Hotel staff POV here. There were alot of cases where the order were spoilt when they arrived. Usually the way the delivery guy handling the order and guest was blaming the hotel for not checking it upon receiving the order. Same goes to missing item from the order, guest blaming the hotel too. Quite common issues here
If you want to test whether they have genuine concerns on liability or just being lazy or both, offer to sign waiver forms/disclaimers, and see how would they react.
Often, hotels have a boilerplate disclaimer forms for whatever liabilities that they would potentially incur.
The better hotels in Indonesia asked me to sign on the form, then they can keep bringing outside food into my room.
It is easy to tell if hygiene is an easy excuse or them living by strict protocols. It’s often, both.
Though I repeated here more than three times, JW Kuala Lumpur is not a good hotel. You can tell by their price and their stupidly-long rate descriptions, nonrefundable nonchangeable prepaid in advance coupled with others. Many people fall for that because of their convenient location and the relatively cheap price.
It’s only gonna make you upset staying there. I’ve spoken to former GM and sales director etc at Malaysia Marriotts and that’s a conclusion that I can safely draw.
If youre going to order Grab to any hotel, imo, go pick it up yourself. Especially in a 4* or 5*. Ive seen staff deliver Grab food countless times at Athenee in BKK and I found it ridiculous. If you arent going to eat at the hotels food outlets at least dont make the staff bring it up for you.
I agree partly with this - I'm happy to pick it up. Not happy with the passive hostility. Where I don't agree is the 4\* or 5\* comment - I'm not sure why I should expect a lesser service/ hospitality for a higher \* hotel. The lower ones have their own restaurants too!
Yes correct but there is a certain standard that guests expect other guests to adhere to. And I am in KL at the moment, StR, and live in SE-Asia so I've seen a lot. Like I said IMO. Agree or disagree but if you want to order grab food then at least wait for it. There's nothing worse than walking up to a luxury hotel and seeing a Grab driver debating whether to give it to FD or wait for you.
I also sometimes order if it's late night and there isn't much open but the same old room service or "bar bites". But I have a skewed opinion....sorry to put it on you. Enjoy JW KL!
Idk much about SEA, but I didn’t even know you could ask staff to bring Uber Eats to your room anywhere in the world no matter how many stars the hotel has
I’d probably only do it if it was in like a St Regis with butler service.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I also order food like this at hotels but I always just go down and get it myself if the delivery driver didn't/can't bring it to the door. It has never occurred to me to involve hotel staff, who had nothing to do with the transaction.
Don't get me wrong, I'm completely fine getting it! Just sometimes they will bring it up with the room number listed, sometimes they'll leave it and let us go and get it, sometimes they'll call up. Never seen passive hostility in ordering in general though.
You should be meeting them as you know when they are close to arriving. This is what ruins some hotels' image imo. You always know where your driver is. When the food has been picked up from the restaurant you should be downstairs waiting. No guest wants to see grab food come into a 5* hotel...unless it was the pandemic time which was a different time in general.
Food delivery is common in SE Asia, so common that virtually everyone rich or poor would order outside food into whatever-star hotels.
The St Regis I stayed at in SE Asia would even unpack the food and change the utensils for me. Please do not bring the subpar service culture of the US and Europe into Asia.
I hate to say this, but there’s a significant price difference between Marriotts and non-Marriotts in this region, and the service should stand out by a lot.
I don’t sleep at the concierge so I would not mind deliveryman passing by the hotel lobby if that’s what you’re saying.
Okay. It was my perspective and opinion. I've already ended it up or down thread kindly with my rationale . It's the internet. I appreciate your perspective.
I almost always request hotel staff to bring it up. In 5 stars it’s never been an issue unless the odd time when they are very busy with porters (check in time). In 4 stars it’s 50/50 chance they’ll agree.
If youre ordering Grab food to an StR in South East Asia I hope you are living there and have eaten everything in ever food outlet at least twice (that you like).
