As a family of 8, one of the best perks out there is free breakfast. 8 meals is expensive! But what beats free breakfast? Free breakfast AND free dinner!!!
Most of the US hotels that I stay in offer free breakfast (to one degree or another), though it is true that sometimes I have the misfortune to stay in a “nice” hotel like the Luxor Las Vegas or the Palmer House Hilton or even the Sheraton Suites Columbus, where they love to charge me for everything (breakfast, wifi, etc.) but the bed.
But there are a good chunk of hotels that also offer a free “dinner”. I put quotes around dinner because most times they don’t actually CALL it dinner, but in my book, if you’re giving me lots of food around 5 or 6 pm, that’s dinner!!!
I remember many years ago when I was first out of college, at one of my first jobs I was invited to a holiday party that advertised “Heavy Hors D’Oeuvres”. Carolyn and I were not quite sure what that meant or if we should eat beforehand or not. Turn out that “Heavy Hors D’Oeuvres” is code for “dinner”. In my experience, it’s the same thing with “Manager’s Reception” or “Evening Social Hour”
Ric at the Loyalty Traveler recently returned from a trip around Norway and reported that most of the Clarion Choice hotels that he stayed in there offered something for dinner. Similarly, even in the US, there are many larger hotels that have a “lounge” floor that you can access with a special room rate and/or elite status that often offer spreads throughout the day that are similar to the lounge spreads that I saw in the American Express Centurion Lounge at the Las Vegas Airport.
But today we’re talking just about regular hotels in the US that offer dinner.
Homewood Suites (Hilton)
First up is the Homewood Suites by Hilton. This is actually one of my favorite chains, as a 2BR suite at Homewood Suites is just about the only single room that can fit our family of 8 (otherwise we need to book 2 rooms). The only thing that kills me is that the 2BR units are usually not bookable with a standard award, and instead what we’ve had good luck is booking a 1BR and then using Gold Status to get a free upgrade to a 2BR. We’re 2/2 in doing this.
Dinner is available at Homewood Suites on Monday – Thursday nights. At our latest stay at the Homewood Suites Dayton Fairborn, we stayed on a Friday night, so didn’t get to take advantage of that, but when we were at the Homewood Suites Dublin (Ohio!) we did get a great dinner. The menu changes every day, so since I have a vegetarian wife and picky kids, I actually called ahead and planned my stay on a day they were having something I thought everyone would like (Cheese Ravioli, which was awesome)
Residence Inn (Marriott)
I haven’t focused much on Marriott brands since I’ve been in the miles and points game, but we did have a stay a few years ago at the Residence Inn Denver Highlands Ranch, when visiting my in-laws.
This particular Residence Inn has an “Evening Social” Monday through Wednesday, and actually even post their menu online (pdf). Some Residence Inns also give dinner on Thursdays (check your local hotel for schedule). There is a Flyertalk thread talking about experiences with different RIs and the quality and availability of Evening Social food.
When we were there, they had hot dogs and hamburgers one night, and one night it was pizza ordered from a local place. As an added bonus, at the end of the Evening Social, there was still pizza left over and they let us take it (lunch the next day, anyone?) I know that for some people this would not be considered a “good” dinner, but for us, it was awesome.
Staybridge Suites (IHG)
Here’s an example of the Staybridge Suites San Diego.
Most (all?) Staybridge Suites offer dinner during 3 days on the week. It’s often on Tuesday – Thursday nights, but can vary. The Staybridge Suites San Diego offers “Sundowner Receptions with free beer, wine and sake.” When we stayed at the Staybridge Suites Orlando Airport South, the dinner was Monday-Wednesday and on the day we were there was a full taco bar with all the fixings!
One bonus is that Staybridge Suites are often pretty commonly on the IHG Pointbreaks list. The Staybridge Suites San Diego is on the current (October and November) list, which means that it can be booked for only 5,000 points a night!!
A few others
Drury Inn is a smaller hotel chain that is mostly found in the midwest (property list here). Their tag line is “The Extras are not Extra” and they do not disappoint in food. They offer the “5:30 kickback“, which is free hot food and cold beverages for all guests EVERY DAY. “Our rotating menu features a variety of hot food, including chicken strips, macaroni & cheese, hot dogs, baked potatoes, broccoli cheddar soup and more! Plus, beer, wine, mixed drinks and soft drinks are served everyday”. Unfortunately their rewards program is not that great and the only credit card I’ve seen only offers 15,000 bonus points and 1 pt/$.
When we were at the Drury Inn And Suites Columbus Convention Center (pictured above) they had hot dogs, rice, pasts, and chicken for the 5:30 Kickback, along with 2 alcohol drink tickets – it was the best “free” hotel dinner I’ve ever had!
Some Embassy Suites also offer the “Manager’s Receptions” – here is an example of the one in Greensboro, NC, which only mentions drink (no food), so you’d definitely want to call on that. Others I’ve seen offer “light appetizers” and others didn’t seem to mention anything.
There’s a FlyerTalk thread talking about this that has some more details and suggestions. One good quote
Note that *all* of the lower-to-midrange suburban U.S. brands listed in this thread will have a…umm, how should I say this?…wide variance in the quality of their evening snacks.
This should give you an idea of where to look, but you’ll always want to call ahead or investigate because it’s definitely going to vary by chain and even by hotel.
You can check prices at hotels.com or read up on reviews for individual hotels at TripAdvisor
(SEE ALSO: Earn points and compare different hotel card to get free nights at hotels here)
Have you ever had free dinner at a hotel? What was your experience like? Did I miss any of your favorite dinner-providing hotels? Leave a comment below!
