Why I Am Not Surprised That Hyatt Place May Eliminate Free Breakfast

Within the Hyatt program, being a Globalist is great as it gives you free breakfasts across the Hyatt portfolio. Some of these breakfasts are quite elaborate and very pricey if you were to pay yourself. However, Hyatt Place and Hyatt House are different in that they offer free breakfast to everyone. This is a great benefit of these properties that are perfect for families or longer stays.

Hyatt Place Eliminating Free Breakfast?

Hyatt Place Free Breakfast | From the Hyatt Place Orlando / Lake Buena Vista

Last week, View From the Wing covered that Hyatt is testing the elimination of the free breakfast at Hyatt Place properties. This has certainly caused a big uproar among the Hyatt customers that are not Globalists. As someone who has dropped to Explorist this year, free breakfasts no longer apply to me so it would be disappointing to me as well to see it disappear at Hyatt Place properties (more below).

Here is what Hyatt is testing with two Hyatt Place properties (Hyatt Place Dallas North/Galleria and Hyatt Place Detroit-Utica):

• Charging $10 for breakfast
• Charging $10 for hot breakfast but offering cold items (cereals, breads, donuts, etc)

Why Am I Not Surprised?

But, why am I not surprised that Hyatt may get rid of the free, hot breakfast at Hyatt Place properties? In January and February, I stayed at quite a few Hyatt Place hotels and noticed something at each one but none were as ridiculous as the breakfast scene at the Hyatt Place Orlando/Lake Buena Vista.

The Hyatt Place Orlando is a popular place with tourists visiting for the many parks in the area and it actually is a higher category than many Hyatt Places (a Category 3). The breakfast area was much larger than many Hyatt Places to accommodate all the guests. I was down with my kids one morning and it was an absolute traffic jam all over the area!

Free Breakfast = A Lot of Wasted Food

The worst part was the amount of food left on tables after people left or that was thrown in the garbage. Parents just let their kids go nuts with piling eggs, bacon, and pancakes on their plates – an amount which these kids could never eat. On many of the kids’ plates I saw, the neglected food could have fed a grown man.

This was not just this Hyatt Place but it was definitely the worst of all the ones we stayed at. All the other Hyatt Places had similar situations going on. I would walk by the garbages and see just piles of food thrown in there.

Like it or not, it is certainly true – when people get something for free, they treat it differently. This is definitely the case with free breakfasts and I wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up costing all of us the free breakfast that we have come to expect at Hyatt Place properties.

None of that means that I agree with them possibly eliminating free breakfast – just an observation that I would not be surprised based on guests’ behavior.

Is It a Huge Loss?

I recognize it would be a huge loss for many customers. While I would certainly not call the Hyatt Place breakfast great, it is nice to be able to get some food before leaving the hotel in the morning – whether you are a business person running to a meeting or a family. I am not really a big breakfast person, but I always do grab something at Hyatt Place hotels before I leave.

Hyatt Place free breakfast pancakes – for now | From Hyatt Place Orlando / Lake Buena Vista

For people that enjoy something more tasty than what the Hyatt Place hotels serve up, it won’t be a big loss. I mean, as a fruit lover, I normally even ignore the fruit at these places as too often there are still frozen clumps of the berries in the bowl.

But, for people planning longer stays (for work, etc) or for families, it could be a big enough loss to make people look elsewhere.

What do you think about the possibility of the Hyatt Place eliminating free breakfast?

Featured image is the Hyatt Place Columbus