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Sometime in the 80s and 90s, free hot breakfast became a staple of the hospitality industry. At many Holiday Inns or Hampton Inns, the lobby at 8 a.m. is a whirlwind of kids in pajamas, exhausted parents, and lone business travelers jostling for position in front of the waffle iron. Meanwhile, self-serve cereal bars dispense Froot Loops and Lucky Charms, along with hot trays of endless eggs and steamed turkey sausages under heat lamps. For many, this breakfast spread is part of the appeal of travel. This continues today, but it faces new economic threats and evolving hotel business models.
In hotels, which have abandoned items like free soaps and even bathroom doors To save money, free breakfast is a sacred cow that some fear won’t survive, increasingly seen by hoteliers as a money pit eating into the company’s slim margins. Last year, Hyatt HotelsThe Hyatt Place brand has removed free breakfast at 40 of its properties. Holiday Inn, owned by IHGeliminated a la carte breakfast elements in favor of a buffet-only model – a cost-cutting measure that preserves the buffet breakfast offering while reducing labor and food waste.
Gary Leff, who runs the travel blog View from the Wing and was the first to report on the breakfast changes at Holiday Inn, said the threat to free breakfast should be seen as part of a broader trend in the lodging industry to look for ways to cut costs for owners. “This goes well beyond breakfasts, to things like housekeeping – less often during a stay, less thorough when done during a stay – bulk toiletries rather than individual mini-bottles, and the elimination of products like alarm clocks in rooms,” Leff said.
Despite the sustainability of free breakfast, the math never worked out for the company, according to Curtis Crimmins, CEO and founder of boutique hotel concept Roomza. “It was a loyalty play – a loss leader intended to drive registrations, repeat bookings and increased brand loyalty. I would argue that once free breakfast goes from an endearing ‘surprise and delight’ moment to an expectation, then its days are numbered,” Crimmins said. “Looking for evidence of this slow disappearance in your average Holiday Inn Express breakfast room? Look no further than the recent explosion of ‘Grab and Go’ options. It’s no coincidence,” he said.
Leff says that catering to a more affluent clientele, as in the case of Hyatt hotels, can give operators more leeway to eliminate breakfast.
A Hyatt spokesperson said the company has “tested breakfast options at select Hyatt Place hotels that offer guests the option to book rates that do not include breakfast… Most Hyatt Place hotels in the United States continue to offer free breakfast to all guests.”
Evaluations are underway. “As part of our ongoing commitment to providing value to our guests, including World of Hyatt members, we are continually evaluating breakfast options that best serve our guests and our hotels,” the Hyatt spokesperson said.
Leff says Hyatt hasn’t released data on the trial, and many guests are likely assuming breakfast will be free when they book at this point. “It’s not yet clear whether Hyatt can get away with not offering a limited-service breakfast,” he said.
In today’s economy, where high-income consumers are leading spending, luxury is a bright spot in the travel industry. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano currently describes the hospitality sector as emblematic of the K-shaped economy that receives so much attention. “There are economic headwinds and some uncertainty, but we continue to see the consumer prioritizing travel and experiences,” Capuano told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” last week after its latest results. “Luxury has been a real strong point for us,” Capuano said, adding that 10 percent of Marriott’s portfolio is in the luxury segment.
Marriott has changed breakfast at some luxury properties overseas. For For example, Regis Macau removed free breakfast for Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador loyalty members from March 2025 and replaced it with bonus points or discounted breakfast. Some Reddit users this month posted about free omelets disappearing from Marriott breakfast bars and becoming part of the paid full breakfast buffet, but a Marriott spokesperson said that was not a company-wide policy and that, if true, it would be individual hotel operators who would make that decision.
Majority of travelers expect free breakfastThe consumer divide is leading to a bifurcation of breakfast models, with high-end customers flocking to the paid eggs benedict and homemade croissants while middle- and lower-income consumers flocking to the free buffet.
Certainly, Americans love their hotel breakfast. Among guests who consume food and beverages at the hotel during their stay, the vast majority (78%) eat breakfast at the hotel, according to JD Power’s 2025 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study. Of that 78 percent, only 8 percent are paid, mostly at high-end hotels where the trend is taking root.
Andrea Stokes, head of hospitality practice at JD Power, said data suggests guests continue to view breakfast as an important part of their hotel stay. “This proportion is even higher in upper-midscale and limited-service midscale hotels, where free breakfast is typically part of the hotel brand’s standard offering,” Stokes said.
When JD Power asks upper-midscale and midscale hotel guests to rate the importance of hotel features or amenities, about half (47%) consider free breakfast a “must-have” (as opposed to just a nice-to-have).
