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FAQ : Marriott's "breakfast offering" explained, by brand and by Bonvoy elite level

Old Aug 24, 2018, 10:27 am
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Last edit by: PTahCha
Huge thanks to Horace for this list (which is much simpler to understand than Marriott's T&Cs!)

Daily Breakfast for Platinum Elite and Above

Six categories:

1. Breakfast for member + 1 in the lounge. If the hotel does not have a lounge or the lounge is closed, member can choose 750 points OR continental breakfast for member + 1 in the restaurant. A limited number of hotels provide 1,000 points each day the lounge is closed instead of a choice (Through June 30, 2024). Any of these benefits are in addition to the Platinum Elite welcome gift.

Autograph Collection (excluding resorts)
Courtyard (properties with a lounge only; Asia, Australia, Pacific Islands, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America, the Middle East, and Africa only)
Delta* (excluding resorts)
JW Marriott (excluding resorts)
Marriott (excluding resorts)
Renaissance (excluding resorts)
* many Delta properties provide breakfast from an Elite Pantry as an alternative to a Signature Lounge, in which case the hotel does not need to provide breakfast for member + 1 the restaurant.

2. Breakfast in the hotel restaurant for member + 1 as a Platinum Elite welcome gift option (not in addition to it).

Aloft
Autograph Collection (resorts only)
Delta (resorts only)
Four Points
The Luxury Collection
JW Marriott (resorts only)
Le Mridien
Marriott (resorts only)
Protea
Renaissance (resorts only)
St. Regis
Sheraton **
Tribute Portfolio
W Hotels
Westin **
** Marriott Vacation Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, and Westin Vacation Club properties are not Marriott, Sheraton, and Westin hotels/resorts.

3. Breakfast in lounge for member + 1, if the hotel has a lounge. This is in addition to the Platinum Elite welcome gift, which could be breakfast for member + 1 in the restaurant. No alternative benefit if the lounge is closed.

Le Mridien (only at locations with a lounge)
Sheraton (only at locations with a lounge)
Westin (only at locations with a lounge)

4. Daily U.S. $10 F&B credit for member + 1 as a Platinum Elite welcome gift option (not in addition to it). Can be applied toward breakfast or toward other F&B purchase in the hotel restaurant or bar. Does not accrue over multiple-night stay.

AC Hotels
Courtyard (locations without a lounge only, which means most locations)
MOXY ***
*** some MOXY property are more generous, providing full breakfasts to those who apply their F&B credits toward breakfast, with no additional charge

5. Breakfast for all guests included in room rate, regardless of status or membership

Element ****
Fairfield (except Fairfield Asia Pacific hotels) ****
Residence Inn (NO breakfast at Residence Inn New Orleans French Quarter/CBD)
SpringHill Suites
TownePlace Suites
**** very few exceptions; check official hotel website

6. No complimentary daily breakfast, even for Platinum Elite and Above

Design Hotels
Edition
Fairfield Asia Pacific hotels
Gaylord Hotels
Marriott Executive Apartments
Marriott Vacation Club / MVC Pulse / Grand Residences by Marriott
The Ritz-Carlton / Ritz-Carlton Reserve / Ritz-Carlton Residence Club
Vistana / Sheraton Vacation Club / Westin Vacation Club

Note: This list does not identify specific properties that deviate from the published benefits. In some cases, exceptions are identified in the Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program Terms & Conditions or on specific property webpages. Exceptions are few, but can be an unpleasant or pleasant surprise, depending on whether the property provides less or more than the published benefits.Through June 30, 2024, the following properties in the United States do not provide free continental breakfast in the hotel restaurant in the event the Lounge is closed but do offer 1,000 Points in lieu of breakfast. These properties include:



The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection

Boston Marriott Copley Place

Boston Marriott Long Wharf

Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile

JW Marriott Essex House New York City

JW Marriott New Orleans

JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square

JW Marriott Washington, DC

The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection

Monterey Marriott

New York Marriott Marquis

Philadelphia Marriott Downtown

Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel

Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel

Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel

Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel

Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel

Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina


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FAQ : Marriott's "breakfast offering" explained, by brand and by Bonvoy elite level

Old Jan 31, 2019, 1:26 pm
  #466  
 
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Originally Posted by Cledaybuck
... Also seems overly complicated, but I assume that is a result of different agreements with different brands and the merger. ...
Yes, the Platinum Elite benefits for Welcome Gifts, F&B credits, lounge access, and various breakfast options are complicated. Brands, geography, hotel vs resort, and physical differences all come into play.

There are 6,700+ hotels participating in the program that will soon be called Marriott Bonvoy. Almost none of them are owned by Marriott. Most were affiliated with Marriott or Starwood under older franchise agreements before the companies merged in September 2016 and before the loyalty programs were combined in August 2018.

It's not surprising that the breakfast benefits for each brand are more-or-less than same as when Marriott and Starwood were separate companies.