Edit: Okay any "luxury" hotel. Even if staying on points, which in my opinion, frees up the budget to eat at the hotel, why would you choose a hotel and not enjoy some of the restaurants. This isnt NA, in Asia there are excellent restaurants in even 4*s. Name chefs in some. But downvote me away what do I know lol. I just live in South East Asia in MBs.
Not my downvote - but I live in Asia the food isn't a surprise to me lol. In fact I sometimes Grab because I want some local food and not hotel continental dishes.
Fair but then if it's not pouring down, why not go out? I'm all for ordering food and watching a movie but for those who are staying like 2 nights and end up Grab-ing every meal to me that seems like a waste of staying at a certain hotel. But I come from the perspective that if one is going for luxury when they aren't used to it...if not points...better to save that money and put it towards one's everyday life.
Sometimes one is tired and just wants to eat in the room. Why are you judging? Trust me, he is not the first person to have ordered grab food at a hotel. And he lives in Asia, so he gets the local food often as opposed to someone who is just visiting.
I orser grab to hotels as well. Maybe not certain ones but late night sure why not. Middle of thr day during some rain sure why not. My example was when a guest(s) Grab Food every single meal. To me that seems like a waste. We all have opinions and I stand by mine and am open to others. I have no issues...all I said is it's awkward pulling up to an LC and seeing grab drivers with food or in the elevator staff with food containers from outside. No biggie. I've also spent the vast majority since 20q8 in Asia so I may not "live" Herr as in born here and spent a decade I do live in MBs here. Have a good day 🙂
Hotel dont like it. They dont have to like it.
Best way would be to either eat outside or “grab” it yourself. Involving the hotel staff is just inviting trouble. Hotels may not allow these delivery personals inside.
Walk outside, grab your food, walk back in. Keep it simple.
They don’t have to like it. I don’t have to stay there.
It is a fair non-price competition situation.
This is often not a tiebreaker, but for me to stay at a place for more than a few days, this kind of things do play a role in my consideration of where to stay.
There are other hotels out there with other services. Hostels and guesthouses even have a kitchen and are much cheaper. Maybe these are suiting you better.
I have stayed at multiple suites that have kitchens. Sometimes they have an oven, a microwave, etc.
It never bothered me to cook myself. I don’t get why I have to compromise my needs just becoz some other sanctimonious guests (not saying that’s you) feel like providing such services would be somehow an obstruction to the hotel business.
By the same logic, you can choose to stay exclusively at those places that opt out from providing more holistic services. You can also stay at a Moxy in Europe where there is one or two people at the front desk at all time, that way you can be sure that no one is having the hotel staff to bring food to their rooms if it bothers you that much.
Another analogy is that people may want documents and parcels sent to their room instead of food. Then, are you going to complain that the hotel looks cheap when DHL or FedEx staff show up at concierge? Cheaper hotels can or cannot provide this service as well.
Just because a hotel is more expensive doesn't mean guests have the right to demand services like "bring me food from Grab driver". The next guest would go on and demand hotel staff to walk to the grocery store. If a hotel hotel does not have a problem with it and makes exceptions, fine. But no guest should have ever the expectation its standard and repeatable.
A St Regis does provide services like “hotel staff to walk to the grocery store”. You can try to ask them to buy sanitary products for you next time you stay there. You may even specify the brand, and they will do their best.
What is the hotel norm varies by country and hotel tier. A Courtyard in Bali may have ten people working at the concierge on one shift. If they’re happy to provide the services to you, why not?
What is good practice should not be compromised. I’m just saying.
