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Complimentary Breakfast: 30 Hotels Where You Can Start the Day with a Free Meal

Eating three meals a day at restaurants can get expensive fast. Here’s how you can get breakfast free with your hotel stay.

By Lindsay Frankel

Edited by Jess Ullrich

Updated Dec. 19, 2024

Whether you’re rolling out of bed in New Orleans or New York City, there’s probably plenty you’d like to explore during your stay. Getting breakfast at a restaurant cuts into your time and can cost you upwards of $40, depending on where you eat. It’s more convenient to just grab breakfast at the hotel.

Most people wouldn’t turn down free breakfast, even if it’s cold cereal instead of an elaborate buffet. In fact, we asked 600 people what their favorite hotel perk was, and free breakfast was the top response. We also found that it’s quite valuable, saving travelers an average of $26.50 per day. Depending on the length of your stay, that could add up to some serious cash. To help you identify hotels that offer the perk and make sure you’re eligible to receive it, we’ve compiled a complete guide to scoring free breakfast at 30 popular hotels, including some other ways to score that free meal such as having the best travel credit card on hand. Let’s dive in.

In this article

30 hotel brands that offer complimentary breakfast for everyone
Hotels with free breakfast for elite members
FAQs about complimentary hotel breakfast
The last word on free breakfast

30 hotel brands that offer complimentary breakfast for everyone

Hotel Chain	Brands	Offerings
Best Western Hotels & Resorts	All (at most locations)	Varies by hotel, but can include: Breads/muffins/pastries Cereal/oatmeal French toast/pancakes/waffles Hot eggs and meats Fresh fruit Gluten-friendly and dairy-free options
Choice Hotels International	Comfort Inn Comfort Suites	Eggs and meat, fresh fruit, yogurt, and waffles
	Quality Inn	Hot breakfast with items such as eggs, waffles, and pancakes
	Sleep Inn	Hot breakfast
	Econo Lodge	Continental breakfast
	MainStay Suites	Continental breakfast with hot oatmeal station
Hilton	Canopy	Artisanal breakfast with fresh produce with room delivery
	Embassy Suites	Made-to-order eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, oatmeal, fruit, and pastries
	Hampton Inn	Hot breakfast with fresh-baked waffles and oatmeal with toppings
	Homewood Suites	Hot breakfast
	Home2Suites	More than 400 breakfast combos
	Tru	Scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, waffles, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, granola, toppings, and more
Hyatt	Hyatt House	Breakfast with made-to-order omelet bar (at most locations)
	Hyatt Zilara / Hyatt Ziva	All-inclusive dining
IHG	Holiday Inn Express	Hot breakfast with a range of options (including pancakes)
	Staybridge Suites	Hot breakfast buffet
Marriott	Element (except Asia Pacific region)	Whole fruit, granola, and hot breakfast
	Fairfield Inn and Suites (except Asia Pacific region)	Hot breakfast options
	Residence Inn	Hot breakfast options
	SpringHill Suites	Hot breakfast options
	TownePlace Suites	Hot breakfast options
Radisson	Country Inns & Suites	Gourmet coffee, hot oatmeal, pastries, bacon and eggs, breakfast burritos, French toast, waffles, yogurt parfaits, cereal, and more
Wyndham	Baymont Inn & Suites	Waffles, cereal, coffee, juice, and more
	Days Inn	Fresh fruit, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, juice, and coffee
	Howard Johnson	Breakfast options with coffee, tea, or juice
	Hawthorn Suites	Hot breakfast options
	La Quinta	Homemade waffles, eggs, breakfast meats, and more
	Microtel	Not specified
	Super 8	Hot waffles, fruit, coffee, and more
	Wingate	Hot breakfast buffet with eggs, bacon, waffles, yogurt, fruit, and oatmeal

You can also get free breakfast at Hyatt Place if you are a World of Hyatt Member. Although you don’t need elite status for this perk, you will need to book your stay using your membership account.

Hotels with free breakfast for elite members

Some major hotel chains have loyalty programs that allow you to achieve elite status by staying a minimum number of nights each year or meeting other requirements. Elite status sometimes means free breakfast, along with other perks.

