Do You Put Your Tray Out in the Hallway When Using Room Service at a Hotel Property?
Jul 11, 2009, 10:53 pm
#1
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Do You Put Your Tray Out in the Hallway When Using Room Service at a Hotel Property?
Reading this in another thread made me wonder what FlyerTalk members do with trays once finished with the meal as a result of room service:
Do you place it out in the hallway with the used dishes and uneaten food, or do you leave it in your room and call to have the tray removed? Perhaps another method of disposing of the tray and its used items is employed by you?
Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you.
I would never put any room service items in the hall way. You call room service or the front desk and have them come get it, even if you have to make repeated calls. Its rude to your fellow guests to make them look at your finished meal laying on the floor. I guess some people think that is what you do with your tray or cart after you eat. The hall should not be a place for any guest to place their garbage. Once at a really nice hotel, a room would have a tray outside its door after every meal, we slipped a note under the door to let them know we thought they were slobs. They did not care and continued to do it.
Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thank you.
Jul 11, 2009, 11:07 pm
#2
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Usually, if I'm ordering room-service, it's late at night. And I don't need the smell in my room.
It goes out in the hall, of course covered by the metal cover (there's a word for it that's escaping me at this hour).
It goes out in the hall, of course covered by the metal cover (there's a word for it that's escaping me at this hour).
Jul 11, 2009, 11:13 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: CLT
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I mainly stay at Hampton Inns and they don't have RS. It amazes me to see people put take-out trash in the hallway like we all want to smell their chinese.
I leave my trash or tray in my room and let housekeeping deal with it.
I leave my trash or tray in my room and let housekeeping deal with it.
Jul 11, 2009, 11:59 pm
#4
Moderator: Delta SkyMiles, Luxury Hotels, TravelBuzz! and Italy
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I call housekeeping, room service or front desk and ask for the tray to be removed. I don't object to seeing trays in indoor hallways, but I strongly object to seeing trays in outdoor hallways. Seems to me that food left outdoors is an invitation to vermin and critters.
Jul 12, 2009, 12:47 am
#5
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).
Jul 12, 2009, 2:32 am
#6
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i rarely eat from room service (hmm, steak, sandwich, or chicken breast? :barf, but if i do its going outside. staff should be checking the halls frequently enough to quickly remove the trays.
, but if i do its going outside. staff should be checking the halls frequently enough to quickly remove the trays.
Jul 12, 2009, 3:26 am
#7
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I have in the past put my trays out, but now the vast majorities of the hotels at which I stay, place little cards or otherwise indicate NOT to place your tray in the hall, but to call roomservice and have them pick it up. I prefer this, as I personally don't like passing down the hall of a nice 4 or 5 star property to have to look at last night's dinner or this morning's breakfast. I am sure it is mostly for aesthetics, but also to help control the pest population and the harboring of assorted vermin.
However, I have never slipped a note under someone's door about them leaving the tray outside, calling them a slob, etc. I think that would be management's job to let them know that leaving a tray outside is not something they'd like to have occurr.
However, I have never slipped a note under someone's door about them leaving the tray outside, calling them a slob, etc. I think that would be management's job to let them know that leaving a tray outside is not something they'd like to have occurr.
Last edited by czarina; Jul 12, 2009 at 3:29 am Reason: grammar and clarity
Jul 12, 2009, 4:37 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 413
I put it all in the hallway but i ring and tell them it's ready to be picked up
How long they take to pick the stuff up is upto them
But i don't want the stuff in my room after i've finished with it and if i have female company, after dinner comes ........
you get the picture and you don't want interuptions
How long they take to pick the stuff up is upto them
But i don't want the stuff in my room after i've finished with it and if i have female company, after dinner comes ........
you get the picture and you don't want interuptions
Jul 12, 2009, 4:58 am
#9
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Most hotels I stay at ask for a call to room service to have it collected.
If the corridor is narrow, there is no way I would put a tray out in case it blocks people from going past with their suitcases.
In fact, most hotels I stay at do not bring room service on a tray - they bring it on a folding table with wheels. It simply cannot be put out in a corridor - it will get in people's way.
If for some reason I must put a tray outside (e.g. very slow collection by room service and I am needing to go to sleep), I clear up any mess (like the crumbs), any left over will have the metal cover on, and then drape the napkin over it.
Neither have I. Responding with what one perceives to be rude with rudeness is not the answer.
If the corridor is narrow, there is no way I would put a tray out in case it blocks people from going past with their suitcases.
In fact, most hotels I stay at do not bring room service on a tray - they bring it on a folding table with wheels. It simply cannot be put out in a corridor - it will get in people's way.
If for some reason I must put a tray outside (e.g. very slow collection by room service and I am needing to go to sleep), I clear up any mess (like the crumbs), any left over will have the metal cover on, and then drape the napkin over it.
Neither have I. Responding with what one perceives to be rude with rudeness is not the answer.
Jul 12, 2009, 4:58 am
#10
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when people put their trays in the hall, i like to go through and search for unopened jelly jars. hate it when they put a metal dome cover on the tray. can't see what's there, and they are noisy to move.
the sheraton in weehawken NJ does not pick up the breakfast trays until the following night. i quit staying there because the halls smelled like a garbage dump.
the sheraton in weehawken NJ does not pick up the breakfast trays until the following night. i quit staying there because the halls smelled like a garbage dump.
Jul 12, 2009, 8:41 am
#11
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I think leaving trays in the hallway is gross. I only do that in certain circumstances - like I need to get to bed. In that case, I call and request a pickup so it will be taken sooner.
Walking down a hall strewn with half-eaten food and garbage is disgusting.
...and I had to LOL about leaving a note for another hotel guest about it. If I had received said note, it would have gone straight to passiveaggressivenotes.com
Walking down a hall strewn with half-eaten food and garbage is disgusting.
...and I had to LOL about leaving a note for another hotel guest about it. If I had received said note, it would have gone straight to passiveaggressivenotes.com
Jul 12, 2009, 8:46 am
#12
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I'll usually leave it out in the hallway, depending on where I'm staying at.
Jul 12, 2009, 8:54 am
#13
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If you leave a tray in the hallway and it is not picked up promptly, it is not the guest who is being rude, it is the property. Trays should be placed in the hallway, and the hotel should not allow them to remain there for more than an hour. A hotel that allows trays to stay in hallways for longer than that is not a hotel I would return to.
Jul 12, 2009, 9:02 am
#14
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I usually call rooms service and tell them I've finished and then put they tray outside (unless they advise otherwise).
lastt thing I want to be doing is to have to hang around waiting for a knock on the door!
As for slipping a note under the door that's the funniest thing I've heard!!
Regards
lme ff
lastt thing I want to be doing is to have to hang around waiting for a knock on the door!
As for slipping a note under the door that's the funniest thing I've heard!!
Regards
lme ff
Jul 12, 2009, 9:05 am
#15
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I remember being starving once and walking down the hall and seeing a completely untouched (still in plastic wrap over the plate) set of toast/muffins with jam/jelly etc clearly nearby. I was quite tempted to just take it - I did not.
I usually follow whatever instructions I'm given but when in doubt it will go into the hall - i've been told to put it in the hall lots of times. Even with the rolling table to breakfast - I was told "shove it into the hall, THEN call us." (I had a small room at a nice resort - there wasn't room to walk around the table and the bed to get ready in the morning.)
I usually follow whatever instructions I'm given but when in doubt it will go into the hall - i've been told to put it in the hall lots of times. Even with the rolling table to breakfast - I was told "shove it into the hall, THEN call us." (I had a small room at a nice resort - there wasn't room to walk around the table and the bed to get ready in the morning.)