America’s hotel free breakfast faces threat from K-shaped economy

At some point in the 1980s and ’90s, free hot breakfasts became a staple in the service industry. At many Holiday Inns and Hampton Inns, the lobby at 8 a.m. is a windmill of children in pajamas, exhausted parents, and lone business travelers jostling for position in front of the waffle maker. Meanwhile, self-serve cereal bars offer piping hot platters of Froot Loops, Lucky Charms and endless eggs and turkey sausages, steaming under heat lamps. For many, this breakfast is part of the attraction of traveling. It continues to this day, but in the face of new economic threats and evolving hotel business models.

Free breakfast is a sacred cow that hotels worry about surviving, as they eliminate items such as free soap and bathroom doors to save money, and hoteliers increasingly see it as a money pit that eats away at their thin-margin businesses. last year, hyatt hotelThe Hyatt Place brand has removed free breakfast from 40 properties. Holiday Inn, owned IHGhas abolished its breakfast a la carte menu and adopted a buffet-only model. This is a cost-cutting measure that maintains the breakfast buffet offering while reducing labor and food waste.

Gary Leff, who runs the travel blog View from the Wing and first reported on Holiday Inn’s breakfast changes, said the threat to free breakfast should be seen within a broader trend in the lodging industry looking for ways to cut costs for owners. “This goes well beyond breakfast and extends to things like housekeeping (which is done less frequently and on a less extensive basis during your stay), using toiletries in bulk rather than individual mini-bottles, and eliminating products like alarm clocks from your room,” Lev said.

Curtis Crimmins, CEO and founder of boutique hotel concept Roomza, says that despite the staying power of free breakfast, it never really helped his business. “This was a loyalty strategy, a loss leader aimed at driving sign-ups, repeat bookings, and growing brand loyalty. I would argue that once free breakfast goes from a beloved moment of ‘surprise and delight’ to an expectation, its days are numbered,” Crimmins said. “Looking for evidence of this slow demise in the breakfast area of ​​your average Holiday Inn Express? Look no further than the recent proliferation of ‘grab and go’ options. This is no coincidence,” he says.

Leff said catering to a more affluent clientele could give managers more latitude to skip breakfast, as was the case with Hyatt hotels.

A Hyatt spokesperson said the company is “testing breakfast options at select Hyatt Place hotels where guests can book rates that do not include breakfast… most Hyatt Place hotels in the U.S. continue to offer complimentary breakfast to all guests.”

Evaluation is ongoing. A Hyatt spokesperson said, “As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering value to our guests, including World of Hyatt members, we continually evaluate the breakfast options that work best for our guests and our hotels.”

Lev said Hyatt hasn’t released any testing data, and many guests probably just assume they’re getting free breakfast when they book at this point. “It remains to be seen whether Hyatt will be able to avoid having to offer limited-service breakfast,” he said.

In today’s economy, where spending is driven by high-income consumers, luxury goods are a bright spot in the travel space. marriott international CEO Anthony Capuano said the current hotel business is a symbol of the K-shaped economy, which is receiving a lot of attention. “Despite the economic headwinds and some uncertainty, we continue to see consumers prioritizing travel and experiences,” Capuano told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” last week after the latest earnings results. “Luxury was a real highlight for us,” Capuano said, adding that 10 percent of Marriott’s portfolio is in the luxury segment.

Marriott has changed the breakfast menu at some of its luxury hotels overseas. For example, Regis Macau has eliminated complimentary breakfast for Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador loyalty members as of March 2025, replacing it with bonus points or discounted breakfast. Some Reddit users posted this month that the free omelet had disappeared from Marriott’s breakfast bar and is now part of a paid full breakfast buffet, but a Marriott spokesperson said that was not a company-wide policy and that, if true, that decision would be up to individual hotel operators.

The majority of travelers expect free breakfast

The polarization of consumers has led to a polarization of breakfast models, with high-end customers heading for paid eggs Benedict and homemade croissants, while lower- and middle-income consumers flock to free buffets.

It’s true that Americans like hotel breakfasts. According to the 2025 JD Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study, the majority (78%) of guests who consume hotel food and beverages during their stay eat breakfast on-site. Of that 78 percent, only 8 percent is paid at luxury hotels, where this trend is primarily rooted.

Andrea Stokes, head of hospitality practice at J.D. Power, said data shows guests continue to value breakfast as an important part of their hotel stay. “This percentage is even higher for upper mid-range and mid-range hotel brands where services are limited. Complimentary breakfast is typically part of a hotel brand’s standard service,” Stokes said.

