By Scott Roeben, on June 02 2022
We knew the writing was on the wall, but we can now confirm they’re hieroglyphics.
Luxor (the pointy one) is joining the growing list of Las Vegas casinos without traditional room service.
An internal memo describes a service called “Luxor Express,” described as a “brand new in-room food and beverage delivery program.”
The memo says, “Starting tomorrow [June 3, 2022], guests will be able to order through their own mobile device from Pyramid Cafe or Backstage Deli
and have it conveniently delivered to their room.”
The communication also says, “Initially, Luxor Express will be available 7:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. daily from these two outlets to guests staying in the West and East towers. Within the next few weeks, Luxor Express will be extended to Pyramid Rooms. After this first stage, Luxor Express will add Diablo’s Cantina and Public House as additional options and extend operating hours.”
As usual, there’s more to the story, and as usual, it’s economic.
Room service in hotels is often a loss leader, an amenity for guests. Loss leaders aren’t really a thing at the moment, so a number of Las Vegas hotels have switched to variations of Luxor Express.
Resorts World, for example, lets guests order from any of its 40 restaurants (most in the Famous Street Eats food court) through Grubhub.
Such services are a form of outsourcing. Labor is the biggest cost in the room service department, so not having room service avoids the expense entirely.
“Labor efficiencies,” as they say in the hospitality business.
If only someone had seen this coming!
Room service went away in Las Vegas resorts and nobody’s really talking about it.
— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) June 16, 2021
Elimination of room service has been a thing for awhile. Hotels tend to blame “declining demand.” Read more.
Labor costs are also the reason hotels are dumping daily room cleaning.
It’s also why Luxor didn’t invite its concierge team back following the pandemic.
It’s also why a good number of Las Vegas buffets haven’t reopened. Caesars Entertainment said its average Las Vegas buffet lost $3 million a year. Now, only the Bacchanal Buffet is operating in that family of casinos.
Here’s a list of all the buffets open in Las Vegas casinos.
The question, of course, is where does cost-cutting end and guest disgruntlement begin?
Lots of travelers consider room service one of the cool aspects of a hotel stay. Same with having daily housekeeping, and being able to get a hook-up from a concierge.
They like being able to slip a hotel registration rep a $20 to get a room upgrade. Kiosks can’t be bribed.
People also really, really like cheap buffets.
Does it matter if a hotel has traditional room service if you’re able to get food delivered to your room by a third party? Your drunchies still get handled, and room service prices are notoriously inflated.
Anticipate other Las Vegas hotels moving in this direction, unless they get pushback from guests.
Does the elimination of traditional room service affect your enjoyment of a hotel?
We’ve never really ordered room service, but if it goes away completely, people who rely on those adorable bottles of ketchup and mustard are going to be crushed.
