By ,
Published May 08, 2017
So New York's Hilton Midtown Hotel is dropping room service.
The largest hotel in Manhattan, with some 2,000 rooms announcing the no-frills move.
Apparently it was too distracting and too even at sky high rates, too expensive to continue...so it's gone. You 2,000 guests, may I suggest some great take out in the area--I know them all quite well.
But what's interesting about this move is it comes as other no frills hotels that have never offered room service have soared.
InterContinental Hotels Group is adding 452 Holiday Inn Express Hotels, or about 52,000 rooms. Not a one with room service.
Leaner is meaner, I guess.
And apparently hungrier too. Because when it comes to pricey extras, hotels aren't getting a lot of extra bang for the room service buck.
According to Quentin Farrell of MarketWatch, little more than three bucks a person.
I always thought they were making a lot more on that 25-dollar bacon and eggs order of mine. Lesson learned.
Which also explains why so many hotels are junking those minibars and goodie-filled refrigerators with the five dollar snickers bars. Same thing-no money in it. Despite years of charging you through the nose for it--so they're dropping it--all of it.
Just like airlines that slowly started taking away their meals, then their blankets, then the free soda.
Then started charging more for that random seat that had an extra precious inch of leg room, get ready to pay an arm and a leg for stuff that used to be folded into the price.
No more.
I guess it's better for me, anyway, who needs a tempting room service menu by bedside when it all but guarantees chicken wing sauce splattered over my bed.
I'm told five star hotels are avoiding this rush to austerity because they can't be ranked five stars if they don't offer room service.
But I bet that will change.
Because who needs five stars if you can fill up your hotel just the same--a la carte.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/cavuto-the-end-of-room-service-in-hotels