Hyatt Place Breakfast - will it ever improve?
 

I've requalified for Globalist for 2022 due to the reduced requirements, and look forward to the benefits at full service hotels.

But my recent Hyatt Place stays (at otherwise very nice properties) have been quite underwhelming in terms of breakfast to the point I need to leave the hotel or bring my own supplies. Basic breakfast staples like plain oatmeal, greek yogurt, and bananas are typically not available. Maybe apples, flavored oatmeal, and sugary Activia yogurt cups .. and of course the typical low end hot items.

Not to come across as whining, but when I stay at Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn, or Holiday Inn Express, I typically find a decent breakfast spread with a quality that's quite a bit above the level that Hyatt Place is delivering. Since this has happened at multiple properties, I think Hyatt Place's brand standards for breakfast are lower than its competitors. I've filled out post stay feedback surveys and gotten nice apologies from local management, but I don't necessarily think this is a local execution issue.

Have others observed that Hyatt Place delivers a substandard breakfast experience, or are there some properties that do it well?

That’s pretty typical for Hyatt Place (& House) in the US. Internationally it tends to be slightly better.

When I stay at Hyatt Place it’s usually only because it offers the lowest rate vs comparable Marriott / Hilton properties. Globalist benefits are negligible.

I generally only stay at foreign HPs, which tend to have excellent breakfasts.

Not sure how long you've been staying at Hyatts, but breakfast almost everywhere is still short of where it was pre-Covid.

Currently, still in pandemic mode, the offerings at Hyatt Place/Houses vary wildly. (Actually, same with globalist breakfast at non-HP/HH properties) So sounds like you hit a few bad ones. I would check reviews and call the hotel to ask what the breakfast situation is. It's certainly debatable whether there's such a thing as a "good" HP/HH breakfast (for the record, I think it's adequate) but if you're comparing to HIE and similar then it should be fine when they offer their full hot breakfast.

Oh yeah, this was back in August, but I even had one HP that was doing every other day hot breakfast lol. They said they only had the chef coming in 50%...not sure if it was split with another property...

While my HP experiences haven't been extensive, I've found their breakfast offerings consistently underwhelming during the times I have stayed at various HPs. Because I generally skip breakfast often opting simply for coffee, the substandard overly dry and powdered eggs with the typical side of frozen sausage links certainly wouldn't pose a temptation to alter my custom.

On the other hand, I've had layovers in SE Asia where the HP breakfast was quite spectacular. I recall the HP near SHA where the offerings were so extensive, I had to resort to asking those around me what some of things were, and if they were tasty.

Hyatt Place is meant to be the budget hotel of the chain, is it not? And breakfast is free for everyone, Globalist not required. So I don't think the breakfast was ever meant to be high quality or great.

I also never pick a Hyatt Place for its free breakfast (and I'm cheap). I usually pick it because it is the only option where I need to go, or because every Hyatt Place I've ever stayed in has been consistently boring, clean, and quiet, all in a good way.

Think you have to be WoH now for free breakfast

Theoretically, sure, but I haven't seen any enforcement whatsoever. Hard enough to find someone at the front desk sometimes let alone the breakfast area. Frankly I am surprised there aren't more random freeloaders/drifters that pop into hotels around 9am to snag free breakfast.

Not a true budget brand like you find with most of Wyndham and at least half of the Choice portfolio where the free breakfast is an Otis Spunkmeyer muffin, bad coffee and maybe some school lunch-style pints of milk.

HP maps to Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn and Ibis Styles, which are a couple of steps above in terms of both room and included breakfast expectations

Just a member in general or at a specific level?

This is interesting. I've stayed at Hyatt Place for the first time in September and my first thought was that HP does presentation much better than any of Marriott's breakfast included for all brands. I mean the food itself and quality of it seemed to be about the same at Hyatt and Marriott but presentation seemed better. Now having said that, I've skipped the breakfast at Holiday Inn Express, Springhill Suites and Hyatt Places that I've stayed at since September. I'd rather sleep in.

Just a member.

Pre-pandemic, I considered HP breakfast to be a step above Hampton and Holiday Inn Express. They consistently had oatmeal, fresh berries, greek yogurt and hard boiled eggs. I tended to skip the powdered scrambled eggs, but it was still easy to put together a high quality healthy breakfast. Sadly, I have yet to find a property that's back to that level.

Frustrated by HP Free Breakfast
 

Add me to the list of Globalists frustrated by Hyatt Place free breakfast offerings in Las Vegas, El Paso, Santa Fe, St. George, ABQ, Carlsbad. Fresno was slightly better).

The most common one I see is the French toast sticks and eggs, sausage. A bowl of melon fruit soggy mess, etc.

I’m tired of it and only keep choosing Hyatt Places because of Globalist milestones. Springhill/Fairfield have much better offerings overall and clearly at this point.

Also… do the Hyatt systems not tell the FDC when a customer is a repeat one?

Not sure why people get so worked up about "free breakfasts"... with rare exception, even at "full service" properties, they tend to be terrible.

Just grab a coffee and a banana for a snack later on.