Executive Travel : Hotels Begin Catering to Eat-and-Run Clientele

Some hotels are taking a fresh look at how they feed their guests.

With business travelers and other busy people in mind, some have begun offering quick-stop takeout services for people who don’t have time to sit down in a restaurant or wait around for room service.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. recently opened a “pantry” at its hotel near O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, a takeout place it describes as a cross between a gourmet coffee shop and a convenience store.

It sells freshly made sandwiches, fruit, chips, dips, nuts, crackers, candy, beer, soda, bottled water, espresso and cappuccino.

Similar shops will open soon at other business-oriented Hyatt hotels across the country, the company says.

The prices, it says, are comparable to what a guest would pay at a convenience store or takeout restaurant.

The concept is aimed at the guest too hungry, tired or pressed for time to wait for room service or take a seat in the hotel coffee shop or restaurant.

“With increased emphasis on productivity on the road these days, business travelers not only need faster check-in services, fax machines in their rooms and express checkout, they need more practical, efficient ways to eat too,” a Hyatt spokeswoman said.

Hilton is testing an Italian market at one of its hotels in Michigan. Guests can eat there or buy prepared foods from the display case to carry out.

Another sign of this trend is the lobby coffee cart with on-the-run breakfast service, which has become an increasingly familiar sight at a number of hotel chains.

Marriott recently announced it was installing gourmet coffee and full-service espresso bars at many of its hotels. The units also sell scones, muffins and other baked goods.

“Hotels want to provide service, and they realize that the traditional ways of providing food service are not the only ways people eat,” said James Carper, editor in chief of Hotels magazine.

“If they can’t get them in the restaurant, maybe they can serve them on the way out the door,” he said.

Hotels have little fear that such quick and relatively cheaper operations will take money away from more traditional food service, he said.