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9 Major Hotels with Free Breakfast

by Jim Wang

Updated

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No matter what you feel about breakfast, whether you love it or hate it, it’s hard to argue that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day.

It’s certainly in the top three. 🙂

So it stands to reason that if you’re going to stay at a hotel, it’d be nice to get a hot breakfast before you start your day. You could always leave the hotel, go to a breakfast spot nearby, but all things being equal – it’s nice to get a nice hot meal without having to put on a coat.

But not all hotels offer breakfast.

Some hotels offer free breakfasts to all guests. Some only offer it to elite members.

Some hotels offer a continental breakfast while others will send you off with a hot meal.

What if you don’t know which hotels offer what? Or anything at all?

Don’t worry – use our cheat sheet before you book your next room:

Table of Contents
  1. Best Western
  2. Marriott
  3. Hilton
  4. Radisson
  5. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
  6. Choice Hotels
  7. Hyatt
  8. Wyndham
  9. Drury Hotels

Best Western

Best Western offers breakfast at Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier hotels.

Score some tasty breakfast sandwiches and other delectable breakfast items at most Best Western locations.

Got allergies? No problem! Best Western prides themselves on serving both healthy and allergy-friendly foods, like gluten-free meals and non-dairy milk.

Best Western includes an assortment of pastries, cereal, oatmeal, and warm options like waffles, eggs, sausage or bacon, and fruit.

Marriott

Marriott owns dozens of hotel chains, but only these hotels serve complimentary breakfast:

  • Residence Inn
  • Fairfield Inn & Suites
  • SpringHill Suites
  • Element by Westin
  • TownePlace Suites

However, Marriott rewards its Platinum rewards members with free breakfast at more of its locations. If you’re an elite rewards member, you can score free breakfast at Marriott resorts like the Sheraton, Westin, Courtyard, and Four Points.

Hilton

You can get free breakfasts at these Hilton brands:

  • Hampton Inn
  • Embassy Suites
  • Homewood Suites
  • Home2Suites
  • Tru by Hilton
  • Canopy by Hilton

Many of Hilton’s hotels offer a complimentary breakfast. What’s interesting about Hilton is that its chains offer very different breakfasts.

Hampton Inn offers a hot breakfast that includes waffles and oatmeal. They can even make you a free bagged breakfast for eating on the go.

Embassy Suites brags about their cook-to-order omelets, a rare find at a complimentary breakfast. They also offer bacon, potatoes, eggs, and other breakfast essentials.

Homewood Suites offers a good spread for their complimentary breakfast, offering a new menu each day. Expect to see eggs, bacon, potatoes, and fruit on the menu.

Home2Suites gives guests an incredible amount of options for your free breakfast. They claim to offer over 400 breakfast combinations. Enjoy breakfast sandwiches, waffles, grits, yogurt, oatmeal, and more.

Tru by Hilton is a gem for free breakfast. Their Top It breakfast gives you 30 different toppings for continental breakfast. They might not offer a full, hot breakfast, but they do have delicious options like bagels, yogurt, and oatmeal.

Canopy by Hilton is a high-end free breakfast. Canopy makes their breakfast from local, artisanal ingredients. You can enjoy breakfast either in the hotel cafe or from the comfort of your own room, thanks to breakfast delivery. How fancy!

If you aren’t staying at these Hilton hotels, don’t worry. If you have Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond status, you get free breakfast at all Hilton hotels.

Radisson

Radisson limits the chains where they offer free breakfast. If you want to dine for free at a Radisson, Park Inn by Radisson, or Radisson Red, you’ll need to have Platinum status. The benefits are only for the person with Platinum status, so you’ll need to pay for any other guests.

The good news is that Radisson offers free breakfast at its Country Inn & Suites chain. (it’s the only one)

Country Inn & Suites gives you a proper sit-down feel for breakfast, serving everything on dining plates. They offer two hot entrees to choose from, which change every day.

You might find biscuits and gravy, French toast, waffles, or burritos at your Country Inn & Suites. P.S. These options are all customizable! Enjoy a selection of oatmeal, fruit, and pastries, too.

If you’re staying somewhere for a while, it’s unlikely you’ll grow tired of the variety at Country Inn & Suites.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

Complimentary breakfasts are available at Holiday Inn Express, Avid Hotels, and Staybridge Suites.