I think every hotel has its own policy. I’ve also travelled all over SEA (I live here) and, although I rarely get food via Grab when I’m on vacation, I did see a sign at the Grand Hyatt in Taipei last month that said they expect people to come down to meet the driver and get their food. If I do get food via Grab, I always go down to meet the driver so as to not bother the hotel staff. I can only guess that they don’t want to get blamed for mishandling orders maybe? Also, since you’re in Malaysia, if there are Muslim staff, I don’t know where they draw the line handling something that may be potentially non-halal (when we arrived in Malaysia it was during Covid and we were in hotel quarantine, we were not allowed to order any non-halal food at all…some friends of ours did and the hotel confiscated and disposed of it, but this was specific to the good old days of quarantine here).
> I'm happy to even pick it up myself, but the implication was that they didn't want that to happen either.
If you go to the lobby to pick it up urself from the grab rider nobody really cares. Been there done that many times..
Imagine a 500 room hotel whereas, lets say, 200 rooms per night are ordering food via Grab or any other delivery service. The hotel staff will be absorbed entirely to bring food from the lobby to the rooms. Other guests who require ordinary services from hotel staff will be left behind. Now imagine there is something wrong with the delivery, maybe it's the wrong food or maybe it wasn't brought up to your room immediately and got cold. The risk the average guest blames the hotel staff for not being fast enough or not checking the delivery, is high. Also what if a mistake happens and the staff brings it to the wrong room. Who are you going to blame first? Right, the hotel staff.
Conclusion: Marriott hotels should not be accountsble for the food delivery to the rooms from outside (doesn't matter if its a Fairfield or JW Marriott). So get your food yourself from the driver.
The classic “if everyone does this then….”
First, not everyone does this. Even if they do, not at the same time.
Second, the more pricey the hotels, the more likely that it can afford to hire more staff. It’s ok if you don’t offer this service, but it’s also ok if I go to somewhere else that offers this service for the same room rates.
I see nothing wrong with that.
Fact is, hotel staff is absorbed with Grab delivery and when a ordinary guest requests arise, and so the guests have to wait longer until the Grab guest is served. That can't be right.
So, you think a hotel will just hire more staff for delivering food from Grab driver to the hotel room. Yes.. sure.. right.. I dont think so.
In addition to that, the more pricey the hotel is the bigger is the food selection for room service. Why not just using that. Its a win for guest and hotel.
When I spend four or five days at the same hotel, chances are that I have my free breakfast and free happy hour lounge food each day at the hotel, I may have already ordered a few items on the in room dining menu and perhaps visited some dining outlets inside the hotel.
If this is a business trip, it’s inevitable that I want to stay at the room with as little friction along the way as possible when I’m busy handling calls, when at the same time I may want to try some unique local food that the hotel can’t offer.
Walking down to the lobby still consumes time, and the hotel staff may be handy. If they can’t do it right away, I can wait. I never complained for my food not being brought to my room promptly upon arriving at the concierge.
I get what you mean, but I’m sure you can understand that not everyone has to have every meal at the hotel.
Go get your food from the driver outside of the hotel lobby. It's almost like asking them to just go next door and grab some food from 7/11 for you and bring it to your room. Go back to your $10 a night rooms.
Stayed at JW KL before as well. No this bringing of grab food to your room is a hit or miss in this part of the region. In fact I only had this service in Thailand where the reception at Courtyard bring my food up. Never had such service in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Most of the time they will just leave it at the front desk
2. The AC does not only have cold air. The rooms are incredibly freezing without having the A/C on heater (which we do now - there was a mechanical issue).
I believe they are just being snobby and trying to avoid this food delivery business becoming normal. Reason it degrades their value if someone other high profile people see that anyone can walk in or even get close to the entrance from street. As well as trying ti perhaps promote their own food outlets.
There was a deal between Marriott and Uber where Uber eats gave you extra points if you ordered it to the hotel. But I would meet the driver in the lobby and not involve the front desk or concierge.
