42 Incredible Free Amenities at Hotels Across America
You don’t always have to be a VIP at a hotel to feel like one during your stay. Many hotels offer fun and free perks to guests to sweeten the splurge. Some of these amenities often aren't listed among the usual amenities, but all guests have to do is ask. From essential items you may have forgotten to pack to quirky specials that make a trip unforgettable, here are some of the best amenities to make sure to look for and ask for during your next trip.
Availability of the amenities is subject to change.
Talia Avakian contributed to this story.
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Avoid a rough night of sleep by asking for a free pillow upgrade. Hotels often offer a range of styles in case a guest needs extra support; others offer hypoallergenic options. At The Benjamin Hotel, for example, the Rest and Renew program includes a selection of 10 curated pillows ranging from body cushions and anti-snore pillows to memory and back sleeper pillows.
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Travelers headed to Hawaii will find a range of hotels offering complimentary GoPro rentals, often included part of the hotel’s resort fees. Properties offering GoPros to record your adventures include Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach, White Sands Hotel, Andaz Maui at Wailea Resort , The Royal Hawaiian Resort, Sheraton Waikiki Resort, and Turtle Bay Resort.
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As part of the Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts Unlock Art program, guests staying at Le Méridien’s various locations across the globe can get free access to cultural centers and museums by showing their room key. Museums range from the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida to the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, New York, also often offers tickets to local museums and nearby attractions like the Baseball Hall of Fame throughout the year.
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While you typically get charged for taking those plush robes, some hotels give you a free pass on the cozy slippers. (Check with the front desk to be sure). At the boutique Archer Hotels, which has several locations across the U.S., guests get stylish his-and-hers slippers to take home. Some have mustaches, and some have red lips.
Some hotels offer free bicycle rentals during a stay so guests can cruise around the neighborhood or hit the beach. The Godfrey in Boston offers cruisers with helmets and locks, Canopy by Hilton provide complimentary bikes and team members to map out local routes and suggest hidden gems. Kimpton, Arlo Hotels, and The Beverly Hills Hotel also have complimentary bike programs.
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From seasonal cocktails to year-long curated sips, hotels offer a range of complimentary drinks for guests. When you stay at The Tennessean Hotel during November and December, you’ll be treated to complimentary spiced cider, while guests checking into the Roxy Hotel are also greeted with a champagne toast.
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Chowing down on a freshly baked cookie after a day of travel is a great way to feel at home even when you aren't. DoubleTree by Hilton famously gives away warm chocolate chip cookies at check-in, and other hotels follow suit. Keep a lookout for tasty treats during seasonal occasions as well, like the house-made sugar cookies adorned with fondant The Tennessean Hotel serves alongside a hot cocoa bar every afternoon and November and December.
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The Caldwell House Bed and Breakfast in Salisbury Mills, New York, has become known for its unique “Pie on the Pillow” amenity, which featured freshly baked miniature pies prepared on the property using fruits from local suppliers. Due to covid, guests will now find a range of flavored pies that include everything from blueberry and peach to nectarine and pecan on their bed when they arrive in a container. The property runs the special offering each year during the month of September.
Signing up for a fitness class is more fun than working out alone at a hotel gym, and many hotels offer free sessions from aerobics to Zumba. Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa in San Diego features a wide variety of fitness classes ranging from spin and strength courses to sculpting, and even offers complimentary protein shakes and cold-pressed juices for guests.
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Stave Puzzles is known for their handcrafted wooden jigsaw puzzles that come inside of equally ornate handmade boxes. Today, the noted puzzle creator provides its collectable pieces to a range of hotels, including Twin Farms in Vermont, where guests receive a complimentary wooden puzzle, while properties like the Rabbit Hill Inn also offer an extensive collection of the puzzles to enjoy during your stay.
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Don't forget to ask about freebies for the little ones; some hotels offer toys, games, snacks, and more. Loews Hotels feature games and activities for kids, night lights, and even cribs for the smallest guests. Marriott Properties often offer a range of goodies for kids, like at The Chatwal, where kids amenities include everything from strollers to dress up trunks inspired by popular Broadway shows. Kimpton provides welcome gifts, happy hour programs for youngsters, nightlights, strollers, and more.
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Enjoy fresh margaritas right in your room when staying at Margaritaville Vacation Clubs by Wyndham locations, which feature frozen margarita makers in the room to whip up your own version of the salty sip or indulge in a daiquiri. Beer lovers can enjoy a cold one anytime with the in-room tap and shower beer fridges available at BrewDog’s DogHouse Columbus, where even the soaps in your room are made from local craft beer.
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Get a workout without having to leave your room. At the Fitness Room at Tryp by Wyndham hotels, you’ll find an in-room elliptical, exercise bike, or treadmill, and exercise mats for working out. Some Westin Hotels and Resorts rooms come with Peloton bikes for use, while The W Boston provides complimentary workout footwear and apparel for guests throughout their stay, complete with new socks to keep.
