also remain complimentary to guests who have booked a rate that has been negotiated with Hyatt Place hotels where breakfast is included (e.g., group rates and negotiated transient rates).

Consider yourself warned -- the time has come to book directly with Hyatt, or say goodbye to included Hyatt Place breakfast.