This site is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as thepointsguy.com. This may impact how and where links appear on this site. Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers and that compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own, and have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by my advertising partners and I do not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers and other offers and benefits listed on this page. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more. Other links on this page may also pay me a commission - as always, thanks for your support if you use them
User Generated Content Disclosure: Points With a Crew encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.
Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Definitely bookmarking this post! Thanks for sharing this info. I am especially inspired to get on the ball with these types of hotels after we made the dire mistake of buying discounted Kroger wings for dinner the other day. Bad. Decision.
The happy hour at the Drury is pretty substantial. Granted, it’s not a very healthy meal! But if your dinner was going to consist of pizza & loaded baked potatoes in any case, then free is free. 🙂
Thanks for the list! I knew about Staybridge, but none of the others. Our family stayed at a Staybridge in NC for a week in January and the free dinner/breakfast was fantastic! They had 2 free drinks each night as well with a nice selection of wine and beer. There was always a good variety of food choices and a great salad bar. One night they offered dessert as well as a pre-dinner snack mix.
Superb resource. I love these manager’s events with full food. I stumbled upon a small chain called Key West Inn. I stayed at one on Scottsboro, Alabama. The night I stayed there, a local resident provided dinner and dessert (all homemade) for all guests and staff. I was astonished.
Hey! Thanks for the post. I think the Hyatt House also has an “evening social”.
You’re welcome! You’re right that some Hyatt Houses do have an evening social but not all of them. You can check on the hotel page
Just stayed at a Drury Inn in Cincinnati with our 4 kids and were amazed at the hotel! The hotel itself was as good as any I have ever visited, and the staff were happy to be at work (or so they all seemed to tell us with big smiles!!) The breakfast was very very nice, the free soft drinks and coffee 7am – 10pm were well used by us, but the kicker was… the “kickback” and popcorn in the evenings. We figured out by the time we paid for breakfast out, drinks during the day and snacks with “dinner”, we virtually stayed the night for free!
Very nice! I would like Drury a lot better if their rewards program / credit card weren’t both so horrible! I know I have a friend that also loves Drury mostly because of their pet policy
Your wife is a vegetarian? Tell her to grow up and eat meat like normal humans. Sheesh, picky eaters.
Thanks. I’ll be sure to tell her that….
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?? A vegetarian diet is far more healthy than a meat-based diet. Why don’t you read a little before shooting off your mouth about something you know nothing about.
2 questions.
Do all Residence Inns do the evening socials?
And do all Staybridge Suites do the evening socials?
Every one I’ve been to does, though the quality varies from hotel to hotel. If you have questions about a particular hotel, they almost always mention it on their hotel webpage
country inn and suites often provides free dinners
Holiday Inn Express, about 30 minutes from SLC Airport. Managers Social. I don’t know what all nights but Friday night they had it. Was pretty good, free adult drinks; also. We stayed there returning from Yellowstone. Residence Inn, Raleigh Airport, weeknights I think. Embassy Suites, Rogers, AR. Friday night is included. All of the above had free breakfast also.
That’s great Renee! I know traveling with a large family, these types of hotel perks can be a huge value!
Wow. I knew Residence Inn and Embassy Suites, but I haven’t heard that Holiday Inn Expresses do this. Has anyone else found that at different ones?
It saves us so much money when we travel.
While it’s more of a part of the program at extended stay places like Residence Inn, Homewood Suites, Staybridge Suites, etc., there are specific Holiday Inn Express hotels that do it. I don’t know of any listing – you’ll just have to check the hotel site directly. We had one at the Holiday Inn Express in Torrington, Wyoming
The Element Hotel offers food and drinks in the evening too. My husband and I stayed there while in New York, and they served pretty good food, wine, and beer.
Hello Dan
I am from argentina , do you think the residence inn allow a family of five with and extra bed.
I am looking the residence in holtsville to take the advantage of the evening social from 10 to 13 july and they have a king and a sofa bed.
I cant find the email hotel.
Regards
I think you’re talking about a Residence Inn in New York (US). In that case then yes, I don’t think it will be a problem at all. I don’t know that I’d even mention it unless you need some more bedding. If you’re looking for the hotel’s email address, I’d try tweeting out to Marriott – that’s how I get most of my hotel email addresses.
Yes, in NY . We are planning to go to the hamptons beach.
Thanks
Great article and tips for a big family. Thank you!
embassy suites is generally light snacks (like, chips and salsa) plus beer, wine, and i think maybe well cocktails?
as a kid I loved staying there because they’d make us Shirley Temples during evening reception.
All the Sleep Inn’s (Choice Hotels) I’ve stayed in also serve food at night as well as beer wine and sodas. I don’t know if they all do this but all we’ve stayed in do.
We love the cocktail hours at Embassy Suites! One year, our family of 6 went to Nee York City for a vacation and stayed at the ES in the financial district. The cocktail hour was just right for the in-between time of daily sightseeing and going back out for dinner. The kids got Shirley Temples and Roy Rogers with fancy bar fruit and all!
Fast forward a few years and one of our kids is at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The Embassy Suites is THE place to be for Parents Weekend, I Day, etc. We have met other USAFA families, locals, and some really interesting people at those evening receptions!
Side note: the Embassy’s Suites near USAFA has a small arcade with Ms Pacman! Bring quarters!
This was a few years ago, but the Hampton Inn in Niceville, Florida had a Manager’s Social a few nights a week (Monday through Thursday, I’m pretty sure). The night we were there, on a Wednesday night, they had a nice Italian buffet.
Italian is my favorite food, period. You bet I took advantage. 🙂