People Are Showing Up At Hotels For Free Breakfast And Leaving – And They Aren’t Even Hotel Guests

Free breakfast is a common feature of many hotel brands, especially in the limited service category. You’ll find it at Hampton Inn, Best Western and Holiday Inn Express among numerous others.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel actually check that you’re a guest before giving you access. If you look like you belong there, you can park in the lot, walk in, and eat.

In the fall I stayed at the Aloft near Dallas Love Field and selected breakfast as my Marriott elite member amenity. Breakfast was served in the Element hotel next door. I simply walked into that hotel and no one checked that I was a guest or eligible for breakfast. I could have taken the elite check-in bonus points and still had breakfast!

In a sense, I’m surprised that so few people show up at these hotels and have breakfast! Then again, maybe people do?

Here’s a woman on TikTok explaining and millions of people have watched this: “They make it so easy to get the free hotel breakfast when you’re not staying at a hotel.”

@itssofeeyuh

♬ original sound – 🎧

What’s more, this seems to be a common meme on TikTok. Here’s two people who showed up at a Drury Inn just for breakfast, eating up eggs and sausage, waffles, juice and more that are meant for guests.

@destinyshaude Lol we just wanted free hotel breakfast 😭🤣 #fypシ #foryoupage #fyp #explore #explorepage #grwm #funny #hotelbreakfast #hotelroom ♬ Players – DJ Smallz 732 – Jersey Club Remix – Coi Leray

Most limited-service breakfasts, though, aren’t going to be so good that you’d show up for it if you aren’t already on premises. But if I was nearby, and hard up, maybe I’d go for a meal justifying it like hero Jean Valjean steals the bread in Les Miserables.

It’s likely that I could get away with this, as a middle-aged white business traveler who knows his way around hotels. I simply feel comfortable in a hotel lobby, like I belong. But if you stand out, and don’t look like someone who stays in the hotel and knows your way around the lobby you might get questions. So a free breakfast hack only for those who don’t need the free breakfast?

Some hotels – notably Hyatt Places – have tried to verify eligibility for free breakfast. Hyatt keeps changing who is entitled to free breakfast, and to which items at breakfast. Though when they made breakfast only for loyalty program members booking direct properties didn’t actually seem to enforce it much.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Comments

  1. The only place I’ve ever seen this enforced is the Homewood Suites adjacent to an HGI in Lake Buena Vista.

    I assumed it was to keep the HGI people from crossing over the pool area and pilfering.

  2. I have sometimes seen room number and/or name checks done by hotels’ breakfast monitors at some hotels where breakfast is included for all hotel guests. But down market hotels are less likely to have the staff available to check comprehensively and always.

  3. This is why we can’t have nice things. If hotel operators controlled their costs on stuff like this, maybe they could provide better services/amenities to actual paying guests.

  4. @Barry Lieberman

    We have second home nearby – and book their sister HS property up on Westwood – near Sea World for overflow family/friends visiting when we’re down there. Les the G.M. (who manages all three locations) and Janice the morning breakfast kitchen manager at Westwood HS do a fantastic job!

    In the past, the Westwood HS had a problem with Sea World guests parking at their hotel, and next door at the Hampton Inn lot – because they had free parking – and some of the folks would wander in to graze at the breakfast buffet.

    Now that they charge $25 a day for parking – and tow during the day – has basically eliminated the problem. HI next door of course has free breakfast for their guests, plus the Staybridge on the other side of HI has breakfast.

    You would think a fair number of Golds and Platinum’s at HGI would already have free breakfast, but many could be tourists without status.

    I do remember during COVID that HGI Golds/Plats were offered free breakfast next-door at the HS, (the Westwood HS was closed). Both hotels have same ownership – that being the Tishman family – long-time and original owners of the Dolphin and the Swan.

    I dislike the new-ish parking fees – if you have a longer term stay, they will waive it. At least for now – no resort fees!

    SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT

  5. I don’t think I’ve ever had a free breakfast in the USA that I would have chosen to eat if not for the convenience. However, I’m likely not among the big spenders and frequent travelers who frequent this forum.

    On the other hand, I’ve enjoyed excellent breakfasts at boutique hotels in Europe and Asia. But there’s no chance of anyone sneaking into these places, as they’re so small and exclusive.

  6. I often go walking very early in the morning and eat breakfast afterwards. I always put my room card out on the table so anyone walking by will realize I’m likely not some loser walking by that decided it was time for a free meal. But I’ve only once I’ve seen people (a couple) caught, called out and kicked out.

