Every traveler has a list of “must-haves” they require when choosing a hotel.
For some, it’s free Wi-Fi or parking. Or maybe it’s a Starbucks within 100 yards of the place. For others, it’s a pool and hot tub. (How about all of the above, please?)
Or maybe room service is on your list.
While ordering room service is one of those things that always looks like the height of luxury in movies, the food is not always worth the exorbitant amount hotels charge for the convenience.
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Well, it turns out that many travelers don’t care about having traditional room service, nor do they necessarily want a full-service dining option on site.
Food and beverage revenue for hotels declined by 72.5% during 2020, for obvious reasons, but has not fully recovered, in part because guests just don’t demand it, according to commercial real estate company CBRE.
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What travelers do like is being able to have the food they crave delivered right to their room via Grubhub, Doordash, or UberEats.
That’s one reason Grubhub has been courting hotels for a couple of years, encouraging them to build their own branded experiences on the app, and even allowing hotels to enable or limit pickup and delivery to certain parts of the property.
Part of Grubhub’s pitch to hotels is that using their services helps the hotel streamline operations and reduce operating costs.
All the hotel really has to do is put bigger garbage cans in guest rooms.
Extended Stay America hotel brand is partnering with Grubhub to deliver food to travelers; room service isn’t a priority for many hotel guests.
Image source: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock
Extended Stay America is offering $0 delivery from Grubhub
Comfort and convenience are two of our favorite words in America. Now, during a visit to an Extended Stay America (STAY) , there’s no need to choose between the two.
Whether you’ve checked into one of these hotels for a night or a week, ordering takeout from your hotel just got as easy as lounging on that poolside chaise.
Extended Stay America, which specializes in long-term stays, has now partnered with food delivery app Grubhub to bring guests the best of both worlds: $0 delivery fees on eligible orders and a personalized ordering experience directly through the Grubhub app.
The partnership will be available at most of Extended Stay America’s 700-plus hotels.
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“While all our spacious suites have fully equipped kitchens, we understand there are days when you just want to unwind with your favorite takeout, just like you would at home. This partnership with Grubhub allows our guests to do just that,” Extended Stay America’s Chief Brand Officer Adam Cannon said, according to Hotel Dive.
Grubhub is no stranger to delivering to hotels. It already partners with Homewood Suites by Hilton, Sonesta, and Choice Hotels.
Hotel guests have other priorities
In this post-pandemic world, food delivery has become a normal part of life. People know they can satisfy a craving in a few taps, and they don’t want to lose that convenience when they are on the road.
The move away from full-service dining on site signals a significant shift in hotel operations. Labor costs in hotel food and beverage departments have surged nearly 15%, and many hotels are rethinking how they can serve guests without destroying the bottom line.
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But one thing hasn’t changed: the guest is still in charge. And in an attempt to balance cost, convenience, and guest expectations, Extended Stay America may just have solved that problem without requiring guests to lift a finger or pay a delivery fee.
Now if everyone could just work together to solve the problem that plagues both food delivery apps and room service: soggy fries.
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