Hotels are realizing that many people are heading to the airport after they checkout, according to USA Today.
As a service, hotels are offering gourmet meals for guests to take with them on their way out of town. The meals are packed for the airport, packaged to fit in carry-on bags and to pass the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) maximum allowance of liquid of 3.4-ounces.
The meals are popular with guests who don't want to rely on airport food services, the majority of which are fast food, serving fatty, unhealthy food, or airlines that serve little food on flights without extra charges.
Among the hotels that are offering this service is the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, which serves "Meals on the Move" in a partnership with Wolfgang Puck. The menu is made-to-order before guests' head to Los Angeles International Airport.
The Four Seasons in Boston offers "For Your Trip Home," a menu guests can hang on their door before bed. The Seattle location has a "Want It To Go, Let Us Know" menu, which offers a la carte menu items for guests to take with them.
"We really just wanted to offer something more convenient, affordable, healthy and better quality than what they can get at the airport," John Mayo, the general manager of Pazano, the restaurant at the Hotel Monaco in Denver, said of their airport take-out menu. "We have many guests leaving the hotel early to catch a flight and they don't have time to stop for the most important meal of the day, so we thought we could help them out with that."
Packaging is the biggest issue, as to-go items, such as salad dressing have to pass the carry-on standards for liquids, which are limited to just over three ounces.
"We make sure that we package all items properly so that we protect the integrity of each dish, but also ensure that our guests will be able to take these boxes on the plane," Stephanie Lacroix, the director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Bel-Air, said.
The meals are increasingly popular as airlines cut back on the food they serve during flights.
"We expect the demand to increase during the busy summer season," Lacroix said.
The take-out meal service makes hotel stays more memorable, according to Maryam Wehe, the senior vice president at Applied Predictive Technologies, a company that does hotel consulting.
"Offering meals-to-go can provide hotels with several opportunities, such as differentiating their brand from other hotel brands," she said. "Furthermore, providing branded meals extends a positive guest hotel experience beyond checkout as long as guest expectations are managed carefully for meals to go versus in-hotel dining."
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
