I had to laugh... why I hate room service.

[Tummy]

W New Orleans

$20 Pan Roasted Salmon Entree + $3 delivery + 19% service + 9.75% tax = ~$30.

I guess a wedge of lemon or some other garnish would have ate into their profit margin too much.

To be fair it did also come with a small dinner roll and some butter, plus I did have a couple other things (baked potato $5, and braised short ribs $18) which brought the total to ~$59.

[Non-NonRev]

The Minimalism of the W brand, carried to its logical conclusion....

[inyourvillages]

Yes, but you got free plate rental.

Seriously, I'd be embarrassed if I was a food manager and someone paid $30 for that. Or $20. Or $10.

[bulldoggolfer05]

One to add to this (didn't order it for obvious reasons) is at the W New York - Union Square. Simple salad starts at $25. Want chicken on top of that? Add another $17. Then there is the mandatory $5 delivery charge, 20% gratuity, and 8.375% sales tax, bringing your grand total to around $60 for a chicken caesar salad!

[yyzvoyageur]

I'm really not surprised. They should be embarrassed. I laugh every time I read a room service menu.

[BlissWorld]

exaggeration

Obviously, the price doesn't include the side dishes. Once you add the baked potatoes and whatever on the sides, then it becomes a full meal. A salmon with side dishes at any upscale hotel will run you $30+gratuity+delivery+service.

In contrast, here's my recent room service picture a W Minneapolis:

Perfectly cooked filet mignon with truffle oil infused hash and pancetta snow peas. Absolutely delicious. ($38)

The tuna tar tar on the side was equally yummy ($14)

[Tummy]

I'm not so dissatisfied with the price as the presentation, since I'm not really paying for it anyways. You would think at a design conscious brand, they would pay attention to such things. Really it wouldn't kill them to add some garnish. I did order a side potato, but it was served on a separate plate. They could have combined it onto one and it would have looked a little less shocking.

The braised short ribs were pretty tasty. A 330ml bottle of Voss water would have been another ~$4.

[RichMSN]

Originally Posted by BlissWorld

exaggeration

Obviously, the price doesn't include the side dishes. Once you add the baked potatoes and whatever on the sides, then it becomes a full meal. A salmon with side dishes at any upscale hotel will run you $30+gratuity+delivery+service.

In contrast, here's my recent room service picture a W Minneapolis:

Perfectly cooked filet mignon with truffle oil infused hash and pancetta snow peas. Absolutely delicious. ($38)

The tuna tar tar on the side was equally yummy ($14)

Am I the only one who thinks $60+ for a room service meal is horribly overpriced?

[hillrider]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Am I the only one who thinks $60+ for a room service meal is horribly overpriced?

Nope, and it's definitely brand-damaging: just look at the thread title!

I've learned to scout the area around hotels on Zagat or Google Maps for restaurants or take outs before leaving on a trip. The food is usually better, and the bill--integrity dictates that whether I pay for it or charge it through doesn't make a difference--is more honest.

[soitgoes]

Originally Posted by inyourvillages

Yes, but you got free plate rental.

Seriously, I'd be embarrassed if I was a food manager and someone paid $30 for that. Or $20. Or $10.

Indeed.

Send that picture to the F&B manager, general manager, and Starwood corporate. It's really appalling; you could get nicer presentation at Denny's.

[camsean]

What a joke. I would have sent it back.

Certainly posting it here is brand damaging so at least you get that satisfaction.

[francophile]

I read this article in the NYT last week. Here's a quote:

“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.

Can this really be true?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/bu...Service&st=cse

[RichMSN]

Originally Posted by hillrider

Nope, and it's definitely brand-damaging: just look at the thread title!

I've learned to scout the area around hotels on Zagat or Google Maps for restaurants or take outs before leaving on a trip. The food is usually better, and the bill--integrity dictates that whether I pay for it or charge it through doesn't make a difference--is more honest.

I've used room service in the past. Sometimes I'm wiped out from the day's events and just don't feel like going out. But I've had food delivered from outside if I see the cheapest option on a RS menu is $30+. Normally there's a sandwich on there that brings the total to under $20. I can get a soda at the club, normally, for free.

Hey, if it 's my money, fine (although I'd rather pay $5 at Subway than have that salmon), but if I'm traveling on business and expensing my meals, I just wouldn't feel right putting it on my expense account even though my boss probably wouldn't blink an eye.

[lehms]

eating in the room generally doesnt work for me, cost, lingering smell, no real comforatable seat to eat and watch tv

with all the options on the internet to research and try good local places i try to do that

[l'etoile]

Originally Posted by Tummy

I'm not so dissatisfied with the price as the presentation ...

But you're missing the subtleties in the presentation. Notice how the salmon is slightly off to the side of the plate rather than in the center? You have an asymmetrical balance of two unequal parts creating a visual unity of all working together as one. I have little doubt it took much effort to achieve this result. Consider it like some modern art ...you have to stare at it a while to really get it.