Hyatt Place seems to once again be trying to figure out a way to eliminate free breakfast at properties in the United States. I’m curious to see if the trial gets scrapped, or if we see it expanded this time around.
Some Hyatt Place properties in US charging for breakfast
Tanner Saunders reports on how Hyatt is currently running a trial at select Hyatt Place properties in the United States, whereby complimentary breakfast is no longer included for all World of Hyatt members.
Historically, Hyatt Place has been known for its free breakfast offering, at least at properties in the United States (abroad it’s standard for Hyatt Place properties to charge, though they generally have more extensive buffets).
The current Hyatt Place breakfast trial is taking place at roughly 40 properties in the United States. At these hotels, you have the choice of booking a rate that includes breakfast. Otherwise you can buy breakfast on-property, with the cost reportedly being $11 per person at some properties.
This isn’t the first time that Hyatt has conducted a trial like this. The hotel group also conducted a similar test back in 2018. What ended up coming of that trial is that Hyatt limited free breakfast at Hyatt Place properties to World of Hyatt members, as a way of encouraging guests to join the loyalty program and book direct. However, nothing additional came of that.
Then I suspect the pandemic delayed any additional possible changes, as hotels first tried to cope with the impacts of that.
Here’s how Hyatt describes this latest trial in a statement:
“At the moment, a limited number of Hyatt Place hotels in the U.S. are piloting new grab-and-go menu options while others are testing a rate plan that allows guests to book a stay that does not include breakfast. World of Hyatt Globalists continue to enjoy a free breakfast at all Hyatt Place hotels globally.”
“For guests at hotels that are piloting a rate plan option that does not include breakfast, guests are informed of the various rate options when booking, and are reminded again at check-in, and via collateral in hotels. Guests who booked before this alternative rate plan was first offered at these hotels in September still receive breakfast with all rate plans.”
Can Hyatt Place get away with not offering free breakfast?
When you think of limited service properties, free breakfast is an amenity that often comes to mind. However, as we all know, hotel owners want better margins, and nickel-and-diming can be one way to accomplish that. Can Hyatt Place get away with cutting free breakfast without losing customers? A few thoughts:
- Presumably this initiative would partly be about reducing breakfast costs, but would primarily be about generating more revenue by being able to charge higher rates for those who value breakfast
- Back in the day it felt like limited service properties pretty consistently had free breakfast, though it’s not quite a standard in the same way it used to be, with brands like Aloft, Moxy, etc.
- Interestingly Hyatt recently launched the Hyatt Studio limited service brand, and that does include a complimentary grab & go breakfast as a brand standard; so if it’s all about margins, one wonders why Hyatt didn’t try to launch that brand without free breakfast
- Limited service hotel breakfast kind of reminds me of economy airplane food; people love to complain about the quality, but are also angry when it isn’t included for free
- I’m curious how Hyatt is analyzing the results of this; does it come down to feedback/survey results, booking patterns, or what? It seems difficult to fully assess this, since I imagine there’s quite a bit of confusion during the trial, since many people expect free breakfast
- It’s almost hard to turn Hyatt Place breakfast into a paid thing based on how Hyatt Place breakfast areas are designed, as it’s often just the lobby seating that’s used for breakfast
Bottom line
Hyatt Place is once again trialing charging for breakfast at properties in the United States. At select hotels, guests either have to book a rate that includes breakfast, or otherwise have to pay on-property. Clearly Hyatt wants to find a way to charge for breakfast at its limited service brand, based on this being a repeated test.
What do you make of Hyatt Place’s paid breakfast trial?
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