Is there still room for room service?

Starting in the 1930s, room service at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge has been delivered by servers dressed in crisp white shirts riding a town bicycle when appropriate to the order and while there is no snow on the ground.

By Marni Andrews

From magic boxes to bicycle delivery to unexpected humour, room service is far from passé and continues to evolve. Many guests expect room service, enjoy it and are willing to pay for the opportunity. Solo travellers often embrace it as a way to avoid eating alone. Women travellers like it because of the perceived safety of remaining in room. Still, with North America entering a period of almost certain economic contraction, this amenity must continue to prove itself a revenue plus lest it go the way of all revenue losers that have come before. It can be expensive in regard to labour, staffing and overall logistics.

At the upscale Las Brisas hotel in Acapulco and at Marquis Los Cabos in Los Cabos, Mexico, there is a magic box (pink no less at Las Brisas) that guests are thrilled about. They are happy because the magic box (aka the Room Service Box) enables them to receive their order without having to interact face to face with any staff. Simply, the box is built into the wall and features two doors—one that opens into the hallway for staff to place food discreetly into the cavity and one that opens into the room. At Las Brisas, it’s used constantly since everyone receives a continental breakfast. Marquis Los Cabos’ general manager is Ella Messerli, a former employee of Las Brisas, which explains the amenity jump to the Baja Peninsula.

Secrets Resorts, with locations in Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, also uses the hidden box concept.

The advantages, to both parties in the equation, are immediately obvious. Guests can now order a hot pot of coffee, jump into the shower and know that soon after exiting the bathroom, the coffee will be there without the need to get dressed to answer the door. Guests also avoid the pressure of feeling the need to tip separately for the service since they have not interacted with anyone. For the hotel’s part, staff can be dispatched more economically since there is no time-consuming face-to-face transaction and many orders can be theoretically sent out at the same time.

Consulting firm HVS/American Hospitality Management researched traveller’s room service preferences two years ago. They found that people who travel from 10 to 15 days per month order room service the most. Interestingly, those guests are most motivated by cravings when choosing from the room service menu. Hamburgers were among the top picks.

Kirby Payne, president, HVS/American Hospitality Management, says that room service is really not a huge value add for the industry.

“At best, it’s only marginally profitable and at worst it’s costly,” he said, citing its logistical issues. “You have the normal prep time that you have in a restaurant, then you have to transfer the food to a table that has to be perfectly set, then you have to roll it some distance around the hotel.”

Room service at the Coast Edmonton Hotel

“Room service staffing can be a problem because tips are not as good as in regular food and beverage outlets,” says Tim Bertrand, general manager, Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel, which offers a full menu for 24-hour room service.

The most popular items at the Coast Edmonton Plaza are the Beef Dip and the Clubhouse sandwich. Bertrand has seen a 10 to 15 per cent increase in room service revenue over the last year but cautions that about half of that is due to increased menu prices. The hotel adds a $3 delivery charge to orders rather than charging a 15 to 20 per cent increase over restaurant rates, which “people seem to like.”

Most hotel guests would probably say that they don’t choose a hotel based on foodservice amenities such as room service programs or other food and beverage choices. Foodservice consultant Technomic, however, noted in their recently published Hotel Food and Beverage Consumer Trend Report that such foodservice components are, in fact, important underlying drivers in hotel selection.

“Many hotel executives say that foodservice is a loss leader that is only provided out of necessity. But in surveying both business and leisure travellers, we found that foodservice definitely shapes their decisions in choosing a hotel,” says Darren Tristano, executive vice-president, Technomic.

Wade Sutton is food and beverage manager with Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites in Vancouver, which offers 24-hour room service. He thinks that property location and whether a hotel audience is “captive” or not have the most impact on room service success.

Sutton explains that a captive audience is one that doesn’t have a lot of other dining options. He used to work at the only hotel in Prince George, BC, which catered largely to business executives. Sutton says that room service was successful at the hotel until a White Spot restaurant moved in across the street, after which room service rates plummeted.

“Room service is very labour intensive. You have to have someone dedicated to it and the revenues to combat this,” he says.
 
