There have never been more options for meal delivery to your room—or other parts of the hotel
Hotels are putting lots of thought and money into helping travelers do the simple thing they most want: get a plate of hot pad thai or chicken parm to eat in their rooms.
Call it do-it-yourself room service. Food delivery, a pandemic necessity when other food options were limited, has become one of those travel habits that didn’t fade. Given that many hotel chains outside the high end don’t offer traditional room service these days, the industry has had to adapt.
Hotels are teaming with mobile dining apps or developing their own app to help guests bring in outside food or order takeout from on-site restaurants. These hotels are also adding food-delivery stations in the lobby and easy ways to get your food while sitting at the pool.
The luxury Palazzo at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas even has a dedicated lane for food-delivery drivers. And one new hotel chain is making subtle room-design changes with this in mind, including a bigger hotel room trash can for all the takeout trash.
“It is the way of the world,” says Rick Huffman, chief executive officer of HCW Development, a real-estate company that owns 15 hotels, including the new Caesars Republic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The 265-room hotel, the first non-casino hotel under the
banner in the U.S., offers room service through the Caesars Eats app. The food is delivered from on-site restaurants, including Luna by Giada De Laurentiis and, after-hours, from nearby restaurants. The hotel prefers when people order out after hours so it doesn’t have to staff restaurants late into the night.
The luxury Palazzo at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas has a dedicated valet lane for food drop-off and pick-up. PHOTO: DAWN GILBERTSON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Tara Little is a big fan of dining in her room, even if the food is dropped off in the lobby instead of being wheeled into her room in a tablecloth-covered hot box.
The 30-year-old science company sales manager orders food from
when she’s on the road and brings camping utensils in case they forget the cutlery. She likes breakfast in her room while she’s getting ready and a solo dinner after a long day of meetings. Recent orders: chia pudding in Virginia and barbecue in North Carolina.
“It’s just easier to go in my room and chill,” the Maryland woman says.
A simpler alternative
Last year,
joined with Grubhub to offer delivery to guests at Homewood Suites’ 530 U.S. hotels. The extended-stay hotels offer free hot breakfast but no restaurants.
“We looked at what our guests were doing in their day-to-day life and how they were engaging in this space in our hotels,” says Adam Crocini, Hilton’s senior vice president and global head of food and beverage.
At Homewood Suites, the Grubhub option is plastered on room keys, in hotel elevators and a QR code in the rooms. All are aimed at taking the stress out of what to order for lunch or dinner for those who are new to the area or simply don’t want to go out, Crocini says.
More than 100,000 orders have been placed, Crocini says, with about half for local restaurants versus chains.
Crocini says Hilton plans to add Grubhub delivery to another chain soon and will likely feature the delivery service at its new LivSmart Studios hotels.
Hilton broke ground on the first Tempo by Hilton hotel around the time the pandemic began. So takeout trends were top of mind when it tested room features. The result: Minifridges in the room have glass windows so guests don’t forget their leftovers, and there are slightly larger trash cans for those takeout containers.
“The little things almost got magnified,” says Kevin Morgan, global head of Tempo by Hilton.
Don’t expect to see a pitch for delivery services in a Conrad or Waldorf Astoria hotel, Hilton’s pricier brands, Crocini says. Company data show that their guests tend to plan trips around restaurants.
“When they get there, they know quite well where they’re going to be eating,” he says.
The food pick-up table at a Courtyard by Marriott in Downtown Chicago. PHOTO: DAWN GILBERTSON/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Poolside delivery
Grubhub and its rivals don’t divulge the size of the hotel delivery market. But Rob DelaCruz, vice president of campus and hospitality for Grubhub, says hotel partnerships have “accelerated dramatically.”
Beyond Hilton, the company has reached recent deals with
and Sonesta.
Grubhub made a big splash in the hospitality business in 2021 when it became the de facto room-service app at Resorts World Las Vegas. The sprawling casino hotel complex at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip lets guests order room service from any of its more than 40 restaurants with the Grubhub app, even mixing and matching items from restaurants as diverse as Junior’s delicatessen and Aqua Seafood & Caviar. The food is delivered by hotel employees.
Resorts World Las Vegas lets guests order from any of its dozens of restaurants with the Grubhub app. PHOTO: DAVID BECKER/ZUMA PRESS WIRE
The offer even extends to the hotel pools. Craving something different than the nachos at the pool bar? Order from another restaurant, and it will be delivered to lockers by the pool.
Cinthia Pedroza, executive director of food and beverage for Resorts World, says breakfast and late night are the busiest time for DIY room service.
delivery is always popular. So is pizza from an outpost of Beverly Hills’ Mulberry Street Pizza.
To those who can’t fathom the idea of eating takeout in their room in a hotel or city with endless dining options, DelaCruz points to his travels with his children.
“Sometimes they want their Chipotle bowl,” he says. “I don’t want the Chipotle bowl. Sometimes I get outvoted.”
Source: Hospitality Network
March 2024
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