Hotel breakfasts

[hbelkins]

I'm curious as to when the concept of hotels/motels serving free breakfasts took hold. When I traveled as a kid with my folks on vacations, we usually stayed in Howard Johnson's or Holiday Inns and a free breakfast was unheard of.

I didn't do a lot of overnight traveling from 1983 until the last few years, now it's rare that a motel (even an inexpensive chain like Econo Lodge) doesn't at least have coffee and pastries. Most have doughnuts, cereal and toast or bagels as well, and a large number have hot breakfasts with sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy.

When did this practice take hold and why? Why did motels determine that they needed to start serving a morning meal? What prompted this?

[Dougtone]

I stayed at an Embassy Suites last year on business, and the hotel offered free cooked to order omelets with their breakfast sampling.  Embassy Suites also offers a free cocktail hour in the late afternoon/early evening.

I've also seen self-serve Belgian waffles offers for the free hotel breakfast, but I've found that to be more common the further west I've gone.

Some independent motels are also offering at least coffee and pastries.

[US71]

Some Holiday Inns did free Kid's Breakfasts at one time. Someone probably liked the idea and expanded upon it. I want to say Super 8 may have been one of the first, but I'm not 100 percent certain. Of course, breakfast at Super 8 varies greatly by location. Some have cereal, donuts & coffee, some have waffles. No two locations of ANY hotel seem to be the same.

As for the why, it was probably marketing... something no one else had to get you to stay... like internet access was 5-6 years ago.

[Scott5114]

Yeah. One of the more pleasant things about capitalism is that when someone ends up seriously making a killing by adding some new thing to their product/service, the competition is forced to add it too to catch up. Then it becomes a standard of service that you expect, and consumers become rightfully upset when they encounter somewhere that doesn't have it...

[english si]

Oddly Vegas, even in the better hotels, don't seem to give you a voucher to go have a discounted breakfast in their restaurant.

I've been in a hotel in Thailand that had an egg chef to freshly cook you eggs how you want them as part of a buffet breakfast - now that's service.

[hbelkins]

Vegas hotels, for the most part, don't offer wi-fi either, do they?

After all, they want you down in the casino gambling instead of up in the room surfing sine salad pr0n.

I find it amusing that even in many inexpensive motels, like the $45 per night Quality Inn where I stayed in Morgantown last month, you get free wi-fi, but when I'm in one of the expensive joints in Loserville (Galt House, Hyatt, Marriott, etc.) you have to pay $10 a day for wi-fi. I'm guessing that in those places, the majority of their traffic is business-related (like conventions) and individuals will put that on their expense accounts or travel vouchers and it's a source of cheap income for the hotels.

Breakfast isn't an essential item for me, but wi-fi (for the most part is) unless I'm in an area with 3G AT&T service. Then my jailbroken iPhone (with PdaNet) and/or my iPad (with MyWi) suffice.

[agentsteel53]

I've noticed that Motel 6 now charges $2.99 for wifi in a lot of locations.  As they tend to be about $2.99 cheaper than competition of similar quality, I don't particularly object.

[Mr_Northside]

I've also seen self-serve Belgian waffles offers for the free hotel breakfast, but I've found that to be more common the further west I've gone.

Those are awesome.  It's a shame that the majority of the hotels I've stayed in (all in the east) don't have that.

I find it amusing that even in many inexpensive motels, like the $45 per night Quality Inn where I stayed in Morgantown last month, you get free wi-fi, but when I'm in one of the expensive joints in Loserville (Galt House, Hyatt, Marriott, etc.) you have to pay $10 a day for wi-fi.

Just speculation, but perhaps some hotels pay more for a faster connection from the hotel to the internet (to be shared amongst all their rooms).

Though I'm sure most places that know they can get away with it, just do it for the $$$.

[Truvelo]

I stayed at an Embassy Suites last year on business, and the hotel offered free cooked to order omelets with their breakfast sampling.  Embassy Suites also offers a free cocktail hour in the late afternoon/early evening.

Homewood Suites also offer a free evening meal but only Monday thru Thursday. My recent stay was four nights Thursday-Sunday so I had to make other arrangements the other three nights. The breakfasts on the other hand were amazing. Each morning the cooked elements were different. The first morning it was bacon, second morning was sausage, third morning was burger, fourth morning was bacon. Maybe they work on a three day cycle. Whatever it was it's a nice touch doing something different each morning. Beside the cooked part there was also the usual stuff like yogurt, cereal, fruit, muffins etc. The yogurts also varied each day as the flavor was different each morning.

