Marriott recently released two charts describing Platinum breakfast and lounge access benefits.
The Welcome Amenity/breakfast chart:
And the lounge access chart:
The two charts caused a lot of confusion since they are missing key pieces of data and have a few mistakes in them. They are hard to read and understand since they are meant to be read together as one. Many people thought breakfast had been taken away from brands that currently offer it because it was missing from the first chart. This is because the two charts list details of the same benefit (breakfast) separately.
I have taken the breakfast data from the Lounge Access chart and merged it into the first chart and simplified the end result.
The two columns for regional differences from Marriott’s first chart above have been removed since they implied a false choice between them (the two columns were in fact mutually exclusive based on region). The new first column will immediately give you the details of breakfast at a quick glance.
Breakfast Master Chart:
(Open in new tab to view full size) 
Merged Breakfast, Amenity and Lounge Access Chart
(Open the image in a new tab to view it in full size)
And here is a downloadable PDF:
Nice and downloadable PDF
It has been almost 2 years since the merger was announced and I wonder what Marriott has been doing in the meantime because their communication and marketing material is clearly not ready and is being handled in a very amateurish manner.
A few issues persist in Marriott’s charts that require clarification:
1) Marriott’s lounge access chart seems to indicate that Courtyards will now offer lounge access (including resorts). This definitely seems like a mistake. The other Marriott brands have an asterisk against them for resort exclusions, but Courtyard (and SPG brands) do not.
2) The Courtyard breakfast situation is hopelessly confusing.
In Europe, hotels with a lounge presumably will provide breakfast in the lounge but hotels without a lounge will provide the 10 USD F&B credit according to the platinum welcome amenity chart and breakfast in the restaurant according to the Lounge chart, which seems like a contradiction. The entire situation here needs to be clarified.
3) Brands like Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites offer breakfast across the board to all guests but Marriott’s chart does not reflect this as a benefit. It seems like this should be noted somewhere by Marriott.
4) 10 USD per person is not enough to buy a breakfast at most of their hotels, hence they cannot continue insisting that Courtyard, AC Hotels and Moxy have a real breakfast benefit.
5) In the lounge access chart, Marriott seems to write ‘member + 1 guest’ everywhere for ‘Europe lounge alternative’ column but not in the ‘US/Canada lounge alternative’ column. Will breakfast in the event of a closed lounge exclude the second guest in the room? Or does it include everyone in the room, without the +1 restriction?
If you guys have any questions, feel free to shoot a comment below! I would love to hear from you!
Hi Sam,
Curious, I’m going to Rome with a group of Friends. I currently have lifetime platinum status with Marriott. I will be the person paying/reserving the rooms. We are deciding between staying at either a Le Meridian property. Since I have this status, for each room that I am paying/reserving, does each room get free breakfast or only the room I am staying in? I feel that if I’m paying for all the rooms (2 people per room) that each room would get free breakfast, but I just don’t know.
Let me know – Thanks.
I am not entirely sure, I advise calling the property to ask. I don’t think this logic works.
Hi Sam, can you create a Google Sheets or Excel version of your final table? Thanks!
Excellent chart! Thanks!
A lot of Courtyards in China have lounges, which seems to be where the Courtyard lounge policy comes from. There are probably some in other countries as well.
Hello!
I was hoping you could answer something for me, I have been searching but couldn’t find an answer.
Are you able to upgrade to a room with lounge access at Marriott hotels using points? If so what is the cost in points for that?
Thank you,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, I do not see a hard rule on this. I believe you can ask the specific property about the upgrade.
Hi Sam,
just a quick note! Not all Element Hotels offer free breakfast. For example the Element in Kuala Lumpur does not offer it for free.
It’s actually part of their brand standard (https://www.starwoodhotels.com/element/experience/taste_dining.html?language=en_US)
but you are right in that KL uses a third party restaurant excuse to wiggle out of it.
Fairfield Anaheim too does not provide free breakfast. I shall check with Marriott higher ups re: these exceptions and update the chart accordingly.