There were two big improvements in August 2018:

— The $10 USD daily F&B credit for member + 1 at Courtyard, AC Hotels, and MOXY is a new Welcome Gift choice at these brands. Although it's not a complete breakfast benefit, it's a big improvement.

— Resorts were previously excluded from the lounge/breakfast benefit at Marriott, Renaissance, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, and Delta Hotels. They still are, but now resorts of these brands are treated the same as full-service Starwood-legacy properties. That means daily breakfast in the restaurant for member +1 is now a Welcome Gift choice.

In another thread, I lamented that there is so much inconsistency in the benefits between similar brands, such as Marriott and Sheraton or Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis. Another poster (MSPeconomist, I believe) suggested I should be careful what I wish for. For example, what we have now is much better than if Marriott were to discontinue Platinum breakfast at all luxury brands to be consistant with Ritz-Carlton and Edition.

Last edited by Horace; Jan 31, 2019 at 2:19 pm
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 5:59 am
  #467  
 
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Originally Posted by Horace
— The $10 USD daily F&B credit for member + 1 at Courtyard, AC Hotels, and MOXY is a new Welcome Gift choice at these brands. Although it's not a complete breakfast benefit, it's a big improvement.
Very incomplete as demonstrated by my recent stay at the Courtyard St. Agustine Beach property. Basically, the $10 per person (I was solo) barely covered the breakfast sandwich/burrito at $8.50 to $9. Coffee was Starbucks at Starbucks prices and with OJ the bill would have gone well over $15 with tax (not even considering and gratuity.) I recall the Aloft JAX had a $10 breakfast voucher for PLT, but it easily covered breakfast entree and juice with regular coffee being free. So, bring your juice and instant (Starbucks or other) coffee seems the solution at CY.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 10:10 am
  #468  
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Could the poor treatment by CY is largely due to the pressure from the franchisees?

At the beginning of the merger, we were told CY will finally offer breakfast. Then it changes to this $10 a day credit. Some CYs based in Europe misinterpreted this benefit totally - i.e. can only use for breakfast, and cannot be used on the check out day - so essentially if your stay is just one night, you are cheated out completely. Some properties claim the $10 is for the whole stay... There are just all sorts of shenanigans going on with CY.

On the other hand, the 4Ps from the SPG site seems to be far nicer especially those new built at international locations. The breakfast is among the amenities to choose from and almost inevitably a full buffet.

I just dont know what the position in the market place the CY brand is. For our travel we always try to avoid it and use Residence Inn instead, even though the earn rate is 1/2.
There are also many competitors with brands that are more or less for the same market segment and most of them either offer a decent breakfast for all guests or a nice breakfast by order (HGI) for their elites.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 11:10 am
  #469  
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Originally Posted by rbAA
Very incomplete as demonstrated by my recent stay at the Courtyard St. Agustine Beach property. Basically, the $10 per person (I was solo) barely covered the breakfast sandwich/burrito at $8.50 to $9. Coffee was Starbucks at Starbucks prices and with OJ the bill would have gone well over $15 with tax (not even considering and gratuity.) I recall the Aloft JAX had a $10 breakfast voucher for PLT, but it easily covered breakfast entree and juice with regular coffee being free. So, bring your juice and instant (Starbucks or other) coffee seems the solution at CY.

​​​​​I had the sandwich to go, which along with the juice was perhaps $3, drinking the in-room coffee.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 11:32 am
  #470  
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Originally Posted by Happy
Could the poor treatment by CY is largely due to the pressure from the franchisees?
But then you would see the same pressure from Fairfield owners to cutback the already meager offering, I think.

Look. One of the biggest problems with the Courtyard benefit is the value of $10. Ignoring outside the United States, where currencies vary in value, $10 in New York doesn't get you what $10 gets you in New Mexico or vice versa.

I will say that Courtyard's new breakfast food is pretty damn good. The egg white frittata is as good as anything I've had from a chef in the restaurant of a Marriott, Renaissance, Sheraton, Westin, J.W. Marriott, or Ritz-Carlton property. It's really that good.

But yes, the problem is you basically can't get a hot breakfast with the $10 per day. I've stayed at two Courtyard properties in two different states in the last week. Both times I had someone with me. I was given two coupons per day at each property. But the coupons were totally different. One covered $10 plus tip and tax. The other covered $10 plus tax but not tip.

One property allowed me to order at once and apply the two $10 vouchers, so $20, toward the cost. Without coffee, the $20 barely covered the cost of the egg white frittata and yogurt parfait.

The other property required me to place two separate orders. So, I left money on the table with the $10 voucher paying for just the yogurt parfait but didn't have enough money to pay for the egg white frittata.