[huskeroadgeek]

The availability of free breakfast is something that has really changed in the past 25 years or so. I remember on family vacations when I was growing up that we would almost always either eat at McDonald's or bring our own breakfast at motels. I remember maybe a couple that had free breakfast, and it was just the very basic-a doughnut and coffee. Now it's rare to find a place that doesn't have it.

I do occasionally find places that surprise me a little that don't have it and some that surprise me that do. I stayed at a Holiday Inn a few years ago that had no free breakfast-possibly due to the fact they had a restaurant on the premises. I also stayed at a Holiday Inn Select that did not have any free breakfast for the general public, but as the member of a wedding party staying at the hotel I got a voucher for a free breakfast buffet at the hotel's restaurant. On the other hand I stayed at an old, independent "mom and pop"-type establishment a few years ago that I never would have expected to have free breakfast but did. It wasn't much-just small cereal boxes and milk and orange juice the owner kept in a refrigerator behind the desk, but it was enough for me.

[US71]

I do occasionally find places that surprise me a little that don't have it and some that surprise me that do. I stayed at a Holiday Inn a few years ago that had no free breakfast-possibly due to the fact they had a restaurant on the premises. I also stayed at a Holiday Inn Select that did not have any free breakfast for the general public, but as the member of a wedding party staying at the hotel I got a voucher for a free breakfast buffet at the hotel's restaurant.

I stayed at a Holiday Inn Select a few years back and got breakfast vouchers for being a Priority Club member (also one free drink per night at the bar )

[SP Cook]

Oddly Vegas, even in the better hotels, don't seem to give you a voucher to go have a discounted breakfast in their restaurant.

LV is a different market.  Expensive wi-fi (to restrict your access to sports information, lest you get an edge), hard to get a newspaper (same reason), no free breakfast, and, in fact, no coffeemakers in the rooms (so you will get up and go gamble).  Even in the best places have really poor TV (standard def, small number of channels, and a weird mix of unpopular channels leaving out ones that are pretty universal elsewhere), so you will get out of the room.  It is all marketing.

[hbelkins]

Reminds me of a rather embarrassing moment years ago, when my dad, brother and I stopped for a night in Vegas during our tour of the West. The pay-per-view porn channel scrambled the video but not the audio. Flipping through the channels in our room was a bit awkward when we landed on one of them and could hear the audible sounds of pornographic sex but the visual was the classic wavy lines through the picture.

[jgb191]

Yeah. One of the more pleasant things about capitalism is that when someone ends up seriously making a killing by adding some new thing to their product/service, the competition is forced to add it too to catch up. Then it becomes a standard of service that you expect, and consumers become rightfully upset when they encounter somewhere that doesn't have it...

I agree with Scott.  The level of lodging and hospitality service has changed completely during my lifetime.  My parents have been hotel owners/managers for more than a quarter-century owning a handful of different properties from a small mom-and-pop motel to a mid-size hotel to a share of a multi-story inn/suites.  They have done hundreds of renovations and upgrades in their rooms and lobby over the past 28 years.  


They realized their upgrades were absolutely vital just to stay competitive, like free light breakfast snacks in the lobby and coffee-makers in the rooms.

But it wasn't just breakfast.  Over the decades, other upgrades included microwave, fridge, hair-drier, iron & board, WiFi, and flat-screen TVs in each room.  And those are merely keeping up with the higher standards and staying in the customers' radar.  Nowadays you'll be hard-pressed to find even mediocre motels without any of these things.

And now with the world even more connected than it ever has been, you see many hotels partnering up with other service.  I've noticed that most of the Denny's have been located right next to a La Quinta property....maybe some kind of cooperation between the two might have been.  Hotels also work with airports, theme parks, arenas/stadiums, gas stations, and what not, claiming to be the "official partner" of a larger, more established company.

I can't even imagine what the future will hold for the lodging industry.  The answer will simply come from the next bright idea.

[SSOWorld]

The hotels I stayed at during my New England road trip this weekend (in conjunction with the Rhode Island meet) were through the Choice Hotels chain.  all had breakfasts (some with waffles, some with eggs and meet, some just straight cold.   I swear some health nuts complained about the kids cereals at some places because all they served were grape nuts, corn flakes and Special K.

