Millennials are ruining... Room Service

For the second time this calendar year, I've been in a business-oriented hotel (a Marriott, and this time a Hilton Garden Inn) and after ordering room service found someone at my door holding a large paper sack with containers of food.

No cart, no stainless steel cloches, no Saran-wrapped stemware with ice water. The woman who delivered it said it's not room service, it's carry-out. They don't even come into the room and set it up, just hand you the bag.

The only joy of the typical overpriced, underseasoned, unimaginative hotel food is the service, and that's gone. It's also a terrible waste of single use plastic packaging (strangely there was still a cloth napkin and metal flatware). The only positive note is that there weren't absurd surcharges over the hotel restaurant pricing.

But without the service, I am going to order from local restaurants.

Sounds more like corporations are ruining it but maybe I'm missing something?

=R=

ronnie_suburban wrote:Sounds more like corporations are ruining it but maybe I'm missing something?

=R=

From what I've read, hotels are changing to match the more casual attitude of modern business travelers: no desks because people work on their laps, no carpet, showers instead of tubs etc.

JoelF wrote:

ronnie_suburban wrote:Sounds more like corporations are ruining it but maybe I'm missing something?

=R=

From what I've read, hotels are changing to match the more casual attitude of modern business travelers: no desks because people work on their laps, no carpet, showers instead of tubs etc.

Well if its true than this how all business' should operate.. Either adapt to what the majority of paying customers expect and want or die a slow death. I mean its the same in the labor market (job market) if your skills don't adapt to the new business need than the business will not need you! For example blockbuster put out of business the mom and pop video shops and Netflix put out of business Blockbuster because they did not adapt to the new market wants/needs.

GET OFF MY LAWN!!

Millenials dont stay in hotels anyway. Airbnb is their thing!

My dinner of avocado toast and Tide Pods arrived on a silver tray under a dome, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

JoelF wrote:For the second time this calendar year, I've been in a business-oriented hotel (a Marriott, and this time a Hilton Garden Inn) and after ordering room service found someone at my door holding a large paper sack with containers of food.

No cart, no stainless steel cloches, no Saran-wrapped stemware with ice water. The woman who delivered it said it's not room service, it's carry-out. They don't even come into the room and set it up, just hand you the bag.

The only joy of the typical overpriced, underseasoned, unimaginative hotel food is the service, and that's gone. It's also a terrible waste of single use plastic packaging (strangely there was still a cloth napkin and metal flatware). The only positive note is that there weren't absurd surcharges over the hotel restaurant pricing.

But without the service, I am going to order from local restaurants.

Fully understand if you want the tablecloth and silver service, because, after all, you're paying for it, but I guess I would be almost relieved to see a bag of boxes appear at my door. Easy. Do you tip on that?

David Hammond wrote:Fully understand if you want the tablecloth and silver service, because, after all, you're paying for it, but I guess I would be almost relieved to see a bag of boxes appear at my door. Easy. Do you tip on that?

Of course: I'm not a savage!

I do not think that Millennials are ruining room service. I think that the large hotel chains have put so little effort into room service and added so many ridiculous fees that the pricing is not competitive with other options, especially during an era where many restaurants offer some form of delivery.

I can think that I have used room service exactly twice in the past 30 years. Once at the Sliver Legacy in Reno and once at a Marriott property in the Chicago suburbs. The first was a truly a special meal done up very well. The second was, well, Marriott boring. I probably would not have ordered the latter had the Marriott banquet food been so bad.

I almost always have a vehicle so room service is very unnecessary.

One issue that I do have with room service is that the hotel staffs deliver a lot of trays throughout the night but never walk around the property collecting the empty trays and dishes. They pile up outside which creates a potential fire hazard should. If the place fills up with smoke, I do not want to be tripping over all of the trays in the hallway.

I would think that "High End" Hotels still have traditional room service. Not sure about 24 hr menus (hamburger or pizza ) after a late night out.

I think I read something about food delivery robots debuting in campus towns across the country.

Tinder and Uber Eats should be announcing a merger shortly.

seebee wrote:Tinder and Uber Eats should be announcing a merger shortly.

Tuber (TM). "You want me to do what with that cassava?"

Santander wrote:

seebee wrote:Tinder and Uber Eats should be announcing a merger shortly.

Tuber (TM). "You want me to do what with that cassava?"

Pastrami deliveries would more than likely skyrocket. I find the pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted, cured, meats.

Santander wrote:Tuber (TM). "You want me to do what with that cassava?"

I want you to perform the laborious grating and fermenting process that removes all the cyanide from it, baby!

We had the opportunity to see a presentation by one of the companies that is partnering with hotels to provide various amenities and services, including room service. It is apparently very expensive for hotels to offer traditional room service, which is usually separate from the normal kitchen of any restaurant on premises. It has to be staffed, it has to have food on hand, but it's completely erratic. Much waste. And many people have gotten used to ordering at home from local places via Grub Hub, Uber Eats, etc. so they do that at hotels, chipping away at the business, and creating issues if drivers leave their cars and try to go up to the person's room. Or if someone impersonates a delivery person... Many hotels have cut out room service, and/or replaced it with partnerships with a set of local restaurants. The order is brought up by the hotel staff, and they have an ongoing relationship with a local business. This doesn't stop you from ordering yourself from wherever, but you don't have to run down to the lobby in your PJs at 3am.

Millenials have ruined basic economic principles

Last year my sister stayed at the EMC2 hotel downtown. They have a traditional restaurant but what isn't traditional is that the room service is delivered by . . . robots (Leo and Cleo). Not 24 hour service, "just" 6 AM to Midnight. Of course our first time over visiting we had to hang around in the lobby long enough to see one of them scuttling off to do its thing and another returning to its docking station. There was a bridal party up in one of the suites and they were kept busy restocking the wine.
https://hotelemc2.com/