High-end or luxury hotels like five-star and above are known for their hospitality and services. They keep no stone unturned to give their guests lasting experiences. The hotel services include fine dining, stylish rooms, elegant staff, full of flavor food, and whatnot.
The Hotel in room dining is one of the most sought-after services in luxury hotels, it is a way to impress their guests.
The staff of the hotel, especially the food and beverage department, keep their extra focus on this service as it is the most difficult department to manage. Discover every detail of in room dining service with us.
What is In Room Dining Service?
The in room dining service comes in room service. As the word dining is attached, it is related to food service. It means serving food and beverages inside the guest room staying in the hotel. Many guests prefer having food in the room instead of the common eating area. Hotels arrange this service for them in their room, considering their requirements.
And when it comes to completing this order, every hotel has a set protocol. Hotels give this experience to their guests in diverse manners.
The simple procedure of the service is that guests in the room narrate the order to the waiter. The in-charge waiter transfers the order to the hotel pantry and takes further action till the guest finishes the food.
After that, he passes the bill, clears the table and cleans the room. Primarily, the hotel industry has categorized this service into two types based on the kitchen setup.
Centralized – In this arrangement, the hotel has a central kitchen. A team of waiters place the order in the kitchen. Staff process the order, and then the same waiter team takes it to the guest room for the final serving.
Decentralized – In this arrangement, every floor in the hotel has a pantry. There is a central point to receive rooms order. From here, order-takers dispersed the order to the respective pantries for further processing.
How Guests Place the Food Order
Hotels opt for different mechanisms to take in-room orders. They are
In room Dining Menu – Many hotels provide an in room dining menu in rooms. Guests in the room use the menu to select food and place orders through the telephone. The main menu can be in the physical form or accessible digitally, like the hotel website or in-room tablet.
Telephone Orders – Hotels give telephone in each room for the room services with the extension number of respective services. Guests can place the food order by calling the central kitchen number. Here, either guest have the in room dining menu in physical or digital form, or the order taker explains the same.
Online Orders – Some hotels have a website or application to place orders online. Guests staying in the hotel use hotel WiFi to opt for this service. They do the order online and get their food delivered to their room.
QR Code Orders – Some hotels place their QR code in the rooms to take orders. Guest scans the QR code with their smartphone to access the in room dining menu and place an order. It is just like placing an online order. The central kitchen will receive the order and accordingly process it.
In person Order – Guests can place their order at the hotel restaurant or lobby bar. He can also call the waiter in the room to take the order.
Hotels use one or a mix of these methods to take in-dining orders and cater to them. Hotels keep one objective in the centre behind offering this service, i.e., excellent guest satisfaction experience.
In addition, hotels and resorts use a few more methods to cater to in room dining orders. These are not commonly used but give a great experience to guests.
Mobile Van – It is commonly used in resorts. Mobile vans go to the cottages, prepare meals and serve freshly prepared food to guests.
Dumb Waiter – It is a specialized elevator used to deliver in-room orders. They are of three types.
- In this arrangement, a waiter standing in the elevator takes the food order, prepares it inside the elevator, and serves the guest.
- In the second arrangement, the elevator with the food order opens in the floor pantry, and the waiter serves the food in the guest room.
- This arrangement is more common in highly sophisticated hotels. Here elevators with food open in the guest room and serve the food.
Tools Used in Completing In-dining Order
Hotel staff uses a wide range of tools to complete in-room orders. It includes.
Room Service Trolley – The waiter use the trolley to serve food when the order is of two or more portion. It has enough space to carry plates, crockeries, dishes and other important stuff. The trollies are easy to manoeuvre.
Room Service Tray – The waiter uses it to complete one portion order. A tray is big enough to carry dishes along with cutleries. It is light in weight, heat resistant and stackable.
Racks – It is useful to create extra space in the trolley.
How is In room Dining Layout
The aim of the in room dining layout is to give guests an unmatched dining experience. The in-room dining layout depends on the room size and the type of meal.
Usually, it remains around the sitting area in the room. The waiter places all the dishes ordered on the table and arranges crockeries, cutleries, etc., over the table. Trays are lined by mat/cloth/plastic sheet.
All the saucers, bowls, and plates are kept upside down if the guest is not ready to eat. If the guest is ready to eat, the waiter does the first serve and leave.
Often guest orders breakfast in the room as it is complimentary for guest and take lunch and dinner outside for various reasons. An ideal set-up of a breakfast table includes the following things.
- A flower vase.
- A sugar bowl, having all types of sugar, white, brown, low sweet and candela.
- B&b plates.
- Cutlery folder with a bread-and-butter knife. Fork and knife for the main course and a dessert spoon.
- Coffee cup with a teaspoon and underline.
- Juice glass.
- Milk creamer with tea or coffee following the guest’s order.
- Preserves and butter before guest pick up the food.
- Hot and cold stuff should be brought into the room covered by the kitchen and served the same way.
- Use service napkins to keep hot food.
Duties and Responsibilities of Room Service Order Taker
The objective of room service is to give the utmost comfort and dining experience to guests. Therefore, all the staff engage in the service has to abide by protocols. The duties and responsibilities of F&B staff include.
- Attend briefing before any service.
- Keep the room and lobby area clean.
- Be familiar with the in-room dining menu and layout.
- Takedown orders according to the guest’s wish. Present the menu proactively to generate more revenue.
- Attend telephone of room service promptly. It should be within three rings.
- Update VIP board.
- Note the kitchen order ticketing (KOT) carefully and pass it on to the concerned department.
- Ensure utmost courtesy while dealing with guests.
- Manage guest complaints effectively.
- Take feedback from guests. Maintain the logbook for complaints, delays and feedback.
Commonly Used Sentences for Room Service Taking Orders
While taking an order from a guest, the staff should remain courteous. Following are the sentences commonly used for in-room service
- Just a moment, please.
- Bear with me one moment, please
- May I put you on hold, please
- Allow me to transfer you to the (Concern) department.
- Thank you for your patience.
- My pleasure
- Certainly
- With pleasure
- It’s my pleasure
- Thank you for calling,
- We will take care of it
- It will be taken care of, Mr. last name
- Our minibars contain soft drinks, beer, mineral water and
- We offer top-branded/ Premier Grand Cru wines, such as (A few names)
- We have a great selection of wines you can accompany with your meal.
- We are pleased to know that you have enjoyed your breakfast
- We boast exquisite dishes, names of dishes
- All the meals on our menu list are succulent/ scrumptious/ tasty.
- We have a wide range of homemade cakes, tarts, cookies, chocolates, etc.
- Have a pleasant/ marvellous/ fantastic/ majestic day!
- Enjoy your breakfast/ lunch/ dinner!
You can add a few more according to your convenience.
Important Points to Remember While Taking and Completing Order
- Use Mr./Ms. followed by the last name of the guest.
- Never enter the room without knocking on the door, even if it is after a gap of a minute.
- Always give enough time to guests to open the door or answer your knock.
- Never fully open the door to enter the room.
- Carefully follow the in room dining layout while completing the order.
- Always use a soft tone to take orders and to resolve queries or assistance.
- Always wear a smile on your face when talking to guests.
These are the basics that hotels follow to make the in room dining service experience unmatched.
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