By KARLA COOK
As the sluggish economy forces hotel kitchens to do more with less, chefs have sought ways to retain a cherished perk of business trips: room service.
They are substituting cheaper cuts of meat, making some foods in advance, shrinking portion sizes and promoting local fresh fare. And they are serving comfort foods, said Ron De- Santis, director of consulting at the Culinary Institute of America - like roasted chicken, Reuben sandwiches and French fries .
“Those are the things that resonate and aren’t over the top in costs,” he said. “They want to use ingredients in a smart way to meet price points - or expense accounts for business travel.”
Even before the downturn, room service (now often called in-room dining) was not profitable on its own. “Hotels have always tried to make money with room service, but they never could,” said Joseph McInerney, president and chief executive of American Hotel and Lodging Association, a trade group. “It’s a service you need to have if you want to consider yourself a first-class hotel.”
In-room dining is about making people feel welcome and at home, which translates to improved customer loyalty ratings and a heightened perception of the hotel, said Brad Barnes, a chef and a founder of GigaChef, a restaurant consulting firm.
“Even if people don’t partake, they like reading that a place has room service - or overnight room service,” he said. Then there is the business customer who arrives at midnight and is hungry and comes 20 times a year. “You’re not looking at his club sandwich. You’re looking at his room.
Mark Payne, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago, said he had seen a downturn in room service orders. Some items, he said, like the hamburger, Caesar salad, club sandwich, Cobb salad and the chocolate cake, remained popular. He said he had also been successful with the $35 three-course meal, featuring foods from a local farmer’s market.
At the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, the economy has forced reductions in the overnight room service staff. Thomas Rhodes, the executive chef, said the kitchen was assembling a limited menu with items like a Cobb salad, club sandwich, soup and hamburger.
After the Driskill, in Austin, Texas, reduced room rates and room service prices, occupancy rates and room service volume rose, said Jonathan Gelman, executive chef. “Where we were offering a New York strip or a filet, it’s now a skirt steak, or a steak salad with flank steak, he said. He also has cut portion sizes - a rib-eye steak is offered at 340 grams, down from 450 grams, and its price has been cut to $28, from $38.
Rohit Verma, an associate professor of operations management at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, said he preferred room service to restaurant meals while traveling. “Business travelers have flights at odd times, or they need a quick meal before a meeting, he said. “If I’m by myself, I’d rather sit in my room and work while the food comes than sit in a restaurant.
The Ritz-Carlton in Chicago has seen a drop in room service orders, says executive chef Mark Payne, right.
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