  7. Yeah, let’s glorify and encourage theft. The downward slide of western civilization continues.

  8. @Gary Leff “In a sense, I’m surprised that so few people show up at these hotels and have breakfast”

    I’m not. Most people don’t steal.

  9. Chefstore, Sysco, USFoods (where I buy in bulk, they welcome civilians) … if you eat out, you’ve almost certainly had their food in the past few days. Pancakes, biscuits, egg whites (and others) in milk cartons, potatoes, etc., in 10-20-40 pound boxes, omelets/eggs-meat-in a tortilla, etc. Their chili and bbq are pretty good, real salty, but that brings more soft-drink sales. Ever wonder why all Chinese buffets have the same food? Point being, ‘free breakfast’ per would likely be under $3, it’s cheaper to give it away than pay somebody to supervise. And then have a scene where you ask them to pay or leave.

  10. Once in Buffafo, NY at RI. Was walking outside in the morning, saw couple homeless guys sitting on the pavement. Went to Starbucks and then came back to RI for breakfast – and here I see the two buddies strolling around the breakfast room and stuffing bagels to they bags… May be happening more than we think…

  11. Free hotel breakfasts are rubbish. The Embassy Suites is an exception. So are some hotel breakfasts in the Far East, such as Singapore or Taipei.

  12. I was recently on Barcelona at the very hetero-friendly Axel Hotel. They checked every person who entered if they had purchased the breakfast package and I was grateful for it

  13. So what you are saying is that you are a taker in life? The same person who buys a large screen TV, then returns it because they need a TV for their week of vacation ?(my brother actually did this, he is cheap, yet still my brother, lol, but I would never invest money in his business)

    Imagine if people didn’t take things and gave things instead? You would be surprised by the person who said, “No one ever went poor by giving money away.”.

    I challenge you to look it up, it sure as heck shocked me.

  14. The Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach checks that people are legitimate guests. All it takes is getting caught once by a property in a jurisdiction that is willing to prosecute, and your life could change forever. As my law enforcement friends say: “criminals need to get lucky every time; we only need to get lucky once.”

  15. While stealing breakfast is not a good thing, I can’t imagine enforcing it is worthwhile. Plus there’s so many pregnant 10-year-olds walking around with their incest babies in red states these days, least you can do is let them eat.

  16. I saw one interesting example of this while staying at a hotel in Grand Junction, Colorado. Two mornings in a row a very unkempt woman, using a walker and not very coherent, helped herself to the breakfast. It wasn’t a very large hotel, and there were plenty of staff about. After thinking about it while enjoying my own breakfast, I concluded that the hotel was allowing her to eat there as a simple act of charity. Grand Junction isn’t a big city. It’s barely a small city. More of a bigger small town. The woman was probably well known to the downtown merchants, either homeless or otherwise challenged to care for herself. It was late enough into the Fall that it was well below freezing outside at that time of the morning. I think they were just looking out for a fellow human who needed the help. But I think that’s a special case compared to the freeloading TikTok crowd.

  17. Why be ‘surprised that so few people do this ‘ because despite this selfish world we live in, some people do have morals.

  18. You seem to be inviting people to do this. Why not mention that ideally, hotels shouldn’t have to enforce this rule at all?

  19. @Ben G +1
    @Mantis +1
    @Earl B -1 Where would it end. And what constitutes one being allowed this while most likely anyone else would be wrestled to the ground and perhaps shot because of doing this.

  20. @Earl B -1 Where would it end. And what constitutes one being allowed this while most likely anyone else would be wrestled to the ground and perhaps shot because of doing this.

    I’m OK with this. Time for a little law and order in this country. The pendulum has swung too far the other way. Time to bring it back.

  21. That it’s not a common problem for there to be lot of people sneaking in to mooch on the free breakfasts for hotel guests just goes to show that at around these hotels most people:

    1) have the common sense to know the difference between right and wrong and choose to do the right thing to at least try to avoid embarrassment if not also to avoid punishment for wrongdoing; and

    2) aren’t so desperate to steal the basic breakfast from the hotels with such breakfasts for hotel guests.

    That said, it’s probably only a matter of time until more hotels start using facial recognition tech to track who is a guest and can figure out who is using the breakfast areas and who is not.

