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.

Here in AbuDhabi you pay for 50% only gold and plat

Starwood, in general, has fewer opt-outs in terms of benefits to elites. In my Plat years at Starwood, I knew what I was going to get.

That was for elite benefits. The reverse held true for promotions: there, Marriott is consistent that almost everything counts, whereas Starwood would have pages of excluded properties that could easily include your most mundane U.S. Aloft or Sheraton.

But yes, I would love it if it was clean and simple. And obviously with elite benefits being honored in more places than not...that would be nice too. :)

A slight correction, the $10/yr gave you base membership in the CY club. If you hit 36 nights, you would be upgraded to CY Gold and that was supposed to be for life. And yes, once you hit that Gold level status, you would get that "Gold package" with the free breakfast coupons and suite upgrades. Plus every 12th night not only gave you a free night, but another pair of free breakfast coupons and a single suite upgrade.

I think it was '98 or '99, they decided to throw in a 5 minute calling card with the annual Gold packet. And of course, Marriott bungled it by forgetting to add the phone card. So they sent everyone a 2nd packet with another set of free breakfast and suite upgrade coupons. They ended up messing that up by sending mine to the wrong address. So they sent me a 3rd and then 4th set before they finally figured out how to send it correctly. Luckily for me, the wrong address turned out to be my neighbor who meant to give me the packets but was out of town himself. So I ended up with a whole boatload of free breakfast coupons and suite upgrades. Staying at CYs was very good for awhile there. :)

For today, I still don't mind staying at CYs as I have the best suite upgrade rate of any Marriott hotel (actually any hotel chain except Loews hotels.) I'm almost always get a suite when I stay at a CY.

Be careful what you wish for: The least complicated would be the IHG Rewards Club approach, which is no free breakfast standard at any brand no matter what kind of elite you are. To get breakfast at full-service properties, you have to happen to get upgraded to a Club floor.

(I presume if there were ready to absorb the cost of the Hilton HHonors approach, of some kind of free breakfast at every property worldwide, they'd have gone to that "other least complicated approach" already. Though "some kind" is exactly what it is: Be aware that there are US Hiltons at which the free breakfast for HH Golds is a voucher for a Starbucks next door. But that's of course what Courtyard could do to, a voucher for the Bistro for elites. But for whatever reason, they've chosen not to do that.)

For those who have experienced free or discounted breakfast for elites, please post in this thread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-weekends.html

Please note only CYs that offer elites free or discounted brekkie or lounge access should get listed - not the properties that don't.

Cheers.

I think that would kill off the incentive to stay with Marriott for many people. We already know Marriott Rewards is not an upgrade-centric program. The Platinum welcome amenity is comparatively weak. The reservation guarantee is filled with exceptions and opt-outs. Take away the breakfast, and you're pretty much left with the slightly-increased bonus points as your benefit.

When I think of IHG, I think of a program that really doesn't have elite levels at all. I've been Platinum before (I'm not sure why, but I have), and it didn't matter at all. I think of it as a pure transactional program: stay a few nights on roadtrips, end up with a free HIX night to use later. There's no real hook to stay at more IHG hotels. Does Marriott want to go there?

HH isn't quite free breakfast everywhere, but they do have their "main" brands covered. There's no glaring Courtyard gap in the middle. (The competing brand is HGI, where the breakfast is often pretty good with a cooked-to-order hot dish. ^) In my HH Gold years, I've mostly targeted my stays to properties with no lounge: in that case, the common FS breakfast for both Golds and Diamonds is a restaurant buffet. There is no need to avoid properties that describe themselves as "resorts" - this distinction (as a means for withholding elite benefits) doesn't exist in HH.

This is one of the reasons I try to avoid CY properties. Even when my rate includes breakfast, you have to get it from "the Bistro" - which sucks in both selection and speed of service. Often in the morning it takes 15 minutes or more to get breakfast.

I guess I'm in the minority (and my CY stays are mostly weekend), but I enjoy the Bistro breakfast, think the variety is just enough, and find it way better than the free breakfasts at Marriott limited service brands. But, I also understand that it adds about $10 a person, or so, to the nightly price of a stay.

One of the most frequent CY's I stay at is next door to a Bob Evans. The breakfast at that CY Bistro is far better and quicker than at that Bob Evans.

T'would be nice, however, if there was at least some minimal elite breakfast recognition at the CY, such as a discount coupon.

I refuse to buy breakfast (or anything, for that matter) at a Courtyard as a matter or principle.

But...one of the CY's in north Dallas would give Plats their choice of a Bistro item right when the Bistro concept was rolling out. The breakfast sandwich and the appetizers I had during those stays were actually pretty good - no complaints about the food itself, or the service. (Few people were using the Bistro yet, so definitely no 15-minute wait.)

If Golds/Plats were granted a breakfast sandwich and a beverage each day, I would actually be fine with the Bistro. In fact, if they kind of met us halfway on this, I'd probably end up buying an occasional appetizer + beer after work. I certainly do that on occasion at FS hotels.

Haven't stayed at courtyard for long now, now found out about this during the stay, it is so disappointing... It was the main reason I booked here. This brand is dead for me now.... Worthless status at courtyard

Depends on where you stay. US no free breakfast. A few European countries provide breakfast for Plats. In Asia a # of CYs have exec lounges and/or provide breakfast in the restaurant for Golds/Plats.

Cheers.

The truly painful point is that even if you DO charge breakfast at their restaurant you don't get points for incidentals there! At least my AC stay came with a $10 voucher towards their $15 breakfast as an amenity (my recent CY amenity was a box of Chips Ahoy cookies from their pantry).

Don't forget Ritz-Carlton!

I'm coming over from Starwood, but my understanding is RC is and will remain a separate program.

If that is correct, then why wouldn't they consider having 3 programs instead of 2, as opposed to 2 programs instead of 1?

Marriott execs said part of the reason for the delay in integrating the programs is trying to combine 3 loyalty programs into 1. None of which has to do w/ CYs not providing breakfast to elites ;)

Cheers.

I could have booked a rate including breakfast for about 5 dollar more,... but I was really under the impression it would be included for Platinum / Gold.

At Hilton you never have to worry and also at spg properties in Europe & Asia....

Well tomorrow at moxy Frankfurt I have booked the rate including breakfast. After I cleared all the Marriott brands I'm back to Hilton, spg, ihg