Diet Water, Melted Ice Cream, and Bison: The Weirdest Room Service Requests
Joe Cortez June 08, 2023
These are just some of the strange requests from travelers according to a recent study by online travel agency Hotels.com.
Casual Cuisine Leads In-Room Dining Despite Outlandish Requests
In finding how hotel guests do in-room dining, Hotels.com surveyed 473 hotels throughout the month of April 2023 in the United States, Europe, and Asia. While some of the requests by travelers were certainly extravagant, many others were mostly mundane.
For example: 43% of travelers ordering room service will request casual dining staples, as opposed to higher-end options like steak and champagne. Nearly half of in-room diners go for the American staple of a burger – although pizza, club sandwiches, tacos, and fries were also on the list. Only 27% say they spend $100 or more when ordering room service options.
But what about the weirdest requests? The findings from the study show “diet water” and melted ice cream topped the list of strangest things travelers ordered for room service. Other unusual requests included blowfish, cooking a fish a guest brought to the hotel, bison, a no-egg-white omelet, and a rice bowl specifically for a traveler’s dog.
Ice Cream Sundaes, Lego Butlers, and Orchestral Music Top High End Services
If you thought some of those requests were strange, they don’t compare to what some hotels offer for their high-end guests. If you feel like taking in a concert in the comfort of your room, The Milestone Hotel in London offers musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a private performance. The players are quoted on an individual basis upon request.
At the Ashford Castle in Ireland, guests who want to spend a relaxing night in can request the services of a “Lego butler.” For a small fee, the butler will provide the guest with a Lego set from a small selection, delivered to the room on a silver platter.
Finally, who doesn’t love ice cream? At the Plaza Hotel in New York, guests can indulge in the ice cream sundae made famous in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” The $300 desert includes 16 scoops of ice cream covered in toppings. Meanwhile, at the Chicago Four Seasons, an ice cream man will make in-room ice cream deliveries upon request.
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Feature image courtesy: Engin Akyurt via Pixabay
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Diet water it's something new. Thanks for lifting the mood.
Well, the rich have their own quirks
Was it Van Halen that used to order bowls of M&M's with the brown M&M's removed? I think it was Van Halen anyway. And they'd damage their room if they didn't get their way.
They didn't order the M&Ms at hotels, it was one of the stipulations in their contract rider: No brown M&Ms in their dressing rooms/craft services. And the reason for this condition was explained by Roth years ago: If there were indeed brown M&Ms, then the promoter might have overlooked other details in the rider--including ones involving the requirements for the safe installation of their massive lights, which no other touring group before them had used.
Diet water isn't that odd, they may have meant diet tonic or seltzer water. Cooking a fish a guest caught isn't odd either, seen this a lot in Alaska. Also many resturants even in NYC if you are a regular will cook a fish you caught.