Hyatt Place is changing its breakfast offerings. They are going to vary by region of the world. Guests will no longer be guaranteed a free hot breakfast at any Hyatt Place in the world, even if they are members of World of Hyatt booking direct. That’s a huge change.
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated a lot of change in the world, from how we order groceries to how we think about workspaces, and it’s changed travel as well – privileging cleaning, and gearing offerings towards price sensitive leisure travelers (which is who is traveling today) rather than traditional business travelers. It has meant rethinking offerings quickly versus changes that might have made sense in a pre-Covid world but that would have taken years to evolve.
One of those may be the ‘free breakfasts’ at limited service hotels, even upscale ones, if Hyatt’s changes to the Hyatt Place brand are an early indication.
Here are the details, as first reported by Zach Griff at The Points Guy website.
- U.S. properties. You no longer need to be a World of Hyatt member to receive complimentary breakfast, reversing changes made two years ago. The people traveling today are online travel agency customers rather than brand loyalists.
They’re piloting a change at 20 hotels where continental breakfast is free (perhaps avocado toast, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal) with hot and extended breakfast items for purchase. Globalist members will receive hot items complimentary. This is a downgrade to the traditional Hyatt Place offering, for all except top tier World of Hyatt members.
- Africa, India, and the Middle East will offer free “regionally inspired breakfast” for all guests starting November 16, without loyalty program membership.
- Asia Pacific gets… complicated. World of Hyatt members booking direct get free breakfast for two people. Non-members (who don’t sign up on property) and those booking through third parties get free breakfast for.. one person. This is going to lead to some strange on-property interactions.
- Europe will see some rates exclude breakfast entirely starting November 16. This includes properties in Amsterdam, West London and airports in Frankfurt and at Paris Charles de Gaulle and London Heathrow. Globalist members will still receive breakfast on non-breakfast rates.
Griff writes “[t]hese cheaper rates could be appealing if you don’t need breakfast — or plan to dine outside the hotel.” That’s silly. What cheaper rates, compared to what’s been offered inclusive of breakfast, are in the market? There’s no indication at this point that unbundling breakfast from the Hyatt Place value proposition will lead to lower prices, versus either lower costs for hotels or higher prices to get breakfast. It assumes facts not in evidence. It appears that room rates are down, so in some markets hotels aren’t being required to spend money on food for those lower rates.
Overall Griff acknowledges “Removing the complimentary breakfast benefit in select international hotels is a clear-cut devaluation. Plus, these changes are being implemented with little, if any, warning.”
I’d go a step further. This degrades the premium brand that Hyatt Place has built. You still get reasonably stylish large rooms. I’m a fan of Hyatt Places generally, at least the properties that aren’t ex-AmeriSuites. And the change shouldn’t affect me as a top tier Hyatt member. But this affects more than just ‘select international hotels’ but potentially the entire brand in some fashion nearly worldwide.
If travelling alone, breakfast is a nice to have option and I do value it but if travelling with family, it is a necessity. If you are staying anywhere upmarket, feeding 3 or 4 people for breakfast is a significant cost.
Thus, this would make me think about my future Hyatt reservations.
I noticed breakfast items for sale last week at a Hyatt Place near IAD.
This is a bummer. When travelling with my wife and kids I specifically chose Hyatt Place for their breakfast offerings for the kids. This saves me like $40 per night.
That said, because I’m a hyatt loyalist, and generally a continental breakfast is good enough for the kids, I will probably keep doing it. Though I will choose Hyatt House over Hyatt Place now.
“I’d go a step further. This degrades the premium brand that Hyatt Place has built. You still get reasonably stylish large rooms”
By who’s standard are Hyatt Place rooms considered “stylist”? For one the conversions from “Amerisuites” are still dumps, the newest properties were beginning to limit their breakfast offerings well before the Covid outbreak especially the one at the Space Needle Seattle. Looking at the major flags they were moving in this direction as well so this latest revelation should not surprise anyone. Having said all that we will continue to devaluing across the board. Look at EK doing away with partner redemption for FC. The beat goes on.