  22. This rarely happens, probably because hotel breakfasts are so poor. Actually, the opposite is true. Hotels steal from their patrons by offering an inadequate breakfast, unreasonably limiting breakfast hours or restricting who can receive breakfast. For example, elite status generally only provides breakfast for two. This is a nightmare for people traveling with children.

  23. While most hotels with breakfast included for all guests tend to have poor breakfasts, there are markets where that is not as true. For example, in Norway and Sweden the included breakfasts are typically rather decent when comparing it to what is on offer at US hotels with included breakfasts for all guests.

    But the hotels where elite status provides breakfast for two but not for all guests on the premises are the hotels that tend to control who has access to the breakfast in the hotel since the hotels love to charge as much as they can for anything and everything they can — including charging for breakfast.

  24. I beleive tge way the breakfast areas are designed in the majority of hotels don’t necessarily lend to checking each person to see if they are a guest. The cost and effort to design things differently may not be worth the cost of a handful of people feasting on off brand breads and cereal, poweded eggs and iquid concentrated juice. Embassy is designed a little better but not perfect by any stretch. They can validate guests but its beeen hit or miss in my stays with them. In teturn their breakfast quality is much better.

  25. Earl,
    You assume because of the age and unkempt look of the elderly woman, she was not a paying guest. There isn’t an age restriction or dress code for hotel occupancy or breakfast attendance. Perhaps, she was a resident of the hotel. I travel a lot, and often talk to other travelers. . I have met people who live in hotels full time, The daily rate of a moderately priced hotel would be cheaper than an assisted living facility. There is no law against long term hotel residency’.. You don’t know her circumstances. For all you know, she might have owned the place. You have labeled her a thief on a speculative observation.

  26. I can walk into a grocery store and walk out with food with nobody noticing.

    You can commit crimes. What’s your point?

    Do you want the risk of a criminal record over free toast. I’m sure you looked like a guest. If you didn’t you have been stopped.

  27. Pathetic. Grocery stores have free food too. Just stick it in your coat pocket and walk out the door. This is criminal activity and should be treated as such

  28. I saw a well-dressed “business man” get asked for his room key by the omelette chef (HGI in Las Vegas). He turned on his heals and briskly exited. I agree that breakfasts at most hotels in the US are not great and mostly only the convenience (and coffee) keep me eating there. Honestly I would rather have better in-room amenities (so only guests enjoy them), close down the breakfast (eliminate the theft problem), and go get my own breakfast. Sad that US hotels can’t figure out better food, sadder that people stoop to stealing crap food!

  29. 90% of the time I go down for breakfast, there has always been a check or I have always been checked. I’m a middle age black guy usually dressed in business casual. I can’t affirm or deny any bias in play, but I suspect there’s a mix of emotions and the environment at play. I stay mostly at Marriott properties, so with the devaluation of breakfast I’m assuming this doesn’t happen much at Marriott’s properties much as they’re moving towards a budget hotel cereal/cold breakfast, anything else you have to pay for.

  30. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hotel actually check that you’re a guest before giving you access.”

    Gary, you and I stay at different hotels and in different cities. I’ll not say that I’m checked at every hotel where I’ve stayed, but I’ve been checked often enough to expect to show my room key or to tell the checked my room number.

    Some people are honest; others are not. That’s the way of the world.

  31. This is theft and should be prosecuted. The problem in the US is there are way too many entitled people who feel the system (or society in general) owes them something so they have no problems stealing.

    The old days of honesty, working hard for what you want and integrity are unfortunately gone with many of our youth and certain sub cultures. If just a few were made to way significantly for their actions it would likely have a positive impact on the rest.

  32. Discounting the obvious (stealing etc) I would imagine this isn’t something a local to the hotel could get away with too often before staff would recognise them and begin to question. Someone staying nearby in a hotel where you have to pay, maybe, but is it worth the effort?

  33. most of the free breakfast are now worth eating. Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Staybridge Suites all fall into the “all you can stand breakfast” category. the ladies preparing the breakfast do the best they can with what they have to work with. I usually go for the cereal.

  34. It’s simple actually. Most of the brands prohibit the franchised hotels from verifying that someone who comes in for breakfast is a guest. The brands are so concerned with guest reviews that they do not want to provide a cause for a negative review. To account for the cost of a complimentary breakfast, hotels earmark $5-$10 from each rented room to cover the cost of food and labor. There’s a big spread because some brand’s breakfast offerings are more extensive than others. So, bottom line; you’re paying for your complimentary breakfast and the costs are tracked to the penny and accounted for by the hotel. There is a pushback against breakfast going on as this is written. A 200 room hotel will have a breakfast food cost upwards of $40,000 per month in busy season. Owners have successfully negotiated breakfast for changes with Hampton Inn and Best Western Plus to scale back the breakfast offerings. Some brands are now offering room only rates relying on guest honesty to not partake in breakfast.

