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There’s something special about hotel breakfast — and it somehow tastes even better when it’s free. Travelers staying at an IHG hotel have several ways to enjoy complimentary breakfast, from booking the right brands to holding elite status or strategically using Milestone Rewards.
Here's how you can get free breakfast on your next IHG stay.
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Book Breakfast-Inclusive IHG Brand
Complimentary breakfast is offered at some brands within the IHG portfolio to all guests, regardless of status or rate booked. This comes in particularly handy to those who are just starting on their elite status journey. Stays at these brands will include a daily free breakfast for everyone staying in the room, which is a huge benefit for families traveling together.
- Atwell Suites: Hot breakfast is complimentary at this brand.
- Avid: Free hot breakfast options are served at this brand.
- Garner: Free hot breakfast is offered at this new IHG brand.
- Holiday Inn Express: While offerings vary, this brand offers a complimentary hot breakfast worldwide.
- Staybridge Suites: Complimentary breakfast buffet served at these properties.
- All-inclusive resorts: IHG all-inclusive resorts like the soon-to-arrive Kimpton all-inclusive resorts, Iberostar, and Holiday Inn Resorts provide all food and beverages during your stay, including breakfast.
Related: Everything You Need To Know About IHG One Rewards
Be a Kid
While Holiday Inn doesn’t offer complimentary breakfast for all its guests, kids traveling with their parents eat for free. Participating Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Select, Holiday Inn Resort, and Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort hotels around the world offer free breakfast for kids. At participating locations, Kids Eat Free applies to up to four registered children per room (or two per parent).
The caveat? This family-friendly benefit applies to meals off the kids' menu in the hotel restaurant, as long as one registered adult guest orders at least one main course from the full-price menu. On the plus side, participating locations extend the kids-eat-free benefit beyond breakfast, so you can use it for lunch or dinner too.
The age requirements vary by region. Also, notably, locations in Europe offer Kids Eat Free as a room service perk. Check for special terms and conditions pertaining to Holiday Inn Hotels and Holiday Inn Resorts in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and to Holiday Inn Macau.
Hold Specific Tiers of IHG Elite Status
If you want to chase your way into a complimentary breakfast through holding status with the brand, IHG offers two different ways to get free breakfast during your next stay. You can earn top-tier Diamond Elite status or purchase InterContinental Ambassador Status using cash or points.
Let’s look at how each of these can lead to getting the most important meal of the day at no cost.
Via IHG Diamond Elite welcome amenities
You can earn IHG’s top-tier Diamond elite status by staying 70 nights at IHG properties or earning 120,000 points in a calendar year. IHG offers a free daily hot breakfast for two as a welcome amenity option at check-in for Diamond elite members. Keep in mind that select breakfast menu items may be excluded (such as specialty or locally-themed items).
You can spend your way into Diamond Elite status instead of the required 70 nights by spending $40,000 on eligible purchases in a calendar year on the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees) or IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees).
- Earn 26 points total per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, gas stations, and restaurants
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for being a IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card member
- Earn 6X points from IHG® with Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X points from IHG® for being an IHG® One Rewards member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
- Earn 26x total points per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on travel, dining, social media search engine advertising, and at office supply stores and gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for charging your stay to your IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- Earn 6X bonus points for having IHG®Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X base points for being an IHG® One Rewards Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
Via InterContinental Ambassador elite status
IHG offers the ability to purchase InterContinental Ambassador status for $225 or 45,000 IHG points per calendar year. This status really only qualifies status holders to a complimentary breakfast at InterContinental hotels in mainland China, but Ambassador status does offer $20 in bar or restaurant credits for any stays at InterContinental properties around the world. If you play it right, that restaurant credit could cover free breakfast for at least one person.
Milestone Rewards: Use Vouchers, Suite Upgrades, or Lounge Access for Breakfast
IHG One Rewards offers Milestone Rewards, which you can earn every 10 nights starting at your 20-night mark, all the way until you reach 100 nights. Here's how you can use these to get free breakfast at IHG properties.
Food and beverage vouchers
At 20 and 30 nights, IHG offers two food and beverage credits as a Milestone Reward choice. Starting at 40 nights and every 10 nights after that, members can choose five food and beverage credits. Each voucher can be used once to wipe out up to $20 of food and beverage charges at IHG properties — including breakfast. Make sure you spend at least $20 when redeeming the voucher; otherwise, you forfeit the unused portion. Lastly, remember that these food and beverage rewards are valid for one year from the date of issue.
Food and beverage vouchers could easily provide at least one free breakfast on your next IHG stay.
Confirmable Suite Upgrades (CSUs)
Another Milestone Reward that could potentially snag you a free breakfast is a Confirmable Suite Upgrade.
Typically, IHG does not offer award bookings on room rates that include breakfast. However, the chain does offer Confirmable Suite Upgrades (CSU) on award stays. If you use a CSU to upgrade an award stay to a suite at an InterContinental or Crowne Plaza with a lounge, you might gain lounge access and therefore enjoy free breakfast as part of that.
You can choose a CSU at several Milestone Reward levels, starting at 20 nights. If you use this upgrade strategically on the right stays, you'll enjoy free breakfast for up to five nights.
Annual lounge memberships
Another milestone choice at 40 and 70 nights is the annual lounge membership. Choosing this reward allows members club access at participating properties with a lounge for a full year. These clubs typically serve breakfast and evening hors d'oeuvres, meaning if you book at the right properties with lounges, you're eating free breakfast at those locations on every stay for a year.
Which IHG Brands Don’t Offer Free Breakfast?
While several IHG brands offer free breakfast, there's a whole slew of brands that don’t offer complimentary breakfast, including:
- Candlewood Suites
- Crowne Plaza
- EVEN Hotels
- Holiday Inn Club Vacations
- Hotel Indigo
- HUALUXE
- InterContinental
- Kimpton
- Regent
- Six Senses
- Vignette
- Voco
Remember, though: With the right status or using Milestone Rewards, you can unlock breakfast at many of these locations. Always check ahead to determine if your status or a milestone reward will work at a prospective property.
Bottom Line
IHG offers more paths to free breakfast than you might expect — especially if you hold elite status or take advantage of Milestone Rewards. Even if you're staying at a brand that doesn't include breakfast by default, a little planning can go a long way. Whether you’re traveling with kids, redeeming food and beverage vouchers, or leveraging a lounge membership, a free IHG breakfast is often within reach.
Holiday Inn does not offer free breakfast to all guests. You may have breakfast included as part of the rate you book, or you may unlock free breakfast by choosing it as a welcome amenity if you're a Diamond elite member or if you choose to use one of your food and beverage rewards or confirmable suite upgrades. Crowne Plaza does not have free breakfast to all its guests, but you can get free or discounted breakfast with your status or by using a milestone reward you've selected during your elite status journey with IHG. IHG Platinum elite members do not receive complimentary breakfast as one of their status perks. They do, however, have access to several milestone rewards on their journey to earning status that can be leveraged to get free breakfast at some properties. InterContinental does not offer complimentary breakfast for all stays. If you are a Diamond elite or have earned milestone rewards as part of your elite status journey, you can unlock free breakfast.Free Breakfast at IHG FAQ
Does Holiday Inn have free breakfast?
Does Crowne Plaza have free breakfast?
Does IHG Platinum get free breakfast?
Does InterContinental have free breakfast?
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees)
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