I’m not much of a breakfast person. I’ll use the Hilton breakfast you get as a Gold but I would never pay $20+ for breakfast. I can live with a granola bar, croissant or almost anything light for breakfast.
Given that no Hyatt place in the US currently has a full breakfast and we are at 120k cases a day, you’re making a big fuss over something theoretical.
I’m a Globalist and I don’t give a hoot about breakfast.
Having said that, do the overpaid numbskulls at Hyatt really think this will not drive away customers? Do they forget that the change Hyatt made when they bought Amerisuites was to institute free breakfast, because so many businesspeople would not take out time in the morning to drive somewhere for breakfast?
Continental only, with a hot breakfast right next to you, but with a “do not touch” sign? I’ve seen Doubletrees do that, and it is sure to PO the guests.
Personally, I’d take 1000 pts/day to skip breakfast, but I bet most people would not.
Besides, they are pushing enforcement on to the franchisees. We’ve now had 2 years to see how lackadaisically individual hotels police breakfast.
Have always found the breakfast unappealing to me @ Hyatt Place & Hyatt House as a Globalist
I avoid the properties as typically I can stay at a 4 star full service at the same price or less and truly enjoy a high quality breakfast.I realize that not everybody is discerning when it comes to food quality and happy with a shrink wrapped muffins and canned fruit
Unless dirt cheap I avoid these limited service properties like the plague or in this case like Covid 😉
The main problem I have is the inconsistent rules by region. I can see that as causing problems when international travel picks up. Someone based in one location may not realize they do not qualify for breakfast in another region due to the convoluted rules. Rather than spending time reading the rules, I will just look for other hotel options internationally.
@Ghostrider5408 – I am clear I think that the ex-Amerisuite properties are excluded from any sense of premium, right? And Hyatt Place breakfast isn’t nearly as good as it once was *to begin with*. But I do think the new build properties are really nice for what they are, except the elevators actually which feel like they’re out of a college dorm.
Yea….Hyatt…I just can’t. I was thinking about chasing Globalist from my current Explorer, but I think this sends me a message. Marriott and Hilton are whoring themselves for my business, and Hyatt decides to devalue during the pandemic?
Boo. Double-boo. I’m in the middle of a Hyatt Place mattress run, and free breakfast is what makes it worthwhile. I’ve tried 3 or 4 of them (including Hyatt House) near IAD, and will be on the lookout for the ones going cheap on breakfast.
Well, Governor Pritzker dumped over $50 million into a failed ballot initiative campaign. Maybe he needs to get it back, one Hyatt customer after another.
When the world returns to normal, this clearly will be an unpleasant downgrade to the current Hyatt Place breakfast. Right now, it’s almost a complete crapshoot what kind of breakfast you’ll get at a USA hotel. Nothing is predictable, or even makes any sense. I’ve started calling the individual properties to see what they’re actually doing. The other week in Texas I actually switched a reservation from a Holiday Inn Express to a nearby Hampton Inn because the Hampton was offering a semblance of their regular breakfast and the Holiday Inn was offering a granola bar. Sometimes it’s impossible to get a plausible breakfast from the chain motels. For those situations, I’ve loaded the McDonalds app where there’s usually a deal on a breakfast sandwich. Sad!
More Coronabullshit. Its perfectly safe to go across the street and pay for breakfast but somehow deadly to eat it for free in the hotel. Anyone dumb enough to believe this doesn’t deserve breakfast anyway nor should they be leaving their bunker to stay in hotels.
What the the about 20 hotels being used as test hotels?
Never understood why breakfast was such a big deal for so many. No wonder Americans are obese. Most nutritionists will tell you there is no practical need for a meal at 7 or 8 in the morning. Coffee and maybe a piece of fruit is sufficient until lunch.
It amazes me how breakfast is such a big deal for people. You must have nothing else in your life worth worrying about