Top 10 weirdest hotel room service requests around the world revealed by Hotels.com
From diet water to a blowfish, Hotels.com is exposing the most bizarre requests made by hotels guests, and the most out-of-the-ordinary room service experiences
While hotel staff certainly want to make their guests feel at home at their property, some have maybe taken that sentiment a bit too seriously with particularly odd room service requests, now being revealed in the first ever Hotels.com Room Service Report.
An online survey conducted from from April 5 to April 23, among 473 hotels offering in-room dining in Canada, the U.S., U.K., France, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, found that 75 per cent of hotels have seen room service demand increase, or stay the same, in the past year.
Over half of hotels surveyed identified that they plan to continue to offer, or expand, room service offerings and hours due to growing demand.
The most popular in-room dining time for Canadians is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., for breakfast.
When it comes to how much money guests are willing to spend on room service, the hotels surveyed shared that 30 per cent of their guests will spend, on average, over $100 on a single in-room dining order.
Canadian hotels indicated that champagne or sparkling wine is the most expensive item on their room service menus.
"Room service holds a special place in the hearts of hotel guests," a statement from Melanie Fish, spokesperson for Hotels.com, reads. "Whether it's a treat-yourself moment or a must-have after a long day of sightseeing."
"A tip for Hotels.com gold and silver rewards members – you can find VIP properties where food and beverage credit is always on the menu in the app."
While hotels are trying to "push the boundaries" for what's available for room service, guests have come up with some pretty wild requests.
The top 10 most unusual room service requests, according to Hotels.com, are:
Diet water
Melted ice cream
Blowfish
Boiled bottled water
A raw fish that the guest brought with them to cook
Cockle popcorn
No egg white omelette
Rice bowl for dogs
Bison
Eggless eggs in hell (shakshuka)
But "weird" certainly doesn't have to be a bad thing, especially when it comes to in-room offerings. Hotels around the world in destinations like London, Bora Bora, New York, and even Toronto and Montreal, allow guests to have unique experiences in the comfort of their own room.
Top hotels on the Hotels.com app with 'out-of-the-ordinary' room service experiences are:
Toronto Marriott City Centre in Toronto: Nowhere else in Canada can you watch a professional MLB baseball game from the comfort of your own hotel room, with this property fully integrated with Toronto's Rogers Centre stadium. To elevate the experience even further, guests can order unique ballpark favourite foods right to the room.
The Milestone Hotel in London: When you think of room service you likely think of food and drinks, but this London hotel is taking things to a truly unique level with the option of an in-room concert from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hotel Monville in Montreal, Que.: This modern hotel is the first of its kind in Canada to offer robot-operated room service. It's completely human contact free and guests get a notification on their smartphone when their meal has been delivered to their door.
Merrill House in Prince Edward County, Ont.: If a countryside picnic sounds delightful for you, this Ontario hotel arranges absolutely every detail, from gourmet food, to a cozy blanket, sparkling wine or champagne.
Post Oak Hotel in Houston, Texas: A burger is generally a pretty standard in-room dining, but this Houston hotel serves “The Black Gold Burger.” It's a 16-ounce Wagyu beef patty, with seared foie gras and black truffle in a caviar-infused black and 24-karat gold brioche bun. It can be yours for the hefty price $1,600.
Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo, Ireland: Even kids (or kids at heart) can get in on the unique room service experience with the Ashford Castle's "Lego butler." You can pick from a selection of Lego sets, which the butler will deliver to your room on a silver tray.
Park Lane New York in New York City: If you have particularly luxurious taste buds this New York City hotel has you covered with a "Caviar Hotline," for on-demand caviar in your room.
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa in Bora Bora, French Polynesia: For this Bora Bora resort, it's less about what you're getting for in-room dining and more about how it's arriving to you, in this case via a traditional outrigger canoe.
The Plaza Hotel in New York City: Few hotels in the world are as iconic as The Plaza, which has a lot of special amenities and unique suites to experience. This includes a famous in-room dining item, the Home Alone sundae with 16 scoops of ice cream and layers of toppings for $300.
DogHouse Columbus Hotel in Columbus, Ohio: For beer lovers, this Ohio property has in-room beer taps and a mini fridge in the bathroom so you can have a ice cold "shower beer."
Uniquely Canadian: Watch the Blue Jays play from the Toronto Marriott City Centre hotel
Most hotel rooms in downtown Toronto will cost you a pretty penny, so if you're going to dish out the funds, evaluating for a unique experience could be something to consider.
The Toronto Marriott City Centre hotel is located at Toronto's Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, and offers a truly impressive view for a Jays game. There's a large window setup for viewing so you still feel like you're part of the crowd, but you do have more freedom to move around in the privacy of your own hotel room. Lets not forget the comfort of not having to use a public bathroom during a game.
An additional luxury is that you can order room service to enjoy during the game, including lots of absolutely delicious options for a spin on traditional stadium foods. The 24" Slugger Dog looks impressive, but also tastes great. Breakfast service for in-room begins and 6:00 a.m. and the all-day dining is available until 11:00 p.m.
A lot stadium food at the Rogers Centre is delicious and very popular, so on a busy game day, we can't argue with being able to skip the lines, and get your food and drinks delivered right to your room.
It's great that the hotel is fully integrated with the stadium and even if you're not a baseball fan, it's actually incredibly fascinating to see all the setup and cleanup after the game, including seeing the roof of the Rogers Centre open before the game, and close when the night is over.
You can go from experiencing a loud, energetic crowd at a baseball game, to the serenity of a hotel stay, within a matter of minutes.
It's definitely a unique experience, one-of-a-kind for Canada, elevating a traditional hotel room option.
