Both Marriott International's Residence Inn and Carlson's
Country Inns & Suites in recent weeks have overhauled their free breakfast
offerings, in part to add both healthier and more portable options to the menu.
The midprice Country Inns & Suites brand on Oct. 26
added several new components to its free breakfast at North America properties,
including "to go" stations for business travelers who need to eat on
the run and stations for travelers to build their own omelets, breakfast
burritos and yogurt parfaits. The brand also added a new rotating menu of such
hot breakfast foods as eggs Benedict and chicken biscuit breakfast sandwiches.
The brand also added more healthy items to its buffet.
"Complimentary breakfast is a key component of guest
satisfaction in midscale hotels," according to Country Inns & Suites
executive vice president and COO Steve Mogck. "We are responding to guest
feedback and lifestyle changes by providing a comprehensive breakfast offering
with a lot of variety."
Similarly, the extended stay Residence Inn brand this month
beefed up its breakfast buffet at its more than 600 hotels in North America.
The new items include healthy options, such as seasonal fresh fruit, whole
grain breads, turkey bacon and sausage and oatmeal with nuts, raisins and
granola as well as heavier items, such as breakfast burritos.
"Our new breakfast allows guests the freedom to choose
to eat a healthy breakfast one morning and maybe indulge a little the next
morning," said Residence Inn vice president and global brand manager Katie
Tyson.
A survey of 700 business travelers by Hilton Worldwide's
Embassy Suites Hotels brand earlier this year indicated that the free breakfast
offering ranked third in their considerations when booking a hotel, behind
location and rate.
This report appears in
the Nov. 8 issue of Business Travel News.