The Complete Guide to Marriott Bonvoy Elite Breakfast Benefits

One of the biggest draws to the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program is the possible inclusion of free breakfast for hotel stays that comes with Platinum Elite status and above. Whenever breakfast is included, it’ll enhance your stay and save you money, which are both great perks.

Marriott Bonvoy’s elite breakfast benefit is a bit complex, since it varies by brand, property type, and geographic region. Therefore, parsing the complicated terms and conditions of the Marriott Bonvoy breakfast benefit is by no means a simple task.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the Marriott Bonvoy elite breakfast benefits at each brand, as well as any other stipulations you should be aware of.

The Basics of Free Breakfast for Marriott Bonvoy Elite Members

Before diving into the intricacies of the Marriott Bonvoy breakfast benefit for some elite members, it’s important to go over a few details.

If you have Silver or Gold status, you’ll only enjoy breakfast at properties that offer free breakfast to everyone, regardless of status. Otherwise, the breakfast benefit doesn’t apply to you, since it’s something reserved for members with Platinum Elite status and above.

That said, if you don’t have Platinum status, booking through a travel advisor such as Prince Collection via the Marriott STARS program can be a great way to enjoy complimentary breakfast at eligible properties without needing elite status. In many cases, this offers better value than simply paying extra for a breakfast-included rate, since you’ll also receive perks like a room upgrade, a $100 (USD) property credit, and more–all at no additional cost beyond the standard room rate.

If you’re ever in doubt, your best bet is to reach out to the property in advance to ask about the breakfast benefit for members with your status, or to confirm it upon check-in. This way, you should know exactly what to expect for your upcoming stay, and won’t be surprised or disappointed.

In some cases, a property will go above and beyond, offering breakfast when it otherwise wouldn’t be included. With that said, this article is a guide to the baseline entitlements you can expect to receive at each brand as an elite member.

As a rule of thumb, the Marriott Bonvoy program offers a guaranteed Welcome Gift choice for its three highest elite tiers: Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador.

The Welcome Gift can be a choice among points, breakfast, a food & beverage credit, or an amenity, and the options available depend on the brand. This means that free breakfast may not always be among the choices for welcome benefits, which makes matters complicated.

We’ve opted to include the food & beverage credit in this guide, since it can theoretically result in some form of free breakfast, even if it doesn’t cover the entire meal.

Furthermore, at some properties, breakfast is included for everyone regardless of status, while at others, breakfast isn’t available to anyone, even if you have status.

To break things down, we’ve separated the complimentary breakfast benefit for elite members down into the following categories, which should help you understand when you can expect to have some form of breakfast included and when you’ll be left to your own devices:

• Brands that Provide Free Breakfast to Everyone
• Brands that Don’t Provide Free Breakfast to Anyone
• Brands that Provide Free Breakfast Based on Elite Status
• Brands that Provide Free Breakfast through Lounge Access
• Brands that Provide Food & Beverage Credits in Lieu of Free Breakfast

Brands That Provide Free Breakfast to Everyone

Several Marriott brands have free breakfast included for all guests, regardless of status. These hotels tend to fall within the long-term stay categories, and aren’t the most aspirational hotels within Marriott’s umbrella.

Given that breakfast in these brands is free for everyone, the quality of the meal is usually a bit lacklustre. You can expect a basic offering of breakfast sausages, scrambled eggs, bread, and some fruit. This is especially the case in the US, Canada, and Europe.

The following Marriott brands include complimentary breakfast for all guests, with any exceptions noted in brackets:

• All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy (included in meal plan)
• Element (excluding properties in Asia-Pacific)
• Fairfield Inn & Suites (excluding properties in Asia-Pacific)
• Residence Inn
• SpringHill Suites
• City Express by Marriott
• TownePlace Suites by Marriott

If free breakfast is included with your stay at any of the above brands, you’re free to choose another Welcome Gift, such as extra points or a different amenity.

Brands That Don’t Provide Free Breakfast to Anyone

In contrast to brands that bake free breakfast into their rates, some brands sell luxury rather than value. Many of these brands are amongst Marriott’s most elevated properties, while others function a bit differently than your standard chain hotel.

In the case of Marriott Vacation Club and Design Hotels, they’re timeshare and independent properties, respectively, and are treated in a different manner than the rest of the portfolio.

The following brands don’t provide complimentary breakfast to anyone on the basis of their elite status:

• Bulgari Hotels & Resorts (does not participate in Marriott Bonvoy)
• Design Hotels
• EDITION
• Marriott Executive Apartments
• Marriott Vacation Club (including Grand Residences by Marriott)
• Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy
• The Ritz-Carlton
• Ritz-Carlton Reserve (does not participate in Marriott Bonvoy)
• Sheraton Vacation Club
• Westin Vacation Club

To enjoy breakfast at these brands, you can simply choose to pay out-of-pocket, or to book a breakfast-included rate, if available.

Alternatively, you can book a room at Bulgari, EDITION, and Ritz-Carlton properties through the Marriott STARS program with Prince of Travel By doing so, you’ll enjoy breakfast during your stay without paying anything extra. Indeed, this is one of the main draws of the preferred partner program.

Brands That Provide Free Breakfast Based on Elite Status

This is where things get a little bit complicated. As mentioned, the breakfast inclusions vary by brand, property type, and geographic region.