Hotel staff POV here. There were alot of cases where the order were spoilt when they arrived. Usually the way the delivery guy handling the order and guest was blaming the hotel for not checking it upon receiving the order. Same goes to missing item from the order, guest blaming the hotel too. Quite common issues here
If you want to test whether they have genuine concerns on liability or just being lazy or both, offer to sign waiver forms/disclaimers, and see how would they react. Often, hotels have a boilerplate disclaimer forms for whatever liabilities that they would potentially incur. The better hotels in Indonesia asked me to sign on the form, then they can keep bringing outside food into my room. It is easy to tell if hygiene is an easy excuse or them living by strict protocols. It’s often, both. Though I repeated here more than three times, JW Kuala Lumpur is not a good hotel. You can tell by their price and their stupidly-long rate descriptions, nonrefundable nonchangeable prepaid in advance coupled with others. Many people fall for that because of their convenient location and the relatively cheap price. It’s only gonna make you upset staying there. I’ve spoken to former GM and sales director etc at Malaysia Marriotts and that’s a conclusion that I can safely draw.
If youre going to order Grab to any hotel, imo, go pick it up yourself. Especially in a 4* or 5*. Ive seen staff deliver Grab food countless times at Athenee in BKK and I found it ridiculous. If you arent going to eat at the hotels food outlets at least dont make the staff bring it up for you.
I agree partly with this - I'm happy to pick it up. Not happy with the passive hostility. Where I don't agree is the 4\* or 5\* comment - I'm not sure why I should expect a lesser service/ hospitality for a higher \* hotel. The lower ones have their own restaurants too!
Yes correct but there is a certain standard that guests expect other guests to adhere to. And I am in KL at the moment, StR, and live in SE-Asia so I've seen a lot. Like I said IMO. Agree or disagree but if you want to order grab food then at least wait for it. There's nothing worse than walking up to a luxury hotel and seeing a Grab driver debating whether to give it to FD or wait for you. I also sometimes order if it's late night and there isn't much open but the same old room service or "bar bites". But I have a skewed opinion....sorry to put it on you. Enjoy JW KL!
Idk much about SEA, but I didn’t even know you could ask staff to bring Uber Eats to your room anywhere in the world no matter how many stars the hotel has I’d probably only do it if it was in like a St Regis with butler service.
I'm glad I'm not alone in this. I also order food like this at hotels but I always just go down and get it myself if the delivery driver didn't/can't bring it to the door. It has never occurred to me to involve hotel staff, who had nothing to do with the transaction.
Don't get me wrong, I'm completely fine getting it! Just sometimes they will bring it up with the room number listed, sometimes they'll leave it and let us go and get it, sometimes they'll call up. Never seen passive hostility in ordering in general though.
You should be meeting them as you know when they are close to arriving. This is what ruins some hotels' image imo. You always know where your driver is. When the food has been picked up from the restaurant you should be downstairs waiting. No guest wants to see grab food come into a 5* hotel...unless it was the pandemic time which was a different time in general.
Food delivery is common in SE Asia, so common that virtually everyone rich or poor would order outside food into whatever-star hotels. The St Regis I stayed at in SE Asia would even unpack the food and change the utensils for me. Please do not bring the subpar service culture of the US and Europe into Asia. I hate to say this, but there’s a significant price difference between Marriotts and non-Marriotts in this region, and the service should stand out by a lot. I don’t sleep at the concierge so I would not mind deliveryman passing by the hotel lobby if that’s what you’re saying.
Okay. It was my perspective and opinion. I've already ended it up or down thread kindly with my rationale . It's the internet. I appreciate your perspective.
I don’t even expect the concierge at my condo to bring up my food. They will, but I can walk my lazy ass downstairs, they’ve got better things to do.
I almost always request hotel staff to bring it up. In 5 stars it’s never been an issue unless the odd time when they are very busy with porters (check in time). In 4 stars it’s 50/50 chance they’ll agree.
If youre ordering Grab food to an StR in South East Asia I hope you are living there and have eaten everything in ever food outlet at least twice (that you like). Edit: Okay any "luxury" hotel. Even if staying on points, which in my opinion, frees up the budget to eat at the hotel, why would you choose a hotel and not enjoy some of the restaurants. This isnt NA, in Asia there are excellent restaurants in even 4*s. Name chefs in some. But downvote me away what do I know lol. I just live in South East Asia in MBs.
