AKCuisine

It seems the New York Hilton Midtown is up to new (or maybe old) tricks. First, back in May, they cut out traditional room service. Now they've closed down the regular restaurant in favor of a spot featuring "grab & go" items.

For the full scoop, read The Wall Street Journal article.

IMO, a hotel can't be considered upscale or even mid-level without a full-service on-site restaurant. A spot selling take-out "grab & go" items just doesn't cut it -- except perhaps at budget or limited-service properties.

What do you think? Can a Hilton still be considered a "Hilton" if they scrap almost all vestiges of customer service?

3Cforme

You're being melodramatic. Not 'almost all vestiges of customer service' are tied to hotel food service.

Full-service restaurants and room service have long been hallmarks of four-star hotel properties, however. What do Forbes Travel (ex-Mobil) Guide and Michelin have to say?

dw

I believe this has been in the works for some time now, and I believe the Herb 'N Kitchen concept is going to be rolled out to some other properties as well.

ILovetheReds

He does make a valid point though. This is the biggest Hilton property in the biggest city in the US. Pretty absurd they don't have room service or a full service restaurant. Do they have a bar or anyplace to buy alcohol at outside the exec lounge?

Last time I stayed there they were strict with the lounge admission only being those in exec rooms and diamonds. What type of breakfast option is there for golds not upgraded to an exec room????

AKCuisine

I adore being melodramatic ... being plain vanilla is boring.

Also, I live to eat. That means restaurants are important to me when I travel.

If I'm paying good money to stay at a full-service hotel, I expect to be able to get a full meal in a real restaurant without having to leave the property.

Yes, there are plenty of times when I'll go out into the community to eat but there are also many times when I'll want to dine at the hotel. For example if it's late, if I'm tired, if I don't have much time, etc. IMO, stripping a hotel of a restaurant strips it of stars.

AKCuisine

According to the article, they do have a lounge with bar snacks that stays open late. But if there's anything I detest more than not having a restaurant it's being forced to eat a "dinner" that consists of wings, nachos and other bar food.

And I also read that while they don't technically offer room service anymore, they'll bring something to your room from the Grab & Go spot. In a brown paper bag. Eek.

amanuensis

I watched the slide show attached to the Wall Street Journal article linked to by the OP. It looks upscale to me. I would rather get food there and get back to my room than sit in a stuffy hotel restaurant. If I want to eat at a restaurant, NYC has so many choices that having one more at the hotel seems superfluous.

dw

Apparently there will still be a breakfast buffet available in a separate corner of the new grab and go concept restaurant (which does have seating). And the bar will still be open for drinks and small plates.

smmrfld

Agree. This is an improvement.

It'sHip2B^2

I kind of wish hotels would get out of the dinner business themselves. I can't say that I've been to an in-house restaurant that I was satisfied with. Most of the time a Chili's would provide a better meal. Instead they could contract out the space to a decent chain or popular local restauranteur. Not every hotel could have a Morton's or Ruth's Chris but surely they could do better than they are doing. And if they can't get something upscale enough, why not make a room service and room billing deal with a nearby hot spot. Then they can use the restaurant space to do an awesome breakfast -- the one thing that it's hard to do badly.

RoyalFlush

This is reminiscent of what Anthony Melchiorri did on the Travel Channel's Hotel Impossible with the Corpus Christi Bayfront Hotel. He contracted with a place across the street for room service.

ILovetheReds

Been a while since I stayed there but Homewood in Chicago use to contract with PF changs across the street to do their room service. Not sure if you can charge to your room if dining inside or not. And HGI on Grand in Chicago uses Weber Grill for their restaurant and you can do room charges there. Weber also does their breakfast but it is a buffet and pretty common HGI fare with made to order omlettes available.

Miesque

I have been to a few HGIs which contracted out room service for dinner hours to the local restaurant (breakfast is standard HGI All American Breakfast). The one which really comes to mind was the HDI Tampa Oldsmar where the room service was from CityFish next door which I thought provided a good meal for a nice price each and every time. Also of note, the Hilton Richmond Short Pump has a Shulas as its restaurant/room service and that was definitely above average for Hilton restaurant/room service. Incidentally, that is a nice little Hilton with a Spa to boot which gives a nice room/experience for usually a pretty fair price.

keeton

I totally agree, especially when traveling for work. Sometimes going out for a meal is too inconvenient.

My suspicions are that this is a labor issue as much as (or more than) a food issue. If so, this is a poor way to deal with it, though.

Miesque

I agree on all fronts. Even smack dab in a city with great restaurants, there are still many times when room service is quite desirable. If you don't want to go downstairs to a restaurant downstairs in the hotel lobby, then you typically are even less inclined to want to go outside to dine.

I order a lot of room service for dinner at Hilton properties throughout the year and I have to say that it seems the best room service tends to be from the hotels that are more modest in size. Also, I would have to say that the grandness of a hotel is not necessarily the best indicator of how much you will like their room service, especially on a value scale. I don't stay at HGIs as much as I used to because I am not thrilled with their beds, but I overall I have above average experience with their dinners both in house and out of house provided and with a good value quotient. With Hilton Hotel room service, I have had some well executed ones which were worth it, but also others where as soon as you get it and start eating you think to yourself "this was not a good decision and definitely not worth the price"