Looking to enjoy a board game with friends or family? At select Dorchester Collection Hotels like Hotel Bel-Air, guests can request board games like checkers, chess, backgammon, Connect 4, Mahjong, and Scrabble straight to their room. At the Dog Bark Park Inn, a one-unit bed and breakfast style inn in the shape of a beagle in Idaho, guests will find a range of board games for all age groups that include everything from Candyland to puzzles to enjoy with the family.
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Not all hotels are pet-friendly, but those that are often go the extra mile to make sure four-legged companions get royal treatment. Canopy by Hilton partners with Bark, makers of Barkbox, to give pets an entire amenity kit featuring toys, dog treats, and a customized neighborhood guide for dogs, alongside a rolle of dog waste bags. Aloft Hotels provide furry friends with bowls, treats, dog tags, pet toys, and special beds, while Loews Hotels have everything from beds, litter boxes, scratching posts, and toys, to a room service menu specially curated for pets.
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Why rent a boring sedan when upscale hotels loan luxury rides? The Peninsula Beverly Hills offers complimentary BMWs to use when booking a suite. At Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa, guests can access the hotel’s fleet of Bentleys, while Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail provides complimentary use of their Mercedes Benz SUV house car.
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At Hotel San José in Austin, Texas, guests can get a vintage Remington typewriter or a polaroid sent straight to their room to rent out. Polaroid cameras are also an amenity guests can take advantage of at hotels like the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel and The Godfrey Hotel in Boston.
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Some hotels feature completely free happy hours with beer, wine, and cocktails. Provenance Hotels offer a complimentary beer, wine, and light snacks reception at various properties on weekdays; Canopy by Hilton offers evening tastings featuring local beer, wine, and signature cocktails from hotel mixologists, Embassy Suites by Hilton has evening receptions with drinks and light snacks, and Kimpton Hotels have nightly wine receptions free of charge for guests.
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Most of us carry our music collection on our phones, and many hotels are equipped with iPod docks. But there's nothing like the warm sound of vinyl to unwind when traveling. Select Ace Hotel rooms come with turntables and records, while Hard Rock Hotels offer records with a Crosley turntable and curated playlists as part of its Sound of Your Stay Program and hotels like The Otis Hotel have custom vinyl record players and a mix of records in each room. The Verb Hotel also features record players and speakers in rooms, with unlimited access to their onsite vinyl library.
Sometimes you're looking for a bit of peace and quiet in a hotel room, other times you're ready to rock. Most Hard Rock Hotels will loan guests who are feeling the groove a guitar from a selection of premium Fenders, as well as a small floor amp and top-notch headphones. Nashville's Hutton Hotel features Fender guitars, basses, and ukuleles a pre-loaded iPad with Fender Play and a free three-month trial on Fender Play, while the Art Ovation Hotel has ukuleles in rooms and lessons to learn how to play them in their lobby.
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While most hotel rooms will often include complimentary coffee and in-room coffee makers, some hotels take it up a notch with a range of matcha and green tea offerings for guests to enjoy in the comfort of their room. At the Woodlark in Portland, Oregon, rooms come with a matcha kit featuring matcha packets from Smith Teamakers, while rooms at the The Kitano Hotel New York also include Japanese green tea and a hot water maker to sip on prime tea selections throughout the day.
In the rush of travel, sometimes we forget modern essentials such as phone chargers and power adapters. But many hotels provide free loaners to power up during a stay, including those in the Hyatt and Kimpton chains.
Omni Hotels and Resorts offer a range of kid-friendly amenities at their hotels, including backpacks that come with activity books with stickers, crayons, card games, binoculars, and more as part of its Omni Kids Crew program. Children under the age of 6 can get a complimentary Margherita Missoni designed backpack from The Chatwal in New York.
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Looking to enjoy the outdoors while snacking on a campfire favorite? Several hotels like The Wildset Hotel in St. Michaels, Maryland, and Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California offer guests s’mores roasting kits to make their own at the properties’ outdoor fire pits. Hidden Pond in Maine offers bonfires with s’mores fixings each night, while La Posada De Santa Fe in New Mexico provides s’mores roasting by the fire on select days during the winter.
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Throughout the year, guests staying at The Tennessean Hotel in downtown Knoxville are treated to a complimentary Molton Brown Night-Time Relaxation amenity that includes an anti-fatigue eye gel and an orange and bergamot hand cream from Molton Brown London, the Molton Brown London Lip Saver, and a lavender satchel.
Guests staying at Moxy hotels can look forward to a variety of out-of-the-box amenities through the hotel’s Moxy “Hookups,” perks the hotel gifts randomly to guests on a daily basis. Amenities include everything from a drink a guest can name and enjoy on the house to become a custom cocktail served as a special of the day, to vinyls and record players, pillow fort setups in your room, and professional dry cleaning and ironing of clothes with a free drink tag attached to hangers.