As for the high-end hotel chains - usually its salespeople or execs staying at those places - the ones who can get away with the extra payments (businesses have clamped down on extras).  I never understood the need for charging extra but meeting rooms definitely will result in extra bandwidth used.  plus look at all the employees being paid for (bellhops, room service, etc)

[BigMattFromTexas]

La Quinta Inn is pretty good with breakfast. They offer Belgian waffles, and hard boiled eggs, and cereal and whatnot. But the place I think is the best with breakfast, AmeriSuites, the [former] one on the Riverwalk in San Antonio was badass. It had like 6-4 waffle things, it had fruit, cereal, and all the other awesome things you could want for free at a hotel! Well the hotel itself was awesome. It has a perfect view of the Tower of the Americas and other stuff. It's awesome. But now it's a Hyatt, that makes it like #4 or 5 around the downtown area..
BigMatt

[realjd]

The more expensive the hotel, the less free stuff they throw in. Cheap motels (Hampton Inn, Quality Inn, Holiday Inn Select, etc.), usually free breakfast and wifi. Higher end hotels (Hilton/Doubletree, Hyatt, Crown Plaza, etc.), usually breakfast, wifi, and parking cost money unless you have status with the chain's reward program. I was at a Doubletree recently that even charged $3.99 per night if you locked the in-room safe! As absurd as it is, when I'm traveling for business (when I usually stay in hotels like that), I have no problem expending the wifi, parking, and such, so I guess it makes business sense for them. They target different markets than your typical Motel 6.

[Truvelo]

...even charged $3.99 per night if you locked the in-room safe...

The worst ones are those that have a bottle of water in the room. It's something like $5 if you open it.

[Alps]

As absurd as it is, when I'm traveling for business (when I usually stay in hotels like that), I have no problem expending the wifi, parking, and such, so I guess it makes business sense for them. They target different markets than your typical Motel 6.

First of all, many business travelers can expense these things, so the company pays for your parking and wifi (since they're often necessary expenses).  Many people need a safe and can probably get that covered as well.  As long as room service and room water stay within your daily food budget, you can expense those too.  So for business-oriented hotels, makes perfect sense.  But for high-end luxury resort type hotels, they really ought not to washington-and-lincoln you after you pay $400 a night for the experience.

[hbelkins]

Cheap motels (Hampton Inn...

I'd hardly call Hampton Inn cheap. $99 a night is darned expensive to me.

[agentsteel53]

I'm still getting used to the fact that you can't get a room for $17 anymore.  Dang.

[US71]

The more expensive the hotel, the less free stuff they throw in. Cheap motels (Hampton Inn, Quality Inn, Holiday Inn Select, etc.), usually free breakfast and wifi. Higher end hotels (Hilton/Doubletree, Hyatt, Crown Plaza, etc.), usually breakfast, wifi, and parking cost money unless you have status with the chain's reward program. I was at a Doubletree recently that even charged $3.99 per night if you locked the in-room safe! As absurd as it is, when I'm traveling for business (when I usually stay in hotels like that), I have no problem expending the wifi, parking, and such, so I guess it makes business sense for them. They target different markets than your typical Motel 6.

Many hotels charge for the safe if you use it or not. I find myself arguing with the Front Desk in the morning over the safe charges (it's just a way for them to make an extra dollar).

[SP Cook]

But for high-end luxury resort type hotels, they really ought not to washington-and-lincoln you after you pay $400 a night for the experience.

Yes.  When I travel I would far rather pay a fair price for fair service than be "held up".  Special dishonorable mention to places that have you "trapped" by geography, such a hotels located in big cities but away from the restaurant districts or any c-store type places to motel by an interstate where there is little else around, that hold you up with confiscatory rates for vending, "gift" shop items, and then in their restaurant and bar.  Hotel mini-bars have always been a scam.  I have also seen places that charge if you use the coffee makere, and those with the water bottles.

The newest deal I have seen relates to the newspaper.  Lots of lower priced motels have a big stack of USA Todays free for the taking, but some hotels now have a deal where, in the fine print it says something like "I will be charged $1.50 to have the newspaper delivered to my door" and you have to check a box to delete this.   I was in San Francisco and they delivered the New York Times.  Why would anybody in California be interested in the New York Times?

[mightyace]

I'm still getting used to the fact that you can't get a room for $17 anymore.  Dang.

Hell, it's hard to find a room for $29 anymore.   The only ones I've seen recently are between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga.  And, they are too close to home for me to worry about.

[Truvelo]

I'm still getting used to the fact that you can't get a room for $17 anymore.  Dang.

Hell, it's hard to find a room for $29 anymore.

While everyone wants to pay the least amount possible I dread to think what corners have to be cut to provide a decent level of service for $17/night. At least when paying $100/night I know I'm going to get somewhere that's clean and comfortable.