The Andaz 5th Avenue is a popular hotel for travel hackers visiting New York City. It’s located in midtown, between the New York Public Library and Grand Central station. The rooms are spacious and the hotel has a boutique vibe. The biggest draw of this hotel (at least for travel hackers)? Free room service breakfast for Hyatt Globalist members.
The hotel is pretty generous with this benefit. While it’s supposed to be limited to $75 per night, I’ve had them comp an $89 bill before. But not everyone has elite status and hotel breakfast can get expensive. If you want this perk free of charge without moving to the bed bug-infested Grand Hyatt New York, there’s an alternative: Book your stay with Visa Signature Hotels.
Andaz 5th Avenue Visa Signature Benefits
When I stayed at the Andaz 5th Avenue in January, I was able to get elite benefits by “borrowing” status from a friend. Before that, I was looking at other options. Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts is usually great for scoring elite-type benefits like free breakfast.
Unfortunately, no benefits were offered at the Andaz 5th Avenue. So I looked into Visa Signature Hotels, which offers premium benefits at over 900 properties worldwide. Sure enough, the Andaz 5th Avenue was listed and offered the following perks:
- Best available rate guarantee
- Automatic room upgrade upon arrival, when available
- Complimentary in-room Wi-Fi, when available
- Complimentary continental breakfast daily in-room
- $25 USD food or beverage credit
- VIP Guest status
- Late check-out upon request, when available
Those benefits are pretty close to what elite members get from most hotel rewards programs.
Andaz 5th Avenue Visa Signature Breakfast
Notice how Visa Signature bookings qualify for free continental breakfast and a $25 food and beverage credit? I reached out to the Andaz to get clarity on what “continental” entailed. Was it just a bagel and coffee?
Did it have to be redeemed at the restaurant? Turns out it’s way more extensive than I had anticipated. I fact, I tallied it up and it came up to way more than the cost of a hot breakfast. The following breakfast benefit applies to each guest at the Andaz 5th Avenue, up to two per room:
- One coffee
- One juice: $9
- One bakery item (one bagel, one pastry or two toasts): $6
- One seasonal fruit: $5 – $15
The Visa Signature Hotel’s continental breakfast benefit also extends to room service, which is very generous. Part of that is probably because the hotel’s restaurant is small and they want to keep it from overcrowding. Regardless, you get quite a spread at no additional cost.
If you do want to sample the infamous Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes, the $25 food and beverage credit can take care of that. My opinion? The pancakes are good, but a little too sweet. I prefer the french toast, which comes topped with the most delicious creme fraiche. And it’s just as Instagram-worthy as the Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes. 😉
If you’re headed to the Andaz 5th Avenue without elite status and would rather not pay an extra $120+ for a breakfast package, book your stay through Visa Signature Hotels. Along with the $25 dining credit, you’ll get a pretty generous breakfast free of charge.
Have you booked a hotel through Visa Signature Hotels before? Please share your experience with upgrades, breakfast, and other elite-type benefits.
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Have you done a blog on Apple Pay? How does it works to MS ‘er benefit eg bypassing Walmart MO.
No, but considering the Amex Apple Pay deal, I need to set some time aside to do it.
Bebug infested Grand Hyatt? Haven’t heard any reports since 2016. My family has a reservation in a suite we in June booked with Cash & Points for the standard room price, so luckily we should be fine as bedbugs cant afford the rooms normally ;P
Have you heard of any more recent incidents?
That’s still too recent! Plus, my friend who lives in the city is always warning me about it.
are you able to use points to book hotel or you have to pay cash using a visa CC?
You have to use a Visa Signature card, but you can still redeem points, depending on the card. The Sapphire cards, for example, allow you to redeem points for statement credits. If how Visa Signature Hotels are coded as travel, you could also apply the $300 Sapphire Reserve travel credit towards it.