When I read recently that the New York Hilton Midtown would soon discontinue its room service, I was aghast…No! I only hope other Hotels do not follow suit. Apparently, many hotels feel room service is passé. Okay, I know in a city like New York you don’t have to go far to pick up a meal or a takeaway, but who wants to arrive into a city after a long haul flight, jet-lagged, dazed and confused, and have to venture out in the dead of night to find something to eat? Not when you can take a long hot bath, wrap yourself in a plush robe, plump up the pillows and pick up the phone. You wait with child-like pleasure for the knock on the door and the arrival of a white gloved valet. The food trolley alone is a marvelous invention, folding sides to make a real table, white starched cloth covering a nifty concealed hot box, stylish stemware and silvery cloche, which the valet removes with a flourish and a “Bon Appetite.”
Many women who travel for business rely on room service, not purely for the luxury, although I’ve never met a woman who doesn’t love to consume a meal that she didn’t have to prepare and doesn’t have to clean up! The safety and convenience of room service means they can arrive in the evening, prepare for an early morning meeting, put on their robe and order a simple meal, before wishing their kids goodnight by Skype or phone. They don’t want to go and have dinner in a bar or sit in a restaurant alone, nor do they want to go out to hunt down the nearest salad bar, ordering room service is expedient, safe and secure.
Will room service go the way of the mini bar and be replaced by a coin operated vending machine? Will the meals of the future resemble the new wave ‘pay as you go’ budget airline food, in a brown paper bag or worse a Styrofoam Container? One option that is being touted is ordering from the coffee shop and coming down to pick it up…there ‘ll be a lot of jet-lagged people wandering about in hotel robes in the lobby! Yet another idea is the outsourcing of food to participating local restaurants. I stayed in a 5 star hotel in Sydney housed along a wharf with an Impressive array of multiple hatted restaurants. The hotel didn’t offer room service but did offer meals delivered to your room by their staff from any one of the top restaurants along the wharf.
Room service is also great for kids. Mum and Dad can plan a lovely evening out, engaging a sitter and ordering room service. The novelty of room service will distract the family and take their attention away from the fact that you are leaving them with a complete stranger, albeit a legitimate one, while you go out and enjoy yourselves. When you return you have the luxury of quietly ordering a glass of wine and a club sandwich as a late night snack. In the morning, you can all jump into one bed and enjoy a room service breakfast. One of my favorite games is locking the person out of the room in the corridor in their P.Js when they take the trolley out…great fun and pure indulgence!
What will happen in the movies if they abandon room service, how will the bad guy, posing as the food butler. gain entry to the room? What of romance, a silver wine bucket, empty champagne bottle, a trail of hastily removed clothing…it just won’t be the same without room service!
If I’m going to stay at a luxury hotel, I want the option of a pool and spa, even if I don’t use it during my stay, same goes for room service, it makes me feel safe, secure, pampered and nurtured and just a touch decadent…but I know I’m worth it…how about you?