No more free breakfast at Hilton hotels for elite guests

Starting July 1, currently only for hotel guests in America, elite customers of the program Hilton Honors will no longer be eligible to receive the complimentary breakfast.

Instead of this advantage, the hotel chain will offer a daily food and beverage credit that will vary depending on the hotel.

Who can have free breakfast

It is no secret that here at TFC we consider the Honors program the best for Italian travelers among all the major hotel chains. Perhaps the only one that can compete is the Accor Live Limitless program, which, however, has no partnership that guarantees status through credit cards.

One of the reasons for this is precisely the fact that with the Gold level, or higher, you get free breakfast in all facilities and all over the world. And as we have had the opportunity to tell many times, in these hotels a breakfast can cost even more than 30$ per person. Being able to have it for free, therefore, means saving a lot of money each stay.

How benefits are changing

Let's specify right away that, at the moment, this is a temporary change (until the end of 2021) and only for guests of American facilities, so if Biden doesn't reopen the borders. for us Italians will be marginal damage.

The benefit of free breakfast, especially in the United States, has always been a great value-add. In a facility like the Conrad Downtown Manhattan a breakfast costs well over 35$ per person, this means that for a family the savings can also be 100$ per day. Not a little!

Personally, as a matter of math and income, I take advantage of the free breakfast when I travel with my family or when I stay for more than one night in the hotel. On the contrary, when I am alone and stay only one night, I prefer to take the extra points provided by my status.

Why it might not be a bad idea

First, Hilton by removing the benefit has replaced it with a credit to spend, again in dining, at the hotel. It will then be up to the guest to choose how to use it.

This means that it can be used to pay for breakfast as well as dinner or room service. In this period we have seen Many hotels in the group offer reduced service, and in some cases eliminate catering altogether, although now slowly facilities are returning to full capacity.

Personally, I don't see the novelty as a big detriment, and I wouldn't be sorry even if it came to Europe or the rest of the world. I am convinced that the voucher would at the very least cover the cost of breakfast, but with the advantage of being able to use it for something else as well. It would then become much more flexible, especially for extended stays or for those days when you prefer to sleep in and not rush to breakfast, knowing that you can use the credit for dinner or a poolside aperitif.

• Hilton Honors