Once a fixture of the hotel stay, room service must adapt in order to survive—or perhaps it’s already too late.
With the attack of food delivery apps like Uber Eats , room servicehas lose its decades - foresightful advantage of being the only option for thirsty hotel guests who ca n’t be bothered to sit upright at a restaurant .
Sure , ordering manner of speaking deprives guests of the white tablecloth , real utensils , and opulence of small tomato ketchup bottle , but is it worth the maladroitness of hovering in yourrobeas a hotel employee sets up your mesa ? And why would n’t you require to try abuzzy local restaurantinstead of an atrociously overpriced , generic hamburger ?
In this new era , some hotels have taken the “ if you ca n’t beat them , fall in them ” approaching byforming partnershipswith the apps , like My Place Hotels of America did withGrubhubin February , decimate delivery fees for Edgar Guest and auto - populating their order with the hotel ’s dip - off pedagogy . ( TheWSJrecentlycalledthis approach “ DIY room service . ” ) In 2021 , Resorts Worldnixedin - elbow room dining all in all , encourage guests to order from their onsite restaurants via Grubhub , and the app iscontinuing to pitchthis form of partnership to other hotel chains .
Illustration by Ruby Ash for Thrillist
But in the “ still trying to beat them ” category are the hotels making it unmanageable for delivery messenger to drop off solid food , restricting access to Edgar Guest way with key placard - aerate elevator , or that havelaunchedappsof their own to make room armed service seem just as convenient ( and delivery - like ) .
Many hotels are also angle into the element that make elbow room service particular and sybaritic — such as adding in - way dining experiences involving champagne or strong suit tea service . Along these lines , Royal Palms Resort and Spain Scottsdale , Arizona , launched an in - elbow room happy hr , complete with bar snacks and a custom playlist . Meanwhile , others are placing more of an accent on the “ concierge ” side of the equation . For instance , the Four Seasons Boston has a “ umber concierge ” on stave for in - room coffee deliveries , andSolage Auberge Resorts Collectionin Napa Valley swash a “ caviar concierge ” for their “ art of caviar ” experience .
That enounce , the future of elbow room service is in riskiness , something for which delivery apps should n’t shoulder all of the rap . For starters , the financials on elbow room service have never been great for hotel . Even before a downward trend kicked off in 2007 , room service revenue made upjust 1.52%of total hotel revenue . That ’s probably why the press hasbeenwritingobituariesfor room service since 2013 , when the 2,000 - way New York Hilton Midtownannouncedthey were discontinuing it , citing a fall in client request . “ For some hotel , way religious service is not meant to make profit,”remarkedthen - president of Hotel & Leisure Advisors David J. Sangree , but rather “ is a make monetary standard ” that many guests bear .
Halcyon, a hotel in Cherry Creek
A ten by and by , many hotels that stopped room military service during the pandemic , advert staffing shortages and low demand , never resumed it . According to theWashington Post , receipts for elbow room service plummeted 32.5 % from 2019 to 2023 , and beverage way armed service was down 18 % . There are fewer people to make and fork over the food , too , as hotel staffing has yet to recover to pre - pandemic levels . In fact , per the American Hotel & Lodging Association , 87 % of U.S. hotel say they ’re short on faculty .
Aaron Coburn , general managing director ofSt . Julien Hotel & Spain Boulder , Colorado , believes the pandemic play the prominent role in overhaul their advance to way overhaul , but it also gave them a chance to reassess what never really worked in the first place . “ We no longer offer door hangers for Edgar Albert Guest to pre - range their food , ” he explains . “ amount in first matter in the morning to find 20 threshold hangers , all with requested bringing times between 7 to 7:30 am does n’t sic our squad up for success . ” The hotel also moved menus online and stop proffer 24 - hour service because there was no longer enough need to bear out the staffing it required .
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Love it or hate it, snacking in the sky has long been a cornerstone of modern air travel.
AtHalcyon , a hotel in Denver , in - way dining persist “ a little but consistent part ” of the hotel ’s business , even as it trends downward . “ During COVID , most hotel ’ in - room dining went to a seize - and - go pick , as takeout from the eating house in to - go packaging , ” says manage director McClinton Heil . “ Most hotels are still doing this role model today . ” Halcyon has since make for back real plateware but has full switched over to digital ordination .
Interestingly , for many cordial reception professionals in luxuriousness hotel , where cost effectiveness and convenience will never trump the placid ceremonial occasion of lift a silver dome - shaped lid by the side of your bed , deliverance apps are n’t deliberate rival . “ To be exact , there are 40 differentservice standardsthat delimitate a perfect elbow room service experience , ” explains Coburn . “ The legal transfer apps offer something very different . ”
Many of these hotels , though , are seek to retool the aspect of room serve that people dislike , such as the hell of trying to pass gone when your way smells of leftovers because you were too lazy to call for someone to take it aside . TheEquinox Hotelin New York City service its way service menu of “ functional , ” superfood - laden meals and drink in a silklike cut up tiffin box with shorts , “ which ensure freshness and nip conservation while banishing any lollygag odors from the room , ” says a rep .
Chris Norton , CEO of Equinox Hotels , explain that the speech apps pushed them to let guests govern through in - elbow room iPads and to proffer “ functional foods and dietetic needs that may not be readily usable through traditional elbow room service offering . ” To this end , the stigma late acquaint a gut health room service computer menu sport prebiotic- and probiotic - rich foods , like kimchi and yogurt .
Again , a good deal of these slip have been in motion for years . Virgin Hotelslaunched a dedicated mobile app calledLucyin 2015 that permit substance abuser to check - in , conform elbow room lighting , and order elbow room service . Plus , Virgin Hotels ’ two - bedchamber way design lets guest exit the door to their bedroom for the full contactless , optic - touch - less experience , with the option to send a cashless tip to hotel staff through the app . ( Doug Carrillo , master marketing officeholder at Virgin Hotels Collection , suppose 65 % of their room religious service monastic order are now done through the TV . )
You’re Not Tipping Your Hotel Housekeeper Enough
Think $2 a day, minimum.
It ’s hard , though , to imagine the extermination of room service when hotel restaurant and bar are the best they ’ve ever been . Luxury hotels today are expected to court well-thought-of chefs to oversee their food and beverage programs , and many of the country ’s swell restaurants are now located at bottom of hotel . They ’re proper destinations in their own right , and not just issue for Edgar Guest who have no other selection . As Becky Hughes wrote intheNew York Timesback in 2023 , “ Over the retiring few years there ’s been a gold rush in honestly good , New Yorker - approved restaurants that just happen to be in boutique hotels . You could spend an entire weekend visiting hotels as dining destinations , rather than as necessary layover with middle - of - the - road ( at effective ) food . ”
Could you also spend an entire weekend visiting hotels as olympian elbow room overhaul terminus ? mayhap . But at some point you may just require a taste of family — surrender in a brown composition base .