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Mitchell Murray, CEO of Station House Inn and three other boutique hotels in Lake Tahoe, Calif., says that while large hotel chains can offer economies of scale, free breakfast can account for about 5 percent of total revenue, closer to 6 to 7 percent once labor is included. “This is a significant cost, and many operators are wondering, ‘Does free breakfast really generate 5% more revenue or bookings?’ In many cases, the answer is no,” Murray said. He added that when breakfast is free, quality often suffers — think mediocre coffee, watery eggs, frozen potatoes. “It’s edible, but rarely memorable or value-added,” Murray said.
One of Murray’s properties is a Holiday Inn Express that he is turning into an independent hotel this year and where he plans to eliminate free breakfast after the change, once freed from corporate mandates. Franchisors of major hotel brands have specific brand standards that franchisees must adhere to, and this includes food and beverage standards.
Best Western, however, has no plans to pull the plug on the waffle iron. “Offering free breakfast is an important part of the guest experience across much of our portfolio,” said Larry Cuculic, CEO of the hotel chain. “For travelers, free breakfast simplifies the stay, provides significant value and influences booking and loyalty decisions, particularly in the midscale and upper midscale segments,” Cuculic said.
Cuculic says the economics still make sense: Breakfast drives guest satisfaction and guest loyalty, so by leveraging the purchasing power of its extensive hotel network, Best Western can help hotels manage costs while maintaining quality and consistency, “making breakfast both a guest-friendly touchpoint and a driver of long-term loyalty,” he said.
Holiday Inn Express is also near the free breakfast bar. “Breakfast plays a vital role in our value proposition and continues to be one of the top reasons travelers choose to stay with us – it’s something they know, trust and expect from our brand,” said Justin Alexander, vice president of global brand management for Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.
How Hotel Menu Changes Will Influence Travel PlanningBreakfast at the hotel factors into Aimee Misovich and her family’s trip planning. The Holland, Michigan, resident said her family is a member of Hilton Honors. “So we always stay at their properties, usually Embassy Suites, Homewood or Hampton Inn. All three always offer free hotel breakfasts,” Misovich said, adding that she likes the variety offered.
“Homewoods started offering oatmeal and chia puddings. I partake in those. Other times I just have a bagel with cream cheese, or a sausage patty in a bagel for a breakfast sandwich of sorts,” Misovich said. Although she added that quality can vary from property to property, breakfasts remain appealing.
“I certainly hope Hilton keeps its free breakfasts! After all, they’re not really ‘free’ – I’m sure they’re factored into room rates somehow,” Misovich said. She also noted that the foods she eats for hotel breakfast are rarely the ones she eats at home, “so it’s a treat for me when we travel.”
The food and beverage offering, even just for breakfast service, can be a key differentiator for limited-service hotel brands. “All hotels considering reducing or eliminating free breakfast should work to demonstrate their value in other ways,” Stokes said.
Rita Chaddad, a faculty member who teaches courses on tourism and hotel management at Columbia Southern University, predicts that free breakfast will continue to be phased out at luxury brands but will remain in some form elsewhere, although travelers should expect more changes to come .
“Breakfast is likely to stay, but the model could become more segmented,” Chaddad said. In upper midscale environments, hotels may be more willing to offer breakfast as credits, optional add-ons, or targeted inclusions, such as through packages or loyalty benefits. “In these tiers, hotels may have more flexibility to replace ‘free’ with perceived value in other forms, provided this is well communicated and the guest feels the trade-off is fair,” Chaddad said.
But she added that many mid-tier hotels compete on simple, visible value, and breakfast is one of the clearest signals of that value, so there’s a risk of backlash if it’s eliminated altogether. “Removing it can create a perceived loss that can exceed operational savings, even if the overall cost structure of the hotel improves behind the scenes. For value-oriented travelers, breakfast is often interpreted as part of the ‘deal,’ and losing it can complicate the guest’s mental math when comparing properties,” Chaddad said.
Chaddad said hotels will increasingly play with this offering and that beyond higher-tier hotels, travelers should be on the lookout for new models that come as room-only choices rather than breakfast-included choices, breakfast offered through packages or loyalty perks, or other redesigned formats that control costs while keeping the benefit visible to guests. “The change may be less about eliminating breakfast and more about adjusting who gets it, how it’s delivered and how clearly it’s priced or packaged,” she said.
While some of these changes may help the hotel’s bottom line, they could come with an additional emotional cost. “My kids and I would be really sad if they stopped the free hotel breakfasts. That’s part of the fun of traveling,” said East Tennessee resident Joanne Peterson.