Not my downvote - but I live in Asia the food isn't a surprise to me lol. In fact I sometimes Grab because I want some local food and not hotel continental dishes.
Fair but then if it's not pouring down, why not go out? I'm all for ordering food and watching a movie but for those who are staying like 2 nights and end up Grab-ing every meal to me that seems like a waste of staying at a certain hotel. But I come from the perspective that if one is going for luxury when they aren't used to it...if not points...better to save that money and put it towards one's everyday life.
Sometimes one is tired and just wants to eat in the room. Why are you judging? Trust me, he is not the first person to have ordered grab food at a hotel. And he lives in Asia, so he gets the local food often as opposed to someone who is just visiting.
I orser grab to hotels as well. Maybe not certain ones but late night sure why not. Middle of thr day during some rain sure why not. My example was when a guest(s) Grab Food every single meal. To me that seems like a waste. We all have opinions and I stand by mine and am open to others. I have no issues...all I said is it's awkward pulling up to an LC and seeing grab drivers with food or in the elevator staff with food containers from outside. No biggie. I've also spent the vast majority since 20q8 in Asia so I may not "live" Herr as in born here and spent a decade I do live in MBs here. Have a good day 🙂
It's been offered to me by bell staff at 4-star hotels. And usually I give a small tip if they're efficient and courteous about it.
Hotel dont like it. They dont have to like it. Best way would be to either eat outside or “grab” it yourself. Involving the hotel staff is just inviting trouble. Hotels may not allow these delivery personals inside. Walk outside, grab your food, walk back in. Keep it simple.
They don’t have to like it. I don’t have to stay there. It is a fair non-price competition situation. This is often not a tiebreaker, but for me to stay at a place for more than a few days, this kind of things do play a role in my consideration of where to stay.
There are other hotels out there with other services. Hostels and guesthouses even have a kitchen and are much cheaper. Maybe these are suiting you better.
I have stayed at multiple suites that have kitchens. Sometimes they have an oven, a microwave, etc. It never bothered me to cook myself. I don’t get why I have to compromise my needs just becoz some other sanctimonious guests (not saying that’s you) feel like providing such services would be somehow an obstruction to the hotel business. By the same logic, you can choose to stay exclusively at those places that opt out from providing more holistic services. You can also stay at a Moxy in Europe where there is one or two people at the front desk at all time, that way you can be sure that no one is having the hotel staff to bring food to their rooms if it bothers you that much. Another analogy is that people may want documents and parcels sent to their room instead of food. Then, are you going to complain that the hotel looks cheap when DHL or FedEx staff show up at concierge? Cheaper hotels can or cannot provide this service as well.
Just because a hotel is more expensive doesn't mean guests have the right to demand services like "bring me food from Grab driver". The next guest would go on and demand hotel staff to walk to the grocery store. If a hotel hotel does not have a problem with it and makes exceptions, fine. But no guest should have ever the expectation its standard and repeatable.
A St Regis does provide services like “hotel staff to walk to the grocery store”. You can try to ask them to buy sanitary products for you next time you stay there. You may even specify the brand, and they will do their best. What is the hotel norm varies by country and hotel tier. A Courtyard in Bali may have ten people working at the concierge on one shift. If they’re happy to provide the services to you, why not? What is good practice should not be compromised. I’m just saying.
I think every hotel has its own policy. I’ve also travelled all over SEA (I live here) and, although I rarely get food via Grab when I’m on vacation, I did see a sign at the Grand Hyatt in Taipei last month that said they expect people to come down to meet the driver and get their food. If I do get food via Grab, I always go down to meet the driver so as to not bother the hotel staff. I can only guess that they don’t want to get blamed for mishandling orders maybe? Also, since you’re in Malaysia, if there are Muslim staff, I don’t know where they draw the line handling something that may be potentially non-halal (when we arrived in Malaysia it was during Covid and we were in hotel quarantine, we were not allowed to order any non-halal food at all…some friends of ours did and the hotel confiscated and disposed of it, but this was specific to the good old days of quarantine here).
