One of the types of hotel services is room service....
Read MoreHotel room service – all to know about
One of the types of hotel services is room service. It is a well-known option and very often used by hotel guests. Basically, they like it because no one has to leave the room and the ordering is easy. Guests can just order the food or beverage, then wait in the room when a waiter will bring it. So it does not require from the guest to dress up nicely, move, and wait at the restaurant table. He / She can do whatever they want during the time of waiting e.g: watch TV, take rest in bed, or even take a shower.
What is hotel room service
Hotel room service is the delivery of food and beverages to the guest room. The guest can order a meal from the room service menu, and then the waiter will bring it to the room.
In high-range hotels (4-5*) usually room service is available 24h, so the guest does not have to worry about late arrival when the restaurant is already closed, or coming back late from sightseeing the town and getting hungry.
How hotel room service menu looks
The hotel room service menu has a similar layout to the restaurant menu. There can be found:
- appetizers,
- soups,
- main dishes,
- kids menu,
- desserts,
- beverages,
- alcoholic beverages.
However, the positions on the room service menu may be different than on the restaurant menu. The room service menu usually is less choice, but it does not mean that it is poor.
Another point is that the room service menu is separated by the day menu and night menu. So dishes may be different depending on the ordering time. The night menu includes less choice options than the day menu. It is because there are less orders during the night time, so hotel restaurant is reducing the potential food waste.
Hotel restaurants that serve breakfast, should have the option of delivering the breakfast to the room. The time of room delivery breakfast may be the same as the one served at the restaurant, or a little bit different. There is no rule, every hotel may set it in its own way. The breakfast menu should be found in the room service menu on the special page/folder.
Where to find hotel room service menu
Depending on the hotel, the room service menu can be found as a printed menu or on the TV screen (which is very popular nowadays, especially in 4-5 star hotels).
The printed menu should be placed on the table, desk, or next to the bed on the night table.
TV menu should be found under the specially made folder e.g: „Hotel services”->” Room service menu”
How to order and time of realization
The best and most popular way to order room service is to use the phone in the room. Every hotel should have its own instruction how to do that. Usually, it is a special number or voice on the phone tells something like „to order room service press 1”.
Anyway, if the guest has a problem, and does not know how to connect with the restaurant room service, it is good to call reception and ask. The receptionist will give all instructions or transfer the call to the right department. In many cases the receptionist will take the order as well without any problem.
Other ways to order room service are to come personally to the front office and make an order to the receptionist, or go to the restaurant and make an order to the waiter. However, I would not recommend this way if someone is not sure what position from the menu exactly he/she wants. It will take more time than checking the menu in the room and ordering by phone.
The time of realization of a room service order is usually 30-45 minutes. The waiter who takes the order should inform the guest how long it will last approximately. What is important, there should be set maximum waiting time and if it is exceeded (without informing the guest about possible longer waiting time) the guest may ask to not pay for the meal. Of course how a hotel deal with such kind of situation depends on its own policy (some will give the order for free, some may give a discount e.t.c).
Room service delivery fee
Usually, there is a room service delivery fee, it means that the guest needs to pay extra for delivering the meal to the room. It is quite important to know because for every delivery is separate fee.
To make it clear, for example:
The delivery fee is 10euro, guest orders the first main dish and then makes another order for dessert. In this case, guest will pay 20euro, as there will be two separate deliveries. If the guest ordered the main dish and dessert at the same time they would be delivered altogether, so the guest would pay 10euro for delivery.
Therefore if someone does not want to spend too much money, it is good to check the menu correctly and order everything that may be needed at once (of course when being sure that can eat or drink all what is ordered 😉
In case someone made an order and forgot about something, it is possible to call back and say to add this thing to the previous order and bring it together. Of course, if the previous order is not already on the way to the room. So additional orders should be made quickly 5 to 10 minutes after the first one.
To sum up:
- room service menu can be found as a card menu in the room or on the TV screen,
- room service menu looks similar to the regular restaurant menu,
- hotel room service can be ordered by phone or personally at the hotel reception or restaurant,
- most common time of realization of room service order is 30-45 minutes,
- usually hotels charge a delivery fee for room service.
Subscribe to not miss any article with valuable hotel knowledge!
Thank you 🙂
Check as well:
Paris trip – blog post about my experience
In April 2023 I traveled to Paris for 2 days....
Read More
Why the hotel bill receipt is wrong?
Sometimes guest may not agree with the hotel bill receipt...
Read More
