Ways to get Free Breakfast with your stay at IHG Hotels
- Noboundlife
- May 5
- 4 min read
There are several ways for travelers to enjoy complimentary breakfast during IHG award stays. By booking with certain brands, having elite status, or carefully selecting milestone rewards, the IHG One Rewards program caters to a variety of preferences.
Discover how to secure a free breakfast on your upcoming IHG stay.
Table of Content
IHG Brands that offer free breakfast to all guests
The simplest way to enjoy a complimentary breakfast at an IHG property is by staying at one of these brands:
Avid
Holiday Inn Express
Staybridge Suites
Iberostar all-inclusive resorts
Holiday Inn all-inclusive resorts
Avid: At Avid properties, breakfast selections differ by region, offering options such as yogurt, fruit, bread, and both hot and cold cereals. Guests can also enjoy takeaway items, including breakfast bars and hot breakfast selections.
Holiday Inn Express: With over 3,000 Holiday Inn Express locations worldwide, you can find one wherever you travel. While breakfast offerings and hours can vary by location, they typically provide a fresh, hot, healthy, and child-friendly breakfast.
Staybridge Suites: Every Staybridge Suites location offers a rotating menu of complimentary daily breakfasts. Each one- or two-bedroom suite is equipped with a kitchenette, allowing guests to prepare light meals in their rooms.
All-Inclusives: Naturally, IHG all-inclusive resorts like Iberostar and Holiday Inn Resorts include all meals and beverages throughout your stay, breakfast included.
Holiday Inn: Kids eat free
It's important to mention that although Holiday Inn doesn't provide free breakfast for everyone, kids eat for free at Holiday Inn®, Holiday Inn Select®, Holiday Inn Resort®, and Holiday Inn SunSpree® Resort hotels worldwide. At participating locations, the Kids Eat Free offer is available for up to four registered children per room (or two per parent).
This family-friendly offer applies to meals from the kids' menu in the hotel restaurant, provided that one registered adult guest orders at least one main course from the full-price menu. Notably, in Europe, Kids Eat Free is available as a room service benefit. Be sure to check for special terms and conditions related to Holiday Inn® Hotels and Holiday Inn® Resorts in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, as well as Holiday Inn Macau.
Another way to enjoy complimentary breakfast at IHG properties involves earning IHG elite status.
Free IHG Breakfast via Elite Status
IHG provides two distinct ways to enjoy complimentary breakfast: by achieving top-tier Diamond Elite status or by buying Intercontinental Ambassador Status with cash or points. Let's explore how each option can secure you the most important meal of the day for free.
IHG Diamond Elite welcome amenities
Earn IHG’s top-tier Diamond elite status by staying 70 nights or earning 120,000 points in a calendar year. Recently, IHG added free daily hot breakfast for two as a welcome amenity option at check-in for these elites. Keep in mind that select breakfast menu items may be excluded (such as specialty or locally-themed items).
One way to earn Diamond Elite status without needing to spend so many nights in hotels is to get Qualifying nights from Nobound Life.
InterContinental Ambassador elite status
You can acquire InterContinental Ambassador status for $200 or 40,000 IHG points annually. Although this status only grants complimentary breakfast at InterContinental hotels in mainland China, it provides $20 in bar or restaurant credits for stays at InterContinental properties worldwide. With the right conditions, this restaurant credit could cover at least one free breakfast.
Milestone Rewards: Using Vouchers, Suite Upgrades & Lounge Access for Breakfast
IHG One Rewards provides Milestone Rewards, obtainable every 10 nights beginning at 20 nights. You can earn these rewards up to 100 nights in a year, and here's how you can utilize them to enjoy complimentary breakfast at IHG properties.
Food and beverage vouchers
At 20 and 30 nights, IHG provides two food and beverage credits as a reward option. Additionally, at 40 nights and beyond, members can select five food and beverage credits. Each voucher is valid for a single use, covering up to $20 in food and beverage expenses at IHG properties, including breakfast. Ensure you spend at least $20 when using the voucher; otherwise, the unused portion is forfeited. Also, note that these food and beverage rewards are valid for one year from the issuance date.
Food and beverage vouchers can easily cover at least one free breakfast during your next IHG stay. Another Milestone Reward that could potentially secure a free breakfast is a Confirmable Suite Upgrade.
Typically, IHG does not offer award bookings on rooms that include breakfast. However, the chain does offer Confirmable Suite Upgrades (CSU) on awards stays. Furthermore, 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 free breakfast in the process.
You can choose a CSU at several Milestone Reward levels. Use this upgrade strategically on the right stay and you'll enjoy free breakfast for up to five nights.
Annual lounge membership
Another Milestone choice at 40 and 70 nights is one Annual Lounge Membership. Choosing this reward would presumably allow members club access at any participating property with a lounge for a full year. These clubs typically serve breakfast (and more), meaning if you book at the right properties with lounges, you're eating free breakfast at those locations all year.
IHG Brands that Don't offer Free Breakfast to Anyone
That leaves a whole slew of brands that don’t offer free breakfast, including:
Atwell Suites
Candlewood Suites
Crowne Plaza
EVEN Hotels
Garner
Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Hotel Indigo
HUALUXE
InterContinental
Kimpton
Regent
Six Senses
Vignette
Voco
Remember, though: With the right status or Milestone Rewards, you’ll unlock breakfast at many of these locations. Always check ahead to determine if your status or reward will work at a prospective property.
Conclusion
With thousands of Holiday Inn Express locations globally, there's a high likelihood of enjoying a complimentary breakfast on your upcoming vacation. Even if you opt for a different brand, having Diamond Elite status or Milestone Rewards might secure you a free breakfast for some or all of your next stay at an IHG hotel.
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