Holiday Inn Express has a great variety for their complimentary breakfast. Although the offerings don’t change much from day to day, you can still enjoy pre-cooked omelets and breakfast meats like sausage or bacon.

They even have a pancake machine that churns out pancakes with the touch of a button. Oh, and let’s not forget their delicious warmer filled with Cinnabon cinnamon buns.

Staybridge Suites offers a complimentary breakfast buffet. They offer hot breakfast options like potatoes, waffles, eggs, and bacon.

Avid Hotels provides guests with a “grab ‘n’ go” style breakfast. They don’t have many hot options, but they do offer eggs, fruit, breakfast bars, cereal, oatmeal, muffins, and bagels.

But don’t worry. They also offer free 24-hour coffee in the lobby too.

Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels brands with complimentary breakfast include:

  • Comfort Suites
  • Quality Inn
  • Comfort Inn
  • Sleep Inn
  • MainStay Suites – at many locations
  • Econo Lodge
  • Clarion Hotels – at many locations

Choice Hotels is pretty generous with their complimentary breakfast. Locations like Sleep Inn, Quality Inn, and Comfort Suites offer a free, full hot breakfast. Other chains, like MainStay Suites and Econo Lodge, offer a continental breakfast of pastries, fruit, and cereal.

If you’re looking for healthy options, Comfort has a great spread to choose from! Although they’re known for their flavored fruit waffles, you can also enjoy yogurt and oatmeal here as well.

Hyatt

Hyatt’s hotels with complimentary breakfasts for all stays are Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Zilara, and Hyatt Ziva. You need to be a World of Hyatt member and book directly through Hyatt to qualify for free breakfast.

Fancy hotel chain Hyatt offers complimentary breakfast for some of its locations.

Hyatt House offers a special Omelet of the Day at its made-to-order bar. They also offer oatmeal, fruit, and yogurt.

Hyatt Place sets itself apart with themed breakfast bowls and parfaits. If you go gaga for yogurt, this breakfast is your jam.

If you want free breakfast at all Hyatt locations, you need to become a Hyatt Globalist with elite status.

Wyndham

Wyndham is one of the most generous brands with free breakfasts, with complimentary breakfast available at:

  • Microtel
  • Baymont Inn & Suites
  • Days Inn
  • Super 8
  • Baymont Inn
  • Howard Johnson
  • Wingate
  • Travelodge
  • La Quinta Inn
  • La Quinta Inn & Suites
  • Hawthorn Suites

At a minimum, these chains offer a continental breakfast of cereal, pastries, and oatmeal.

Some locations, like La Quinta Inn & Suites, offer a full, hot breakfast too. You’ll want to call ahead to see the breakfast options your location offers.

Drury Hotels

Drury Hotels offers a wide spread of breakfast options. Dive headfirst into scrambled eggs, fruit, waffles, pastries, potatoes, and breakfast meats. Oh, and don’t forget about the free coffee, either.

Some Drury Hotels may require you to use a voucher for the free breakfast. These are usually given to you when you check in.

Don’t lose that voucher if you want your free breakfast!

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About Jim Wang

Jim Wang is a forty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard's Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.

Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology - Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.

One of his favorite tools (here's my treasure chest of tools,, everything I use) is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you're on track to retire when you want. It's free.

He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn't want a second job, it's diversified small investments in a few commercial properties and farms in Illinois, Louisiana, and California through AcreTrader.

Recently, he's invested in a few pieces of art on Masterworks too.

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  1. Penny says

    Be aware that when traveling overseas, the same rules don’t always apply to the same chains, even with Gold, Platinum, Platinum Elite, Diamond Elite, Ambassador, etc. Marriott chains especially are stingy with breakfasts in Europe and some of the hotels can charge as much as $25-$30 Euro per person for the breakfast buffet so PAY ATTENTION and know before you go!

  3. Fred says

    If you are a member of the IHG Rewards Club and you stay at a Crowne Plaza, you can usually ask the front desk for access to the Concierge Room, where a light breakfast can be found including muffins, pastries, orange juice, bottled water, Nature’s Valley granola bars, potato chops (yes), and of course, a variety of tea and coffee.

    Surprisingly, the one I stayed at recently had chicken drumsticks in the Concierge Room during dinner time.

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