In June, Hyatt announced that their free breakfast policy at Hyatt Place hotels would be changing starting on November 1, 2018. That date has now come and gone. Here’s a refresher on the changes and what they’ll mean to you.
Previously, every guest at a Hyatt Place received free breakfast. The one time we’ve stayed at the brand in Raleigh, NC, the breakfast was better than most free hotel breakfasts (meaning it was actually edible).
Hyatt Place New Breakfast Policy
Now, in order to receive a free breakfast when staying at Hyatt Place, you need to be a World of Hyatt member AND book your hotel room directly from Hyatt. That means non members will not receive breakfast and members who book through a third party also won’t be eligible for free breakfast.
Reports are spotty on how this new rule is being enforced. Some hotels are having guests check in at the desk before seating and others have a hotel employee stationed outside the restaurant with an iPad, checking to see if guests are eligible.
The policy states if a guest is not a World of Hyatt member, they can enroll on the spot and receive breakfast for the remainder of their stay, regardless of how they booked the room. If you’re already a World of Hyatt member, too bad; you should have booked directly. This really punishes World of Hyatt members more than other guests, which would seem to be the opposite of what you’d want to do, no?
What’s even more confusing is what do you do if you’re staying at a Hyatt Place, book an stay that’s not eligible for “free” breakfast but still want to pay for breakfast? The only reports so far is that hotels are telling guests that breakfast is “on the house.” I’d guess that means Hyatt hasn’t really done a great job on clarifying that part of the policy to their staff. I mean, they only had five months notice.
Since I’m a World of Hyatt member and usually make reservations directly on the hotel website, this wouldn’t make much difference to me. However if I wanted to use Citi ThankYou points (or any other third party website) to book my stay at an Hyatt Place, I’d have to take into account that I wouldn’t be getting a free breakfast. I might still stay there or it may mean I stay somewhere else. I’m not sure that’s the result Hyatt was hoping for when they forced members to book direct to get breakfast.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
