Best Hotels With Free Breakfast In Chicago

While airlines nickel and dime us to death, hotels are treating travelers to free WiFi, managers' receptions and high-tech fitness centers. With so many hotel choices in Chicago, you may as well choose one that knows just how welcome a complimentary breakfast can be to guests whether in town on business or pleasure.

Kinzie Hotel
20 W. Kinzie St.
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 395-9000
www.kinziehotel.com

The Kinzie Hotel kept the best part of its previous incarnation (Amalfi Hotel) - the brilliant idea of having breakfast available on each floor so guests needn't get dressed to schlep to the lobby to grab some food, or worse, wear their wrinkled cheeks and jammies down the elevator. The complimentary breakfast, brimming with a variety of yogurt, pastries, breads and bagels, spreads, fruit and oatmeal, is available to all guests. The hotel is located in an enviable location near Michigan Ave. but still tucked away.

Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center
5225 S. Harper Ave.
Chicago, IL 60615
(773) 752-5300
www.hyattplacechicagosouthuniversity.com

The recently opened Hyde Park hotel offers spacious guestrooms boasting the Hyatt Grand Bed, a "Cozy Corner" sofa sleeper and a 42-inch flat-panel HDTV. Near the University of Chicago campus and the University of Chicago Medical Center, the hotel's free breakfast offers enough to keep the neurons firing. The a.m. Kitchen Skillet™ is free with your stay, offering hot items like garden vegetable egg white sandwiches, low-carb options, waffles and pancakes, fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt with mix-ins, an assortment of juices and robust Torrefazione Italia® coffee.

La Quinta Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown
1 S. Franklin St.
Chicago, IL 60606
(312) 558-1020
www.laquintachicagodowntown.com

With so many hotel rooms in Chicago, some are brainier than others by offering a convenient, free breakfast to all guests, not just those who pay for the "executive" floor. La Quinta Inn & Suites, in the heart of the financial district and two blocks from Willis Tower, beckons with the free Bright Side Breakfast, just enough to get you out the door quickly. Dig into waffles, hot and cold cereal, bread and pastries, fresh fruit and bottomless coffee and juice.

Related: Best Hotels For Business Trips To Chicago

The Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Downtown/Magnificent Mile
60 W. Illinois St.
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 836-1700
www.marriott.com

The newest LEED-Certified Marriott property in downtown Chicago, Fairfield Inn Chicago Downtown excels in the complimentary breakfast department. Take your choice from free buffet breakfast items like fruit, yogurt and pastries, hot items and grab-n-go breakfast. An in-room microwave and fridge mean you can tote your goodies upstairs to warm them up and keep 'em cool. The flagship Fairfield in Chicago features modern hotel rooms and suites yet the ambiance and service of a boutique hotel.

Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace
3434 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657
(773) 244-3434
www.hawthorneterrace.com

It's not all about Michigan Ave. and the Loop, you know. Don't let the name fool you - this boutique hotel located in the Lakeview neighborhood is steps away from eclectic dining and shopping and world famous Wrigley Field. The Best Western Plus Hawthorne Terrace, which National Geographic calls one of the best hotels in the city, has a complimentary breakfast buffet of breads and pastries, fruit, coffee, tea and juice, and during the warm months, enjoy it while sunning on the flower-filled outdoor terrace.

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Jacky Runice has been a columnist with the Daily Herald Chicago since grunge music and flannel was the new black. Her fingers and gray matter have been busy as travel editor of Reunions Magazine; penning a column that was syndicated around the nation via Tribune Media Services. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.