When JD Power asked guests at top mid-range and mid-range hotels to rate the importance of hotel features and amenities, nearly half (47%) rated free breakfast as a “must-have” (rather than just a nice-to-have).

Mitchell Murray, CEO of the Station House Inn and three other boutique hotels in Lake Tahoe, California, said that while large hotel chains can offer economies of scale, free breakfast accounts for about 5% of total revenue, which can be closer to 6 to 7% when labor costs are included. “This is a meaningful cost, and many operators are asking, ‘Does free breakfast actually increase revenue and bookings by 5%?’ In many cases, the answer is no,” Murray said. He added that when breakfast is free, the quality is often lower. Think mediocre coffee, watery eggs, and frozen potatoes. “They’re edible, but they’re rarely memorable or add value,” Murray says.

One of Murray’s properties is the Holiday Inn Express, which he plans to transition to an independent hotel this year and will eliminate free breakfast after the change, once he is freed from corporate obligations. Major hotel brand franchisors have specific brand standards that franchisees must adhere to, including food and beverage standards.

But Best Western has no plans to turn off its waffle makers. “Providing complimentary breakfast is an important part of the guest experience in many of our portfolios,” said Larry Kulick, CEO of the hotel chain. “For travelers, free breakfast simplifies their stay, provides meaningful value, and influences booking and loyalty decisions, especially in the midsize and above-midsize segments,” Kuklic said.

Kuculik said the economics still make sense: By leveraging the purchasing power of an extensive hotel network, breakfast supports guest satisfaction and repeat business, and Best Western can help hotels control costs while maintaining quality and consistency. “Breakfast is a guest-friendly touchpoint that drives long-term loyalty.”

Holiday Inn Express also stands by a complimentary breakfast bar. “Breakfast plays a critical role in our value proposition and continues to be the primary reason travelers choose to stay with us,” said Justin Alexander, vice president of global brand management for Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. “Breakfast is what travelers know, trust and expect from our brand.”

How hotel menu changes affect travel plans

Hotel breakfast is part of Amy Misovich and her family’s travel plans. The Holland, Michigan, resident said her family is Hilton Honors members. “So we always stay at their properties, typically Embassy Suites, Homewood, and Hampton Inn. All three still offer free hotel breakfast,” Misovic said, adding that she likes the variety.

“At Homewoods, we started offering overnight oats and chia pudding, and I tend to eat the latter. Other times, I’ll have a bagel with cream cheese or a sausage patty inside a bagel, like a breakfast sandwich,” Misovic said. She added that the quality can vary depending on the accommodation, but the breakfast is still appealing.

“I really hope Hilton keeps the free breakfast. After all, breakfast isn’t really ‘free.’ I think it’s somehow factored into the room rate,” Misovic said. She also said that the food she eats at hotel breakfasts is “a treat for me when I’m traveling,” since she rarely eats it at home.

Food and beverage offerings, even just breakfast service, can be a key differentiator for limited-service hotel brands. “Hotels considering scaling back or eliminating free breakfast need to focus on demonstrating value in other ways,” Stokes said.

Rita Chadad, a faculty member who teaches courses in tourism and hospitality 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, but travelers should expect more changes to come.

“Breakfast is likely here to stay, but the model is likely to become more fragmented,” Chadad said. In medium-sized and larger settings, hotels may become more aggressive in offering breakfast through credits, optional add-ons, or targeted offerings (such as packages or loyalty benefits). “At these stages, hotels may have the flexibility to replace ‘free’ with other forms of perceived value if it is well communicated and guests feel the trade-off is fair,” Chadad said.

But many mid-range hotels compete on simple, tangible value, and breakfast is one of the clearest indicators of that value, so eliminating breakfast altogether risks a backlash, he added. “Even if a hotel’s overall cost structure improves behind the scenes, removing it can result in losses that outweigh the operational savings. For value-conscious travelers, breakfast is often interpreted as part of the ‘deal,’ and losing it can complicate the calculations in a guest’s head when comparing accommodations,” Chadad said.

Chadad said hotels will increasingly take advantage of the service, and that beyond luxury hotels, travelers should look to new models emerging as room-only and breakfast-included options, breakfast offered with packages or loyalty benefits, or other redesigned formats that control costs while making the benefits visible to guests. “This change may be less about eliminating breakfast and more about adjusting who receives it, how it’s delivered, and how clear it is about price and set items,” she says.

While some of these changes may increase hotel revenues, they may come with additional emotional costs. “My kids and I would be really sad if the free hotel breakfasts were to go away,” said East Tennessee resident Joanne Peterson. “It’s one of the joys of traveling.”