  35. This happened to sister & I in Tucumcari, NM. Went to get breakfast, nothing left. But swarm of Spanish decent were eating everything. They would come into parking lot and walk into lobby & help themselves. No questions asked.

  36. @Gary
    Looks like you need another Yom Kippur to atone for stealing… unfortunately it doesn’t help ’til you pay back the one you stole from…

  37. Rarely are the breakfast good which are free too all guest. Embassy suites wins but it’s still meh when you have been to hotels in Europe, morraco, Bora Bora, Mexico. Okay luxury hotel. In the US the Waldorf in New Orleans is horrible, the avocado toast is the worst.

  38. I used to work the front desk at a hotel and people do this all the time and we see it and we know it and honestly, we don’t care. The food that isn’t eaten, particularly the eggs and sausage and that day’s waffle batter or open air pastries, becomes food waste if it isn’t consumed. And while management might have had a very different opinion on that, they sure as shit weren’t paying me enough to be okay with food waste and denying hungry people a meal.

  39. Hi I have work in the hotel. And food industry for 22 years and have severed countless breakfasts/ buffets and never had a problem with outside guests helping themselves to food! In fact there was always plenty to go around and plenty we had to discard!

  40. Gary is clearly delusional about the state of the world.

    As a middle-aged white guy, anything you do to step out of line in terms of rules is going to be called out immediately, because the help is not going to have any fear in calling out the mild-mannered middle-aged white guy.

    Now if you’re a more threatening looking guy who is not white, the help is more likely to just leave you alone because they don’t want to be physically assaulted. You see this everywhere, from restaurants, to grocery stores.

  41. Embassy suites has the absolute King of breakfast offerings made to order omelets and fresh eggs and things of that nature, and usually when I stay there they do check and ask for at least a room key to show that you’re a guest.
    As far as the down listed hotels Hampton inn what not they never check. You can walk in the front door and go over pick up a plate and help yourself to breakfast, coffee, orange juice and then leave

  42. We used to stay at a Drury Inn every month, and they started checking at their 5:30 Kickback (free food and drinks). It seemed there was a trend of large groups having family reunions and people not staying at the hotel coming over for the free dinner. Except for requiring the punch card for your three adult beverages, it’s usually an honor system there.

  43. The Embassy Suites in La Jolla, CA has a little fake door cardkey reader by the omelet chef who takes your order, and apparently you are supposed to tap your card to verify you are a guest. The 1st day I completely didn’t see the door (was on my phone) and they didn’t say anything, though my son later mentioned being asked to tap his card. The 2nd morning, I actively looked for this door & saw it — but my card came up red when I tapped (??) and no one said anything. Other people were showing green when they tapped their card. The 3rd morning, I was asked by the omelet chef to tap my card, which I did, but it again was red. Again, no one said anything. This was kind of weird (the red thing) because when I used the cardkey to open my room door, 1/2 flashed green & 1/2 flashed red, but the door opened & I didn’t bother trying to figure it out. I question if this is the right way to check if you are a guest, but they don’t seem to care one way or the other. Often if our whole family goes down to breakfast at the same time, only 1 person takes a key, and we may not be lined up for omelets at the same time. This happened another day when my daughter was in line by herself & didn’t have a key, and was starting to panic when she saw other people tapping their keys. My hubby brought her a key before she got to the front of the long line. The only thing I think you risk if you go get free breakfast when you’re not a guest is maybe some embarrassment if caught and asked to leave. Probably no biggie for most people.

    A prior time at this same Embassy Suites, they had a hostess at the main path to the breakfast place asking for room numbers. But again, I was on my phone and just walked past her as she was taking down the info of other guests. And she didn’t chase me down later or anything. I imagine this doesn’t work well if lots of guests arrive at the same time for breakfast, which is maybe why they changed to the door cardkey reader method.

    Many years ago, I was at the Residence Inn in downtown Sacramento, which has a very nice free breakfast. There were patio doors open to a side street from the breakfast area, and I am pretty sure random homeless people were coming in off the street to have free breakfast. I heard more than 1 group talking about this. I was also thinking it wasn’t that safe to have the room opened up like that.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *