Courtyards no longer include breakfast for Platinum's?
 

Hi all - I just stayed at the Toronto Courtyard on Yonge street over the weekend. I checked in and the stay was fine, but when I inquired about breakfast they told me it's no longer included for platinums at Courtyards. I found this quite surprising and I asked several people but they all said the same thing.

Has anyone else had this experience? They were undergoing reno's and I have a sneaking suspicion that their restaurant was unavailable. I got my welcome gift and better internet.

Thanks!

It hasn't been for years, although there are still a few exceptions in the world.

Yeah been a long time since CYs gave breakfast. You'll only find it offered at some locations in Asia.

Thanks everyone - guess i haven't stayed in a CY in quite a while.

It's not that breakfast is "no longer included for platinums at Courtyards," as if this is some sort of recent change.

Marriott has 19 brands. Most Marriott brands do not provide breakfast as a brand standard.

Only four Marriott brands offer breakfast for Gold and Platinum Elite Marriott Rewards members, and, even then, only if the property is not classified as a Resort:

• JW Marriott
• Autograph Collection
• Renaissance
• Marriott Hotels

Technically, the Elite member breakfast is limited to continental breakfast and is limited to the Elite member and one guest. In reality, most hotels of the four brands go above that minimum standard (including the full, hot breakfast buffet in the restaurant if there's no lounge or the lounge is closed) -- but they're not required to.

For details about the Elite member breakfast benefit, see http://www.marriott.com/hotel-promot...d-breakfast.mi

There are some Marriott brands that provide breakfast to all guests, but this has nothing to do with the Elite member breakfast benefit:

• Springhill Suites
• Fairfield Inn
• Residence Inn
• Towneplace Suites

Courtyard is not on either list above.

There are properties that provide breakfast, either to Elite members or to everyone, even though not required to by brand standards. Also, there are rates that include breakfast.

Did they ever? The oldest thread I could find on the topic was from 2000, and it stated no free breakfast at Courtyards for gold/plat.

Back in the 1990s, Marriott's Club Marquis, Courtyard Club, Fairfield INNsider Club were three "Service Clubs" within Marriott Rewards. Courtyard Club Gold Level -- achieved by paying $10 annually to be Courtyard Club member and staying 36 nights at Courtyard in any 12-month period -- received Free Buffet Breakfast and Suite Upgrade Coupons. ("You'll find coupons for these extra perks tucked inside your Membership Portfolio.")

Around 2000, when the current Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels replaced the brand-specific "Service Clubs," Concierge Lounge/Free Continental Breakfast for Gold and Platinum was limited to "Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites; Renaissance Hotels, Resorts & Suites; Marriott Conference Centers."

As far as I know, there was never a brand standard for Courtyard to provide breakfast to Gold and Platinum members.

You should assume that Courtyard does not give breakfast and be happy if it's otherwise.

I got a continental (not hot) free breakfast at the Courtyard Aguadilla on the western end of Puerto Rico, as a Platinum.

At the Courtyard Anaheim Resort Convention Center, while they don't call it a free breakfast, as a Plat in addition to my welcome points they give me one free item from the pantry. Sometimes the very same yogurt parfait that's one of the breakfast choices in the Bistro is available that evening in the pantry, and I can take it as my free item, put it in the mini-fridge in the room, and have a free breakfast the next morning (but only if the pantry hasn't run out of those by the time I check in, and only on a 1-night stay or on the first night of a multi-night stay).

Other than that, i have never yet run into another Courtyard with a free breakfast of any sort. Free breakfasts for Plats/Golds at Courtyards are the exception (and not a dependable exception in many cases), rather than a rule, and most of the exceptions appear to be outside the USA.

One should note that there are exceptions to the policy of free breakfast in nonresort properties in the four brands. An example is the Philadelphia downtown Marriott at Convention Center when the lounge is closed.

Yes. That's why I included the link to more details in post #5 of this thread.

True, but most of the main brands in the portfolio do. When I think of the core legacy Marriott brands, I'm mainly thinking of FF, SHS, RI, TPS, CY, Marriott, Ren, and JW.

CY is the stark outlier.

Marriott can bolt on 25 new brands that don't provide breakfast, but until these brands have hundreds of properties each and become an integral part of my overall Marriott experience, it doesn't really matter.

Also, most of those new (or new-to-Marriott) brands have some sort of story about why they don't provide breakfast. I may not like it much, but I at least (somewhat) understand it. Not getting breakfast at MVCI isn't likely to make me switch to some other brand. But not getting breakfast at CY is the absolute #1 driver of my Hilton Garden Inn activity.

If CY had provided breakfast all of these years, it's very possible that I have minimal interaction with HHonors at all, since I prefer all of the higher-end Marriotts over the higher-end Hilton brands.

I understand that logic.

But there's also another way of looking at it. None of Marriott's select-service brands offer lounge/breakfast benefits for Gold and Platinum member. Some (Fairfield, SpringHill, Residence, Towneplace) include breakfast in the room rate for ALL guests. Others (Courtyard, Moxy, AC Hotels) do not include breakfast in the room rates as a published brand standard for ANY guests, but may include breakfast at some locations or with some rates.

As a Platinum Elite, the lounge/breakfast benefit at full-service properties is a major factor when I'm deciding between a Courtyard and a full-service hotel. But it has relatively little influence when I'm picking between Marriott-branded select-service properties (typically at locations where full-service is not present or is ridiculously expensive). I pick the one that's the best choice overall.

I might pay for breakfast at a Courtyard (usually not my first choice) or at a nearby Panera Bread (or similar), and still come out with a better overall value at the Courtyard.

Thanks for the details. I thought that was the case. The S/G/P modern MR program, never provided free breakfast at Courtyards.

Breakfast (well, the lack of) at CY has been discussed over and over in the past, and it's one of those things that is likely to never change as far as Marriott Rewards is concerned. What's interesting is that, as has been mentioned before, CY is actually the biggest flag in terms of number of properties.

When Marriott and Starwood combine, and there's eventually a single loyalty/recognition program, I hope the Elite benefits, including the breakfast benefit, become less complicated, not more complicated.

Perhaps, instead of separate Elite benefits for each of the 30 brands (with exceptions within each brand), the new Marriott could categorize its brands into a few categories -- such as select-service, upscale select-service, extended stay, full-service, deluxe full-service, and luxury -- with consistent, well-defined benefits within each category. I'd rather keep track of six loyalty categories than 30 brands. (And, for that matter, four categories would be better than six.)

Yeah, I know that's harder than it sounds, because Marriott and Starwood each have long-term agreements in place with franchisees.

But if it's already difficult for Gold Elite and Platinum Elite guests to know when and how various benefits do and don't apply, imagine what it will be like when there are 30 brands and the loyalty program members are accustomed to two different programs.