One of the properties allowed me to use the $10 voucher for food and drink items in the market when the bistro was closed. The other property insisted it could only be redeemed at the bistro, which, like most or all Courtyard properties, is closed between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 11:57 am
  #471  
 
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Originally Posted by Kacee
At a Renaissance, Platinum gets lounge access or breakfast in the restaurant if there is no lounge. The $10 is the welcome amenity. It's in addition to breakfast.
That's essentially correct, but some properties go above and beyond. At the Cairo Renaissance, for instance, PPE's can have breakfast in either the lounge or the restaurant. At the Renaissance Istanbul Bosphorus, breakfast was available for PPE's at the restaurant only, as the lounge did not serve breakfast. That was in addition to the welcome amenity.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 2:03 pm
  #472  
 
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Originally Posted by Bravada04
So............a guy/gal is staying at a Renaissance hotel for 6 nights and you get $10 bucks for the whole stay!? I am going to really enjoy that glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Might as well just slap me when I check-in for the benefit.
The benefit is always better at a legacy Marriott/Renn/JW because you get breakfast in the lounge, snacks at night, and a $10 coupon that will get you a free drink.

Originally Posted by Happy
Could the poor treatment by CY is largely due to the pressure from the franchisees?
I think poor treatment depends on the franchise. I stayed at a CY recently and there were no questions about the $10 voucher. I figure their actual cost is $5 for that -- with more for the occasional two to a room -- but that should be offset partially by the potential to sell up since some will spend $15, rather than $10.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 2:49 pm
  #473  
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Sheraton New Orleans

This is the latest on the Sheraton New Orleans. The breakfast is a full buffet with an omelette and cook-to-order station. Thanks Sharon for keeping this all up-to-date!


C17PSGR and margarita girl like this.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 4:25 pm
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For hotels that have lounge breakfasts, can one select breakfast as the Platinum Arrival Gift for breakfast in the hotel restaurant? Maybe its also hotel specific?
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 4:30 pm
  #475  
 
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Originally Posted by myperks
For hotels that have lounge breakfasts, can one select breakfast as the Platinum Arrival Gift for breakfast in the hotel restaurant? Maybe its also hotel specific?
Except in rare circumstances (Maybe an LC that gives Lounge Access ... ) that's not an option.

There are some Asian hotels that offer that option.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 4:37 pm
  #476  
 
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Originally Posted by C17PSGR
The benefit is always better at a legacy Marriott/Renn/JW because you get breakfast in the lounge, snacks at night, and a $10 coupon that will get you a free drink.



I think poor treatment depends on the franchise. I stayed at a CY recently and there were no questions about the $10 voucher. I figure their actual cost is $5 for that -- with more for the occasional two to a room -- but that should be offset partially by the potential to sell up since some will spend $15, rather than $10.
Agreed. In terms of breakfast offerings CY has been a lot more inconsistent compare to its Hilton counterpart--HGI, which always offers free buffet breakfast plus make to order omelettes to Gold and Diamond members.
My company has negotiated rates that include breakfast at two CYs, one limits the menu options and allow only regular coffee or water as beverage, the other one offers anything on the menu and any beverage including a large latte. My favorite CY is Courtyard Taipei which offers(as Platinum member benefits) full buffet breakfast at the restaurant or breakfast at the top floor lounge for two adults and two kids. That is equivalent to what I got at full service Hilton properties in Japan.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 5:17 pm
  #477  
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Originally Posted by C17PSGR
The benefit is always better at a legacy Marriott/Renn/JW because you get breakfast in the lounge, snacks at night, and a $10 coupon that will get you a free drink.



I think poor treatment depends on the franchise. I stayed at a CY recently and there were no questions about the $10 voucher. I figure their actual cost is $5 for that -- with more for the occasional two to a room -- but that should be offset partially by the potential to sell up since some will spend $15, rather than $10.
I don't know if there is any cost to the owner or the operator, assuming it isn't Marriott-managed. I always thought Marriott was the one paying, not the owner or operator.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 5:30 pm
  #478  
 
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Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
I don't know if there is any cost to the owner or the operator, assuming it isn't Marriott-managed. I always thought Marriott was the one paying, not the owner or operator.
Hmmmh. Does Marriott make $10 per night for a CY/AC guest?

I always presumed it was the owner/operator, which is why there is some inconsistency at the CY being reported on FT. That being said, I've had no issues with inconsistency at CY, although I don't stay in CY's that much. I have always received from CY's exactly what they have written in terms of the $10 credit, although I might prefer a coupon for breakfast.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 11:40 pm
  #479  
 
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I thought the issue with CY is that logistically their Bistro setup couldn't handle a hotel with 40% Plat guests all requesting a free breakfast in the morning.
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Old Feb 1, 2019, 11:44 pm
  #480  
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Originally Posted by controller1
This is the latest on the Sheraton New Orleans. The breakfast is a full buffet with an omelette and cook-to-order station. Thanks Sharon for keeping this all up-to-date!


I must have had "breakfast" on my mind. This was supposed to have been posted in the Executive Lounge thread. Oh, well.......
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