How to Stretch Your Vacation Food Budget for a Family of Four
It's Just as Easy to Book a Hotel with a Complimentary Breakfast as it is to Book One Without
Some may say, well, why does it matter? This article is not for those people.
For families especially, having a complimentary breakfast available to every one in their party every day of their vacation can add up to a very nice savings. Savings that can be used for souvenirs, or gas or perhaps to pay a bill once you get home.
Your potential savings for a family of four (4).
Fast Food Restaurant
Breakfast dollar menu $3.24 Per Person
Savings over a 6 night/7 day vacation
$90.72
Coffee Shop/Deli
Bagel and drink $3.50 Per Person
Savings over a 6 night/7 day vacation
$98
Sit Down Diner
Breakfast Special $4.99 Per Person
Savings over a 6 night/7 day vacation
$139.72
Now, not all free breakfast are created equally. Some offer continental fare, some offer made to order pancakes and omelets. But whether you are grabbing cereal and fruit or scrambled eggs and bacon, the savings is still there and still great! Especially when you consider the fact that to leave the hotel to get your own breakfast it will cost you in gas and time as well. Below you will find some of the chain hotels that offer a complimentary breakfast.
Free Breakfast
Amerisuites
Comfort Inn
Days Inn
La Quinta
Free Hot Breakfast
Embassy Suites
Hampton Inn
Holiday Inn Express
Drury Hotel
Country Inn and Suites
Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but it will give you a good place to start. And always do your due diligence, for one of our Florida vacations we booked a place in Kissimmee, Polynesian Inn, that claimed it offered free breakfast, come to find out they opened a few boxes of Little Debbie's each morning. Yep, brownies, oatmeal cookies and honey buns, can you believe it?
Sites like Trip Advisor are a good source for finding out what type of breakfast a hotel offers if you prefer not to call the hotel directly. And only consider a particular hotel if the savings outweigh the possible increase in price per night over a hotel with no breakfast. A good rule of thumb is 10 to 20. If you will be paying an extra $10 a night but saving $20, it's a go. And also, don't be afraid to ask for a price reduction, in this economy many a hotel manager would be tickled pink to match the nightly price of a competitor and if you score a free breakfast and save some serious coin as well, then everyone wins.
Happy Vacationing!
Published by Lyza Ramona Rodriguez
My first blessing is that I am a mother, and my second is that I am a grandmother! I was an editor for the now defunct Travel Publisher, Duffie Books. I work in Television and have three titles published on... View profile
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