To begin, the following brands provide free restaurant breakfast to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite members, plus one guest, as a Welcome Gift choice:

• Aloft Hotels
• Element (Asia-Pacific properties only)
• Fairfield Inn & Suites (Asia-Pacific properties only)
• Four Points by Sheraton
• Le Méridien
• The Luxury Collection
• Protea Hotels
• Sheraton
• St. Regis
• Tribute Portfolio
• Westin
• W Hotels

If you’re staying at a resort property of any of the following brands in the United States, Canada, or Europe, you’ll enjoy complimentary breakfast as a member with Platinum Elite status or higher as a Welcome Gift choice:

• Autograph Collection
• Delta Hotels
• JW Marriott
• Marriott Hotels
• Renaissance Hotels

Outside of the United States, Canada, and Europe, you’ll enjoy complimentary breakfast as a member with Platinum Elite status or higher at the following brands as a Welcome Gift choice:

• AC Hotels
• Moxy Hotels

As you may have noticed, brands that provide free breakfast to elite members globally are mostly legacy brands of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Ostensibly, this is so loyalists of Starwood brands, which had been historically generous to elite members, would remain loyal.

Brands That Provide Free Breakfast Through Lounge Access

Some Marriott hotel brands grant lounge access to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite members plus a guest. Lounge access is included with your stay, and doesn’t come as a Welcome Gift choice, as long as you have one of the aforementioned statuses.

Executive lounges almost always serve breakfast, so you may choose to have your meal in the lounge.

Elite members can enjoy complimentary breakfast in the lounge at the following brands, when available:

• Autograph Collection
• Courtyard by Marriott (outside of Canada and the United States)
• Delta Hotels
• JW Marriott
• Le Méridien
• Marriott Hotels
• Renaissance Hotels
• Sheraton
• Westin

If there’s no lounge available at an Autograph Collection, Delta Hotels, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, or Renaissance Hotels property, you’ll be provided with continental breakfast in the US and Canada, or breakfast at the restaurant in Europe, as an alternative.

In other parts of the world, you’ll get breakfast in the restaurant if the lounge is closed or if there isn’t one on the property. In any event, you won’t wind up missing out on breakfast.

If there’s no lounge available at a Le Méridien, Sheraton, or Westin property, no alternative is offered. However, since you can choose breakfast in the restaurant as a Welcome Gift choice, you’ll still be covered.

It’s worth noting that at many of the hotels that offer free breakfast through lounge access may also offer the option to enjoy breakfast in the restaurant, even if the lounge is open. While this is entirely at each hotel’s discretion, it’s a good question to ask when you’re checking in.

In my experience, when a hotel offers the choice of dining at the restaurant or the executive lounge, I almost always choose the restaurant. The food tends to be similar–and is likely coming from the same kitchen–but the spread at the restaurant is typically much larger and more varied. When you’re able to get breakfast through lounge access, it also frees up your Welcome Gift choice for something else, such as bonus points or a property-specific amenity.

The exception is when the lounge doesn’t serve breakfast, but the hotel’s restaurant is known for an exceptional morning spread. In that case, it’s worth selecting breakfast as your Welcome Gift to ensure you can enjoy it at the restaurant.

Brands That Provide Food & Beverage Credits in Lieu of Free Breakfast

In lieu of free breakfast, certain brands provide a $10 (USD) food & beverage credit as a Welcome Gift choice for elite members, plus one guest staying in the same room. This means that you’ll receive a $10 (USD) credit as a solo traveller, or a $20 (USD) credit if travelling as a duo.

At the following brands, you can choose a daily $10 (USD) food & beverage credit for up to two people as a Welcome Gift:

• AC Hotels
• Courtyard by Marriott
• Moxy Hotels

While it could be seen as a cost-cutting measure, the credit ultimately allows for a bit of flexibility. It can be used any time of day for almost any food and beverage offering at the property.

However, its greatest downside is that it barely pays for a coffee and a pastry at most hotels. In some cases, properties ask for an additional fee as an “upgrade” to access a full breakfast selection.

To compound the matter, most hotels won’t let you combine daily credits. For example, for a three-night stay, you’d have to use $10 (USD) each day, and you can’t use $30 (USD) one day and forgo dining on-property the other two days.

Expect to find a once-per-stay $10 (USD) food & beverage credit for up to two people as a Welcome Gift choice at the following properties in the United States, Canada, and Europe:

• Autograph Collection
• Delta Hotels
• Gaylord Hotels (for only one person)
• JW Marriott
• Marriott Hotels
• Renaissance Hotels

As you may have noticed, hotels under the Autograph Collection, Delta Hotels, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels, and Renaissance Hotels brands in the US, Canada, and Europe are also the ones that provide lounge access. Therefore, even though the $10 (USD) credit is per stay and not per night, it won’t impact your breakfast entitlement, since it’s otherwise included.

Summary

Here’s a table to summarize the Marriott Bonvoy elite breakfast benefits at each brand:

A Note on Compliance

It's worth noting that an increasing number of Marriott properties have been opting out of or scaling back the breakfast benefit for elite members. Some properties have eliminated breakfast as a Welcome Gift option altogether, replacing it with bonus points or a modest local amenity, while others have been exempt from providing breakfast alternatives when their executive lounges are closed.

This trend underscores the importance of reaching out to the property before your stay to confirm what breakfast benefits you can expect. If a property fails to honour the published breakfast benefit for your elite tier, you can file a claim through the Marriott Bonvoy Elite Member Benefits Guarantee.

Conclusion

Marriott Bonvoy provides Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador Elite members a Welcome Gift which may come in the form of free breakfast or a food & beverage credit. However, the free breakfast benefit across Marriott’s 35+ brands is quite confusing, since it varies by brand, property type, and geographic region.

Some brands don’t provide free breakfast at all, regardless of status, and other brands provide breakfast to all guests.

Hopefully, the above guide helps you understand your breakfast entitlement as an elite member, which can help guide you on the best hotels to choose