The Hilton Midtown is New York City's largest hotel and it recently announced it would be ceasing room service indefinitely.
The 2,000-room mega hotel will discontinue room service this summer and advises guests to visit their gourmet self-serve food outlet, "Herb n Kitchen", for a meal.
The move is a part of their casual dining experience and comes after learning about new trends in the way travelers consume their meals while on the go.
"We surveyed 22,000 guests, owners and operators and we learned that the way people eat at home is translating into the way they eat on the road," said Beth Scott, Hilton Worldwide's vice president of food and beverage concepts. "As a result, we decided to reinvent the hotel dining model to better serve the needs, wants and lifestyle of our customers."
The Herb n' Kitchen, set to open this month, is going to offer three meals a day - breakfast, lunch, and dinner - in a cafeteria-style setting. It will offer guests "seasonal salads, artisanal sandwiches, and brick oven pizza"
This style of eating is the beginning of a new trend in the hotel industry as accommodators like Hilton Worldwide battle with skyrocket costs and little gains when providing guests with special attention like room service, reports Crain's New York Business.
"I don't think anyone makes a profit on room service because of its labor costs," said John Fox, senior vice president of PKF Consulting. "I'm sure all the big hotels will be look at what Hilton is doing."
And while the entire industry is looking at Hilton to measure what the gains will be after this change, hotels like The Marriott Marquis Times Square has announced no plans to rid their location of room service, citing brand preservation as a reason to keep it.
"Room service is very important at breakfast time," said a spokesperson for the Marriot Times Square. "It is not a huge profit center, but if you are a hotel of a certain brand or category, it's something you provide."
