Most three-star hotels offer a complimentary breakfast with your stay, and some go even further. For example, the DoubleTree hotel chain gives free cookies to guests and many Hampton Inns provide free popcorn. Some hotels that cater to business travelers, including many Starwood Hotels, offer complimentary happy hour drinks and hors d'oeuvres on weekdays.

It's not just the chains that offer this free vacation travel perk to their guests, says Mary White, founder of BnBFinder.com, a bed-and-breakfast information website. "Many bed-and-breakfasts offer bottomless cookie jars, snacks and beverages," in addition to the morning meal, she says.

But if you can't survive on breakfast, snacks and happy-hour finger foods, consider a working vacation with World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, or WWOOF. You volunteer your labor and owners offer free lodging and food.