Travelers who may be looking to book extended stays can utilize the Something Borrowed program at TownePlace Suites, allowing them to borrow everything from board games and blenders to crock pots, grilling tools, cookbooks and more, straight from the front desk.
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Most of the time, letting a hotel know you are celebrating a special event like a birthday or anniversary will lead to specialized amenities. For example, during special events, The Wildset Hotel welcomes guests with macaroons waiting in their rooms.
Hotels offer a range of assistance for families traveling with babies. At the Conrad Fort Lauderdale, for example, they offer two programs that include a “Please Sleep” menu featuring a baby camera and monitor, a changing table, a sound machine, and more, while their “Please Eat” menu features a nursing pillow, bottle warmer, Inglesina highchair, and a list of local consultants. Guests will also have access to baby bath products, tubs, and tub kneelers for bath time.
When checking into a hotel, make sure to ask if they provide complimentary transportation services to take you to nearby locations and events as many do. For example, Hyatt Centric SouthPark now offers a new program where guests can get VIP rides to nearby events in the hotel’s Mercedes S-Class vehicles. The Beverly Hills Hotel also offers complimentary transportation to locations within a 3-mile radius every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
While suites at the James NoMad already come with meditation cushions, guests staying at any of the hotel’s rooms can request a meditation cushion to relax in style. The hotel also offers complimentary yoga mats.
Always ask a hotel if the hotel has a loyalty program and how to sign up as these can be free of charge and introduce you to special perks. The Otesaga Resort Hotel, for example, will simply invite guests who stay more than three times to join their complimentary loyalty program and receive welcome amenities ranging from bottle openers and cheese boards to blankets, house-made granola, and truffle assortments.
Conrad New York Downtown offers complimentary best-seller digital versions of books for guests to read bedside, with titles available through in-suite TVs. At the new Lake Nona Wave Hotel in Orlando, Florida, children can enjoy a curated library with over 100 selections of books, in addition to bedtime stories that can be read aloud via in-room tablets. The Wildset Hotel features books in each room by female authors, while Hotel Emma in San Antonio features a 3,700 volume library.
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Forget to pack items like sunblock or bug spray for an outdoor adventure? Make sure to check in with your hotel, as several may have these items for guests free of charge. The Blair Hill Inn has a kit of forgotten items that include everything from essentials like toothpaste to rain ponchos, bug spray, and suntan lotion. They also provide walking sticks, while the adults-only National Hotel Miami Beach provides water, sunblock, and towels before hitting the pool.
Make sure to check scheduled events and activities available at the hotel you’re staying in, as many offer complimentary tours and courses for guests. At Pod 51 in New York, guests can get complimentary walking tours with a local guide to discover hidden gems in Manhattan, while Sheraton Waikiki often offers activities ranging from hula and ukulele lessons to history tours, and lei making. Fairmont Hotels also offer a range of complimentary activities that include seasonal morning hikes with local guides.
In addition to bikes, some hotels also offer scooters to take out for a ride around town. Kimpton Hotels can set guests up with Micro Kickboard Scooters, currently offered through for families booking a stay with children through the end of the year at a range of participating hotels.
The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage offers stargazing experiences when weather permits where guests can enjoy glittering skies through the hotel’s telescope, while Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel and Spa in Florida has a complimentary stargazing on the sea program to take guests on a private river boat cruise to enjoy stargazing from local astronomers and picnic snacks. Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona, offers stargazing on select evenings with their resort astronomer to take in the dreamy surrounding views.
At Margaritaville Vacation Clubs by Wyndham, guests can tap into complimentary music therapy sessions to unwind. The private sessions are customized for each guest’s needs and include sound therapy, song-writing, guided meditation, and instrument playing.
Hotels will often offer festive amenities and complimentary events tied to various seasons. Amenities can range from complimentary ornaments and house-made fudge samplings given out in the past at The Otesaga Resort Hotel during the holidays to complimentary ice skating, treats like caramel corn and roasted chestnuts, and holiday story reading with Mrs. Claus at Enchantment Resort in Sedona.
When trying to select a hotel for your next trip, make sure to check whether the property offers complimentary snacks. These can range from welcome gifts of local goodies like salted caramels at Archer Hotels to a daily candy bar featuring sweet selections from noted local candy shops at The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage. Besides its gourmet chef’s breakfast that includes smoked salmon benedict with brown butter hollandaise, lemon curd-stuffed French toast with Grand Marnier strawberries and bacon, house-baked breaks and scones, fresh fruits, and jams, Stephanie Inn also offers fresh-baked cookies all day long.
Some hotels will let kids eat free of charge throughout the trip, including The Chatwal and Holiday Inn locations. Some Experiences by Marriott packages, offered at participating Marriott locations, also include free breakfast, lunch, and dinner for kids age 4-12.
While various hotels often have a lounge room that has gaming consoles for sharing, some offer them right in your room for private enjoyment. Travelers looking to unwind after a day at the beach can enjoy playing a range of Playstation games with their very own in-room console at various Aston Hotels and Resorts.