An Ohio man headed to the lobby of the hotel, where he was staying with his wife, to grab them each a cup of coffee. He looked for the coffee station. But he soon realized the beverage wasn’t part of the complimentary amenities for guests.
In a video with around 5,000 views, TikToker Irishman_18 (@irishman_18) tells viewers he has a “rant” about the unnamed hotel.
“I wake up in the morning and protocol: I go downstairs to get a cup of coffee,” he says. “I’m fresh out of bed wearing just enough to not get arrested.”
He says he looked around the lobby and didn’t see the kegs of coffee many hotels offer to guests free of charge. So, he says he asked one of the workers where the coffee station was.
“He says, ‘Yeah, she’ll hand you it right there.’ I look up at the menu. And I have to pay $3.95 for black coffee,” he laments. “They’re not even letting us have the black coffee anymore.”
Why Isn’t Hotel Lobby Coffee Free Anymore?
According to CNBC, some hotels may be moving away from offering free breakfast and coffee to cut costs.
Hotels like Hyatt now offer guests the option to book lower rates that don’t include breakfast, which could potentially impact free coffee, too.
However, guests still expect the hotels to offer complimentary food and drinks in the morning, per the 2025 JD Power Guest Satisfaction Survey. Of the 78% of guests who eat breakfast at the hotel, only 8% report paying for the meal.
What Do Guests Think Of The Change?
On the r/Hilton subreddit, frequent travelers call free coffee an often overlooked perk.
One commenter says high-end hotels that skip the complimentary coffee detract from the experience. They wrote, “It’s a missing feature from so many of the higher-than-budget hotels now 🙁 the Best Western Plus I was at recently had one of those coffee/espresso machines with a touchscreen, it was absolutely awesome.”
Another wrote, “Such a small gesture that would be minimal cost to the hotel, but I think it’s fantastic. I’m an early riser and can’t even buy a cup most times, so that free coffee setup is amazing at 6am.”
“Unfortunately the nicer the brand the less likely they are to have coffee in the lobby in my experience,” a third added.
Some pointed out that many upscale hotels offer complimentary coffee machines in-room to replace the lobby coffee machines. Guests are split on which option they prefer.
“For some of the lower end brands, lobby coffee is the brand standard as the replacement for the in-room coffee. I know that’s the case for Tru and Spark,” a commenter pointed out.
@irishman_18
BroBible reached out to Irishman_18 via TikTok direct message and comment. We will update the story when he replies.