Hilton breakfast benefits can be surprisingly confusing. Some Hilton brands include breakfast for every guest, while others offer breakfast or a food-and-beverage credit only to travelers with select Hilton Honors elite status tiers. And even then, what you get depends on the brand, region and whether the hotel has an executive lounge.

In this guide, we’ll break down which Hilton brands offer breakfast to all guests, when Hilton Honors Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve members can expect complimentary continental breakfast or a daily food-and-beverage credit and how lounge access can affect your breakfast benefits.

Hilton Honors brands with complimentary breakfast

Some Hilton Honors brands offer complimentary breakfast to all guests, regardless of how they booked or their elite status tier. Specifically, you can expect to get free breakfast at the following Hilton brands:

• AutoCamp (complimentary morning granola, coffee, tea and hot chocolate at the Clubhouse; don’t expect a full breakfast)
• Embassy Suites by Hilton
• Hampton by Hilton
• Homewood Suites by Hilton
• Home2 Suites by Hilton
• LivSmart Studios by Hilton
• Spark by Hilton (only at North American hotels)
• Tru by Hilton

However, confirming before booking a stay is always a good idea. You can check your hotel’s official website and scroll down to the amenities section to quickly determine whether your property offers free breakfast for all guests. For example, here’s the amenities section for a Hampton by Hilton in New York City:

If complimentary breakfast for all guests is a must, you can filter by properties that offer free breakfast when searching for a hotel on the Hilton website. Here’s a sample of Hilton hotels in New York City that offer complimentary breakfast:

If you’re traveling with friends or family members, staying at a hotel that offers free breakfast for all guests can save you serious money.

Related: Which hotel has the best free breakfast? TPG ate 10 meals to find the winner

Breakfast for Hilton Honors elite members

You and up to one additional guest registered to your room may be eligible for one of the following as part of your MyWay benefits if you have Hilton Honors Gold, Diamond or Diamond Reserve status:

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• Daily food-and-beverage credit: At select brands in the U.S. and at Motto by Hilton globally; not provided if you have complimentary lounge access and breakfast is provided in the lounge
• Complimentary continental breakfast: At select brands outside the U.S. and Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties globally

To get elite benefits, including these MyWay benefits, you must book directly with Hilton or through a qualifying global distribution service. Unfortunately, this typically excludes most credit card travel portals (although American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Edit by Chase Travel℠ bookings should be eligible).

Now, let’s take a closer look at each option.

Complimentary continental breakfast

Hilton Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve members can enjoy complimentary continental breakfast as a MyWay benefit for stays at the following brands:

• Canopy by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Conrad Hotels & Resorts (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Curio Collection by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• DoubleTree by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Hilton Garden Inn (only at properties outside the U.S.; must be selected online instead of bonus points)
• Hilton Hotels & Resorts (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Graduate by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• LXR Hotels & Resorts (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• NoMad (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Signia by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Small Luxury Hotels of the World
• Tapestry Collection by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Tempo by Hilton (only at properties outside the U.S.)
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (only at properties outside the U.S.)

At these properties, Hilton Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve members and up to one additional guest staying in the same room can enjoy breakfast in the hotel’s designated restaurant.

Related: Which credit card should you use for Hilton stays?

Hilton food-and-beverage credit

Hilton Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve members can enjoy a daily food-and-beverage credit as a MyWay benefit for stays at the following brands:

• $25 per person, per night: Conrad Hotels & Resorts (within the U.S.), LXR Hotels & Resorts (within the U.S.), NoMad (within the U.S.) and Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (within the U.S.)
• $15 per person, per night ($18 per person, per night in Boston; Chicago; Washington, D.C.; New York City; San Francisco; Key Largo and Key West, Florida; the city of Los Angeles; and the state of Hawaii): Canopy by Hilton (within the U.S.), Curio Collection by Hilton (within the U.S.), DoubleTree by Hilton (within the U.S.), Graduate by Hilton (within the U.S.), Hilton Hotels & Resorts (within the U.S), Signia by Hilton (within the U.S.), Tapestry Collection by Hilton (within the U.S.) and Tempo by Hilton (within the U.S.)
• $10 per person, per night: Hilton Garden Inn (within the U.S.; you must designate this as your MyWay benefit online)
• Varies by property: Motto by Hilton

These credits apply to Gold, Diamond and Diamond Reserve members and up to one additional guest registered to the same room. However, if you have complimentary lounge access and breakfast is provided in the lounge, you won’t receive the food-and-beverage credit.

Lounge access

Hilton Diamond and Diamond Reserve members, and up to one additional guest staying in the same room, get executive lounge access at properties with executive lounges. Plus, Hilton Honors Gold members who secure an upgrade to a room on the executive floor or room type that confers executive lounge access benefits enjoy lounge access along with up to one additional guest staying in the same room.

Meanwhile, Diamond Reserve members also get access to premium club lounges (see the list here) along with up to one registered guest. However, this access excludes the enclave category rooms at all-inclusive resorts.

If you have lounge access, you may get breakfast in the lounge. However, you won’t receive a food-and-beverage credit during stays in the U.S. if you have complimentary access to a lounge that offers breakfast.

Related: Here’s why lounge access is my favorite hotel elite status perk overseas

How to earn Hilton Honors elite status

To earn Hilton Gold status, you need 25 nights, 15 stays or $6,000 in eligible spending per calendar year. Meanwhile, you need 50 nights, 25 stays or $11,500 in eligible spending per calendar year to earn Hilton Diamond status. And to earn Hilton Diamond Reserve status, you need 80 nights or 40 stays, plus $18,000 in eligible spending per calendar year.

But some credit cards offer automatic Hilton Honors elite status. Here are the cards that provide Hilton status as a cardmember perk and their current welcome offers:

So, even if you don’t stay with Hilton brands frequently enough to earn Hilton status organically, you can still secure status as a benefit of one of the above cards.

Related: Comparing the best hotel elite status tiers and how to earn them

Bottom line

Some Hilton properties include breakfast for all guests; you can easily filter your search results on Hilton’s website to only show properties offering free breakfast.

If you have Hilton Honors Gold, Diamond or Diamond Reserve status, you’ll usually get complimentary continental breakfast at hotels abroad and a daily food-and-beverage credit at hotels within the U.S. The food-and-beverage credit at many U.S. properties and international Motto by Hilton hotels often isn’t enough to cover breakfast, but you may like it if you usually don’t eat breakfast and prefer to have drinks or food at the hotel later in the day.

While TPG’s Carly Helfand loves Hilton’s approach to breakfast, I think Hilton Honors should give members a choice. If the food-and-beverage credit is meant to give members flexibility, then the program should let them choose between a continental breakfast and a food-and-beverage credit when checking in to each stay.

As a Diamond member, I usually avoid staying with Hilton when I know I’ll get a food-and-beverage credit instead of complimentary breakfast. I’ve had some excellent Hilton stays and breakfasts outside the U.S., with international Hilton hotels often offering access to the full buffet instead of just the required continental breakfast.