Hilton elite status

If you have Gold or Diamond status in the Hilton Honors program, you and up to one additional guest will get a complimentary daily food and beverage credit. The credit will range in amount from $10 to $25 depending on the hotel you're staying at. The credit is available at the following hotels:

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts
LXR Hotels & Resorts
Conrad Hotels & Resorts
Canopy by Hilton
Curio Collection by Hilton
Hilton Hotels & Resorts
DoubleTree by Hilton
Tapestry Collection by Hilton

To achieve Gold status, you’ll need 14 stays or 28 nights at a Hilton property, or 52,500 Hilton Honors points in a calendar year (as of March 2022). In addition to getting free breakfast, Gold and Diamond members receive bonus points on each stay and the fifth night free for every stay of five or more nights, along with other perks.

Hyatt elite status

Although all World of Hyatt members receive free breakfast at participating Hyatt Place hotels, you need to reach milestones or achieve elite status to get complimentary breakfast at other Hyatt properties.

The easiest way to earn free breakfast as a World of Hyatt member is by earning two free Club Access Awards. To earn these awards, you need to stay 20 nights or rack up 35,000 World of Hyatt base points. They are valid for your subsequent stay of up to seven consecutive nights. If you reach 30 nights or 50,000 base points, you’ll get an additional two free Club Access Awards. If you go this route, you’ll only get breakfast at hotels that have club lounges.

Another way to get free breakfast is to achieve Hyatt Globalist status, which requires that you stay 60 nights, attend 20 meetings or events, or collect 100,000 base points in a calendar year. As a Globalist, you’ll get free club lounge access or free breakfast at hotels that don’t have a club lounge.

Marriott Bonvoy elite status

For Marriott Bonvoy members, the benefits depend on the particular Marriott property you’re staying at. To get free breakfast, you need to achieve at least Platinum elite status, which requires that you stay 50 nights at a Marriott property in a calendar year.

If you have Platinum or Titanium status, you’ll get your choice of a welcome amenity when staying at select hotels. The following brands offer free breakfast as an option for Platinum and Titanium members:

St. Regis
The Luxury Collection
W Hotels
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Le Méridien
Westin Hotels & Resorts
Tribute Portfolio
Four Points by Sheraton
Aloft Hotels
Protea Hotels

Some hotels also offer a $10 food and beverage credit for you and a guest. These include:

Gaylord Hotels
AC Hotels
Moxy Hotels

In addition, several Marriott properties offer some sort of food and beverage amenity, but the options vary by location and features of the hotel. These include:

Marriott Hotels
JW Marriott
Delta Hotels
Autograph Collection
Renaissance Hotels
Courtyard by Marriott

Get free breakfast with your credit card

If you don’t travel often enough to earn elite status, some credit cards provide access to free breakfast at a variety of hotels. For example, if you have The Platinum Card^® from American Express, and you book a stay through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, which includes more than 1,000 properties worldwide, you’ll get a free daily breakfast for two, along with other perks.

Or, if you’re a Chase Sapphire Reserve^® cardholder, you can book a hotel through the Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, which also includes more than 1,000 properties. Booking one of these hotels gets you access to daily complimentary breakfast for two guests.

Visa Signature cardholders can also access more than 900 properties through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. Bookings include free breakfast for two in addition to a $25 food or beverage credit.

If you book through these programs, you may also be eligible for other perks, such as room upgrades, free Wi-Fi, and late checkout when available.

FAQs about complimentary hotel breakfast

What is included in a continental buffet breakfast?

Although this varies by hotel, a continental breakfast typically consists of items such as pastries, fresh fruit, cereals, and beverages. It does not usually include hot items such as eggs and breakfast meat.

Can you eat at a hotel without staying there?

Although options vary by brand, we were particularly impressed by the selection of breakfast items at Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, and Radisson. Best Western takes the cake for the most allergy- and diet-friendly options; Hilton and Hyatt made our list for the made-to-order omelets available at select hotels; and Radisson features unique choices such as breakfast burritos.

Can you bring continental breakfast to your room?

Different hotels have different policies. Typically, if the hotel has a restaurant, you can eat there even if you’re not a guest. But if the hotel only has a breakfast buffet that is included in the room rate, you may not be able to eat there.

The last word on free breakfast

Getting your eggs and bacon free of charge might be the most valuable benefit you can get with your hotel stay, so it’s a good idea to consider the cost of breakfast when comparing hotel rates. That said, scoring free breakfast isn’t the only way to save money on your hotel stay. From choosing the best hotel credit cards to using coupon codes, there are plenty of strategies for getting a rate so low that free breakfast might not matter to you. Just be sure to look at all of the amenities and costs before making your decision.

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