Bellhops, check-in clerks and room service face extinction

[marmar]

(MarketWatch) The next time you check into a hotel, don’t be surprised if the front-desk clerk and bellhop are the same person. Or if there is no clerk or bellhop at all.

To cut costs as consumers cut their travel spending, some hotels are taking a page from airlines, adopting a no-frills policy. New York’s Hilton Midtown, the largest hotel in the city with almost 2,000 rooms, will in August cease to provide room service and will lay off 55 room-service staffers, according to a recent report in Crain’s New York Business. A spokesman for the hotel says it’s “committed to placing qualified employees in alternate positions within the hotel, where possible.” Catering to the whims of 2,000-plus guests is expensive and time-consuming, says Andrew Young, editorial director of Travelzoo. In October, the Hilton Hawaiian Village also dropped room service. “Much like airlines, hotels are looking for ways to maximize ancillary revenue and reduce costs,” Young says.

Hotel companies are also expanding their “value-price” brands — that is, their hotels without room service. Case in point: Intercontinental Hotels Group is adding 454 more hotels (about 52,000 rooms) to its Holiday Inn Express line — the company’s only limited-service brand. Nowadays, “guests tend to be in and out of their rooms more,” says Kirk Kinsell, president for the Americas at IHG. As a result, he says, they order-in less often. And when they do order in, they don’t spend much: Room service revenue at U.S. hotels averaged just $3.33 per occupied room last year, broadly unchanged from 2011, according to PKF Hospitality Research.

“Full-service hotels have restaurants,” says Jan Freitag, senior vice president with Smith Travel Research, “but it’s very, very hard to make money in those.” The number of limited-service hotel rooms rose 16% to 2.7 million over the past decade, while full-service rooms increased by 6% to 2.2 million rooms, he says. In fact, business centers, minibars and spas are the three least popular amenities in hotels, according to a recent survey by TripAdvisor.com, while free Wi-Fi, free breakfast and free parking are the most desired. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hotels-copy-airlines-no-frills-approach-2013-06-04

[AngryAmish]

1. I can see a hotel doing away with room service in Manhatten NY

But what about Indianapolis or even a smaller city with fewer dining and take-out options?

[Eric J in MN]

3. A hotel may have a store or vending machine for guests to buy snacks when restaurants are closed. NT

NT

[hlthe2b]

4. I'm seeing more and more moderate priced to mid-priced hotels pushing local delivery options...

Depending on location, it might be nothing more than pizza, but some cities have full service options at nearly all local restaurants.

I can live without the room service and bellhops, but the mention of ending front desk staff--wtf? How do you check in and who is responsible for notifying appropriate staff when something goes wrong, needs fixing, or you need a room change?

[zipplewrath]

5. Room Service versus restaurant

The issue is room service. Hotels that can justify a restaurant will still have them. But the hotels were maintaining staffs for food service that was hardly used at all.

And quite honestly these days, when I travel on business, I just tend to find a large grocery store. They usually have pre-prepared foods and I can often get a salad and some chicken to take back to the room. Might even slip in a bottle of wine as well.

[jberryhill]

2. Grubhub

There are a number of "food delivery apps" which have made it a lot easier to locate and order delivery from local restaurants from which you can get better food at lower prices than typical uninspiring room service menus.

[pinboy3niner]

6. How will they ever do without this guy?

[TlalocW]

7. I'm kind of used to either staying in...

Smaller motels where there are no bellhops/room service, or on the rare occasion I do stay at a nice hotel for a convention, etc. I normally park somewhere in the hotel lot and carry my stuff in myself. I'm 41 and not even sure I even know what bellhops look like - are they the guys who get you the rolling luggage racks? Do they actually carry things to your room for you like they're portrayed doing in old movies? What do you tip them?

TlalocW

[SomethingFishy]

8. I don't see how cutting Room Service will save money.

How you cannot make a profit on a $21 hamburger is beyond me.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

9. It's very labor intensive...

The back and forth from the room to deliver the food and then retrieve the dishes. Because of the time and distance factor, you need twice as many wait staff to service the same number of people.

[cbdo2007]

10. Also, the vast majority of complaints have to do with a hotel's food service....

both in the restaurant and also with room service. At least they can manage all of the restaurant variables in one place....in the restaurant....rather than making food downstairs, bringing it to your room 30 minutes later....it just complicates something that isn't all that profitable for the expense.

[olddots]

11. I read a 1% verses 99% thing into this article.

The whole thing about being waited on in a hotel/motel or air plane is going away for everyone but the 1%ers .
I never used Bell Hops or room service but it was sometimes there if we wanted it so we could dream of being rich for a little while.
people that worked in these " needless jobs " could even go and feel special for a little while =it was just a dream like having a job where you could someday live the American Dream . This makes me sad because free Wi-Fi and a soggy breakfast are not the thing dreams are made of .

[HiPointDem]

12. me too. my take is that they want more profit, so they're going to cut service. same as every

other big business.

[Zoeisright]

13. Won't be booking rooms at those hotels any time soon.

REALLY stupid move.