Whether you’re traveling for work or taking a much-needed vacation, hotel stays can go from standard to special when you take advantage of their little indulgences. On-site spas, top-of-the-line fitness studios, and premium valet services all add to a trip’s appeal, but arguably the most commonly used and widely available hotel “extra” comes in the form of room service.
Having a quality meal served to your hotel room door while you’re wearing a plush robe and slippers feels very elevated, but the cost of this luxury can quickly get out of hand.
Yes, room service is expensive. But in certain circumstances, this convenient food service model might justify its lofty price. We spoke with a group of travel experts and hotel professionals, and according to them, room service just might be “worth it” under the following conditions.
1. When time is money
If you’re traveling for business and need to use your hotel room as a home base for deadline fulfillment, wandering through the streets of an unfamiliar city in an effort to find a quality meal may not feel like a valuable use of time. According to Brittany Betts, travel expert and chief marketing officer of FloridaPanhandle.com, the convenience factor of room service has a great deal of monetary value in these situations. “If I am busy getting ready for an event or working from a hotel room and don’t have enough time to leave, I feel like the value of saving time balances out a pricier meal when ordering in room service,” Betts said.
To emphasize her point, Betts provides an example that reframes the cost of room service: “Say you’re in a hotel room working and you get paid $40/hour. It might take you two hours to find an appropriate lunch spot, eat, pay and get back to your hotel room. That’s already $80 wasted on a lunch out, whereas room service can save you that [time] and you can get more done and be more productive.”
2. When you need an especially strong wake-up call (with caffeine)
Wake-up calls from a hotel’s front desk (or an automated service) can be useful insurance against the “snooze” button on your iPhone alarm. But if you’re deeply committed to getting a few more winks, it’s surprisingly easy to ignore a ringing phone. That’s why Christine Courtney, an experiential marketing expert, turns to room service for a failsafe alternative.
“Order a pot of hot coffee for room service to deliver at the time you need to wake up,” Courtney recommends. She likes this option because “they don’t stop knocking until you open the door, you have to get out of bed to answer the door,” and after you “guzzle a cup,” it’s a lot easier to “pop in for a quick shower and make sure you’ll never be late to your event site.”
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3. When you’re at the end of a busy day of travel activities
A trip to a new location or an especially interesting city often includes a lot of walking, a lot of engaged exploration, and a lot of thrilling (yet exhausting) activities. After an especially busy travel day, Lindsay Myers, a travel expert and TV host who shares her travel and lifestyle tips on NBC’s “Access Hollywood,” urges you to give yourself a break and give into the ease and comfort of a room service meal.
“Room service is great; [there’s] no getting ready, no driving or Ubers, and no need to communicate with anyone besides placing a call — and some hotels don’t even make you do that! There are room service options where you can fill out on a form and leave at your door, order through the TV, [or use a QR code]. This is amazing when your energy is tapped!” Myers explained.
4. When your room has a stunning view
If you’ve reserved a premium hotel room for a special occasion and your room features a beautiful view from a window or terrace, then you may find it worthwhile to take your meal right there and make the most of that scenic vista.
“Hotel room service feels like it’s worth it when you can enjoy glorious and rarified views from your own room/balcony,” insists Daniel Debattista, executive chef of the Phoenicia Malta Hotel. Using the Phoenicia Malta as an example, Debattista said that rooms at the hotel have views of “the UNESCO world heritage city of Valletta, as well as the 16th century bastion walls, built by the Knights of St John, that sit within the property itself.”
Lola Méndez, a seasoned travel journalist, feels that rooms surrounded by once-in-a-lifetime sights and that include unique amenities make ideal settings for memorable meals. “If the in-room dining setup is truly extraordinary, I think it’s worth it to enjoy at least one meal in the privacy of your room,” she said. “For instance, at The Brando in French Polynesia, I had an outdoor seating area overlooking the beach. I loved having breakfast here — it was a quiet way to start the day. Another thing that’s fun to try at least once is a floating breakfast if your room has a private dipping pool. At the St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, I was served a floating breakfast in a heart-shaped wicker basket. There’s something decadent about having a stack of pancakes while sitting in a pool,” Méndez said.
5. When the hotel has an award-winning restaurant attached
Hotel restaurants may once have been viewed as mediocre dining establishments that only cater to tourists in a hurry rather than to local gourmands, but recent decades prove that exceptional restaurants from top-rated chefs can now be found at hotels around the world.
Cameron Sperance, senior hotels reporter for The Points Guy, finds that hotels with highly regarded restaurants on premises are also reliable bets for room service because the food “is usually coming from the same kitchen. For example, on a recent stay at the Rosewood Washington D.C., everyone was talking about the five egg-white frittata at [the hotel’s] Wolfgang Puck restaurant. I didn’t have time to make it to the restaurant one morning, but the same frittata was on the in-room dining menu. It was delicious.”
6. When you have dietary restrictions
The stress of traveling with dietary restrictions should never be underestimated, and when you’re visiting a country where your home language isn’t universally understood, clearly communicating your needs can prove challenging. In those situations, Colt Agar, head of marketing and SEO at Red Stag Fulfillment, who regularly travels for business, says that room service provides a welcome level of security.
“While some restaurants accommodate allergies and intolerances, others have little to no safe options, especially if they can’t guarantee an allergen-free kitchen where cross-contamination easily happens,” he said. “And if you’re in an area that speaks another language, it can be difficult to translate the menu and communicate effectively with service staff about your dietary needs. On the other hand, most hotels are used to dealing with diverse international guests and can easily accommodate allergies.”