We’ve been staying at Hilton hotels more often lately. That’s mostly because we’ve had a few free night certificates to use and found some good redemption opportunities. Even so, most of our Hilton stays are at brands like Homewood Suites, where breakfast is already included, which means Hilton Honors Gold status doesn’t get us any additional breakfast benefit.
And that’s one of the strange things about the Hilton Honors program: instead of offering free breakfast for elite members like it used to, Hilton now gives Gold and Diamond members a daily food and beverage credit at U.S. hotels — but only at certain brands.
What Is Hilton’s F&B Credit, Anyway?
In 2021, Hilton eliminated the traditional free breakfast benefit for elite members at most U.S. hotels. In its place, Gold and Diamond members now receive a daily credit, intended to cover breakfast, a drink, or a snack, depending on how you want to use it.
Here’s how much the credit is worth by brand:
| Brand | Daily F&B Credit Value* |
|---|---|
| Waldorf Astoria, LXR, Conrad, NoMad | $25 per person |
| Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Signia, Canopy, Curio Collection, Graduate, Tempo, DoubleTree, Motto**, Tapestry Collection | $15–$18 per person |
| Hilton Garden Inn | $10 per person |
* Credit is per registered guest (up to 2 guests), per night, and only at participating U.S. properties. Most international Hilton hotels still provide complimentary breakfast for Gold and Diamond members.
** Motto properties may vary — always check with the hotel directly.
Experience #1: Our Tapestry Collection Stay in NYC
Our first time trying to use the F&B credit was during a quick trip to New York City to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. We booked a Tapestry Collection hotel using points, and thanks to Hilton Gold status, we each received a $18 daily food and beverage credit.
The only place to use the credit was The Pleat Cafe & Bar — except it wasn’t really a cafe or a bar. It was a grab-and-go stand tucked into a corner of the lobby. A whiteboard sign over the hand sanitizer stand advertised “New Bagels!” You could grab coffee, a Spindrift, or a prepackaged salad. No tables. No service. And most importantly, it was closed when we checked out at 7:45 AM on a Sunday morning.
We ended up with two unused paper vouchers — a completely wasted benefit that felt more like a gimmick than a perk.
Experience #2: Homewood Suites — Nothing Extra
We’ve had a few more Hilton stays, but most have been at Homewood Suites, where breakfast is included for all guests.
Because of that, elite members don’t receive a food and beverage credit at all. It’s not a problem — we knew what to expect — but it highlights the unevenness of Hilton’s elite perks. At some hotels, you’ll get a meaningful benefit. At others, you’ll get nothing.
Experience #3: A Small Win in Philadelphia (With a Catch)
We finally stayed at a full-service Hilton in Philadelphia, where the credit actually worked. We ordered a coffee and a pastry for about $11.75, and the charge was taken off our room bill.
But the credit didn’t cover gratuity. Although the credit technically worked as intended, it didn’t fully cover the cost of a simple breakfast item.
Final Thought
On paper, Hilton’s Food & Beverage credit appears to be an excellent way for guests to choose how to utilize their elite breakfast benefit. But in practice, it often falls flat. Sometimes there’s no place to use it. Other times, the location is inconvenient or has limited hours. And even when everything works, the credit might not fully cover the cost, especially after tax and tip.
If you’re staying at a brand like Homewood Suites or Hampton Inn, you’ll get free breakfast, but no extra credit. If you’re staying at a higher-end brand, you’ll want to check in advance what your options actually are. Because, based on our experience, “flexible breakfast” can sometimes mean “you’re on your own.”
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9 comments
You got what you chose. You picked to stay in a boutique NY hotel with no restaurant and which does not serve breakfast. Many boutique hotels in NY do not have restaurants and have very limited food service. If that was important to you – you had many many places you could have stayed that had more options. But as you noted – the website shows no restaurants and that breakfast is not available. No false advertising here . . . you
You might know the ins and outs of NY boutique hotels, but not everyone does. I picked the hotel because it looked nice and it was in a good location for our visit. Honestly, the F&B credit is more useful here than a breakfast benefit but either is a dissapointing option. FWIW, we went around the block and had some great NY bagels instead of eating the ones from the lobby.
Waited all of one sentence before plugging the credit card link. Shameless but not unexpected on Boarding Area these days
Sorry for mentioning that we have a co-brand AMEX card. I’d hardly consider that a plug. I didn’t mention that I have Hilton Honors Gold from my AMEX Platinum.
As a rule, most Tapestry branded hotels do not have full service restaurants so this grab and go is normal for the brand. When booking any hotel of course, there are a myriad number of issues to be considered, but as a post on a travel web site, I expect better informed posts than this one. As a consumer, we have choices and options. This post offered no travel insights or advice whatsoever. Bah humbug.
Hilton made this change very intentionally to get more breakage on promised benefits. In my somewhat limited experience – I truly detested them doing that and stayed away more because of that – this was just a way to cheap out on providing breakfast at higher end hotels where it mattered more. I guess I’m just old fashioned in that I believe a company looking to attract more customers should offer a better product than competitors rather than worse. That’s why Hyatt gets my money.
We stay at the Hilton Palmer House in Chicago and are pleased with our $36 daily F&B credit. We use it at the beautiful Lobby Bar for a pre-dinner or after-dinner drink because there are so many excellent restaurants in the area. If one doesn’t drink alcohol, the grab and go has tasty breakfast sandwiches and coffee and also salads, sandwiches, and snacks.
Thank you very much for a concise summary of the benefit variables. Though I stay at Hilton, it’s been more occasional so I wasn’t aware. I do intend to stay more and as a Diamond member it’s good to know and be reminded of the different breakfast results. As someone like yourself who travels and stays at different hotel brands, there is a myriad amount of different rules and restrictions. Usually in planning travel, our priorities revolve around location, beds, points, and status with breakfast, especially a weak value in lower hotel tiers, coming later in consideration. So again, nice to be reminded of the benefit differences.
You clearly stated at The Draper. An awful hotel but somehow gets good online reviews. Will never stay again.