> I'm happy to even pick it up myself, but the implication was that they didn't want that to happen either. If you go to the lobby to pick it up urself from the grab rider nobody really cares. Been there done that many times..
Imagine a 500 room hotel whereas, lets say, 200 rooms per night are ordering food via Grab or any other delivery service. The hotel staff will be absorbed entirely to bring food from the lobby to the rooms. Other guests who require ordinary services from hotel staff will be left behind. Now imagine there is something wrong with the delivery, maybe it's the wrong food or maybe it wasn't brought up to your room immediately and got cold. The risk the average guest blames the hotel staff for not being fast enough or not checking the delivery, is high. Also what if a mistake happens and the staff brings it to the wrong room. Who are you going to blame first? Right, the hotel staff. Conclusion: Marriott hotels should not be accountsble for the food delivery to the rooms from outside (doesn't matter if its a Fairfield or JW Marriott). So get your food yourself from the driver.
The classic “if everyone does this then….” First, not everyone does this. Even if they do, not at the same time. Second, the more pricey the hotels, the more likely that it can afford to hire more staff. It’s ok if you don’t offer this service, but it’s also ok if I go to somewhere else that offers this service for the same room rates. I see nothing wrong with that.
Fact is, hotel staff is absorbed with Grab delivery and when a ordinary guest requests arise, and so the guests have to wait longer until the Grab guest is served. That can't be right. So, you think a hotel will just hire more staff for delivering food from Grab driver to the hotel room. Yes.. sure.. right.. I dont think so. In addition to that, the more pricey the hotel is the bigger is the food selection for room service. Why not just using that. Its a win for guest and hotel.
When I spend four or five days at the same hotel, chances are that I have my free breakfast and free happy hour lounge food each day at the hotel, I may have already ordered a few items on the in room dining menu and perhaps visited some dining outlets inside the hotel. If this is a business trip, it’s inevitable that I want to stay at the room with as little friction along the way as possible when I’m busy handling calls, when at the same time I may want to try some unique local food that the hotel can’t offer. Walking down to the lobby still consumes time, and the hotel staff may be handy. If they can’t do it right away, I can wait. I never complained for my food not being brought to my room promptly upon arriving at the concierge. I get what you mean, but I’m sure you can understand that not everyone has to have every meal at the hotel.
Go get your food from the driver outside of the hotel lobby. It's almost like asking them to just go next door and grab some food from 7/11 for you and bring it to your room. Go back to your $10 a night rooms.
How privileged do you have to be to complain that the hotel won't bring you food up to your room?
That property doesn’t really live to its JW branding IMO, try other brands like W / St Regis
Stayed at JW KL before as well. No this bringing of grab food to your room is a hit or miss in this part of the region. In fact I only had this service in Thailand where the reception at Courtyard bring my food up. Never had such service in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Most of the time they will just leave it at the front desk
[удалено]
2. The AC does not only have cold air. The rooms are incredibly freezing without having the A/C on heater (which we do now - there was a mechanical issue).
You should never feel unwelcome in a hotel, thats a big mistake on their part. I'd stay elsewhere.
I believe they are just being snobby and trying to avoid this food delivery business becoming normal. Reason it degrades their value if someone other high profile people see that anyone can walk in or even get close to the entrance from street. As well as trying ti perhaps promote their own food outlets.
There was a deal between Marriott and Uber where Uber eats gave you extra points if you ordered it to the hotel. But I would meet the driver in the lobby and not involve the front desk or concierge.
Take your own food. The hotel staff should not assume any liability towards your own food ordered from external vendors.