Customized mini fridge from Atlantic Mini Fridge.

An indirect companion to room service is the minibar. According to Marc Belliveau, director of sales/marketing, Atlantic Mini Fridge Co. Ltd., which offers a line of customizable in-room bars, the typical hotel that offers a minibar service offers room service as well. However, he is now selling to a wider category of properties since “lower-scale hotels now strive to offer much of the same services that you would find in higher class properties in order to attract a wider variety of travellers.”

Atlantic’s best seller is the Bartender AMB505 with about half of sales coming from this model, which can be customized to place beside a dresser or cabinet. Atlantic also offers the NuvoPro In-Room Bar Management System, which uses wireless technology to transfer consumption information directly to the front desk. Belliveau says that this feature offers payroll savings of 50 to 60 per cent compared to an honour bar.

He is also seeing an increase in sales of minibars without locks, which guests can also use as refrigerators, perhaps for leftover room service items.

At the San Jose, CA Marriott, guests can order room service through their PC but it’s the innovative way room service is delivered that has guests gaping at The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in Jasper, AB. At the 916-acre property, in-room dining is anything but just another meal. Starting in the 1930s, room service delivery has been offered by servers dressed in crisp white shirts riding a town bicycle when appropriate to the order and while there is no snow on the ground.

Lori Grant, regional director of public relations, mountain region for Fairmont, says that the service is not advertised. Servers balance their trays while riding right to the doorstep of the room to deliver a truly unique dining experience.

“We deliver items that will fit in the carry basket. This ranges from a bottle of wine and glasses to snack foods. If we are delivering meals that require a container to keep the food warm, we use alternative modes of transportation,” says Grant.

At the Prince George Hotel, the most popular room service food item is the Kobe Burger.

At The Prince George Hotel in Halifax, director of operations R. Craig Norton highly recommends the addition of “a bit of unexpected humour to your menu” as being a key to room service success. As an example, The Prince George offers 500-mL Haagen-Dazs ice cream, chocolate or vanilla, served in the container with just a spoon.

The Prince George offers room service from 6:30 am to 11 pm daily since the hotel found little to no demand for 24-hour service. After-hour deliveries are encouraged from local foodservice operations. Security personnel from the hotel accompany the delivery to the room to provide comfort to guests.

Norton says the most popular room service food item is the Kobe Burger while wines by the glass are the most popular service item overall. He calls the latter a “great up-sell opportunity during the order taking process. Offering one white or red wine option is no longer satisfactory. Our 12 wines by the glass have increased in-room dining beverage sales by 22 per cent.

“You can only push customers so much. You have to listen to what they really want and keep adjusting your selections. They want to be treated as individuals with as much personalized attention as possible,” he adds.

Norton says the hotel is “always taking steps to minimize their impact on the environment since employees and guests expect it. We don’t over deliver on condiments that are not required and avoid utilizing individualized packaged cream, butter, etc.”

Another opportunity for the room service market to offer a sustainable product in order to enhance eco appeal is with “treeless” paper goods. The Sugar Cane Paper Company is offering these new products made of 85 per cent bagasse (sugar cane fibre residue) and 15 per cent recycled paper. For room service purposes, napkins are available, as are toilet paper, tissue and paper towels, according to COO Mark Harrison.

“The product that appears with the food must match the quality of the food offered,” says S. Neil Fowler, hospitality textile consultant, Standard Textile Company Inc. Standard offers cart covers, tray covers, table linen and napery for the industry. “In our product category, the supply of linen, it is about presentation. When a hotel looks to order linen for this area of the hotel, they must understand that given the wide variety of carts used at hotels, each order is invariably custom made. As such, time must be allowed to sample and ultimately produce the finished product.”

Kash Tayal, president/CEO, Dolly Worldwide, which supplies bed and table linen, towels, bathrobes and slippers for this category, says that customized slippers are perfect giveaways to enhance the room service market.

“It’s a very economical commodity to advertise with and it’s an extra edge for luxury service. Even small hotels don’t mind spending $1 to $2 in promotional gifts. We’ve seen the big chains provide even better promotional giveaways such as customized bathrobes, etc.,” he says.