There’s something so indulgent about dialling down for room service – staying comfy in your suite, perhaps even in a fluffy bathrobe, reclining in style and waiting for that knock from your server. But what are the rules, and are there things to watch out for? We asked one anonymous industry mole from a five-star hotel for their ultimate room service etiquette tips: any dos and don’ts that will help you get the best out of that luxury tray service. Here’s our ultimate guide for approaching room service etiquette like an insider.

Don’t order when you’re already ravenous

“Twenty to thirty minutes is a typical wait for room service. But at peak times, in big hotels, catering teams reserve the right to take up to an hour to get your food to you. Call down with your order well before you want it to arrive, or you’ll just end up frustrated and hungry.”

Do wear whatever you like

“Is there room service etiquette when it comes to clothing? It’s not uncommon for guests to greet their tray delivery in a bathrobe, pyjamas or sweaty post-gym outfit – trust me, our servers have seen it all. Their job is just to get the tray to you and get that bill signed. The only real ‘don’t’ here would be answering the door undressed or in underwear; a bathrobe won’t make your server uncomfortable, but your underwear might!”

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Breakfast is overrated

“The biggest error I see guests make is ordering eggs for breakfast up to their room. While it’s wonderful to have a lie-in while you wait for your food, eggs simply don’t travel – the scrambled eggs get hard and cold, poached yolks solidify and every style of egg is just so much better fresh from the breakfast buffet station. Coffee can get weaker and colder on the tray, too. As breakfast is far and away the most popular mealtime for room service orders, this is also the order most likely to take a long time. When I’m staying at a hotel, I go down to the restaurant for breakfast.”

The club sandwich is a room service classic for a reason

There are some failsafe room service winners

“You can rarely go wrong with a club sandwich and fries on room service. Not only is it a classic that’s usually been on room service menus for years (and so been perfected), it’s something that travels well and can be jazzed up with condiments. Other failsafe stars of the room service menu include burgers and pasta dishes. Look out for what’s on the 24-hour, usually shorter room service menu – those are the perennial classics we’re confident we can get right any time of day – and what kind of cuisine is served in the main restaurants. If there’s a well-regarded Japanese restaurant onsite, the sushi platters should be just as good delivered to your room.”

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Know your tips

“As with any kind of food and beverage tipping, room service etiquette for a tip will vary from place to place. In the US, 18%-20% of the room service bill is standard; in most hotels in major cities, a 12-15% service or ‘tray’ charge will be included on your bill. In the rare cases or farther-flung countries where this isn’t the case, rounding up to the nearest 10 or adding on $5 or so’s worth as a tip will be acceptable.”

Want something not on the menu? Just ask

“Most hotels will only bring you what’s on the menu, but if you have a hankering for something simple – a grilled cheese sandwich, say, or a simple tomato salad – that’s not on there, it’s worth asking. It’s not necessarily breaking room service etiquette to ask for a green juice on an uninspiring drinks menu, or for a side of potatoes you don’t see listed in print. Especially in more high end hotels, food and beverage managers will go out of their way to accommodate you.”

Don’t fret about answering the door in your bathrobe (Unsplash/Getty)

Your tray shouldn’t feel stale

“In a poor room service setting, the pitfalls will be obvious: your eggs will be cold, your coffee may have a layer of film across the top, or the contents of the plate may have slid sideways in transit. Hotels with a strong grasp of their room service offering will be able to deliver your food hot, fresh and unspoiled – so don’t be afraid to call down and ask for a replacement item or dish. Consider that you’re paying extra for the tray service: you want the food to be worth the wait.”

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Be specific

“If you’re a foodie who knows what you like, it pays to be specific. Want that morning coffee to be a machine espresso with a little hot water, not a weaker pot of filter coffee? Say as much when you call in your order. Want ketchup and mayo with that side of fries? Ask specifically, just in case. Whether it’s dressing on the side of a salad or freshly-squeezed OJ, not carton, we’d rather know in advance and get it right first time than risk the dreaded complaint call afterwards.”

What to do when you’re finished

“The universal sign for ‘I’m done with my tray’ is to put it just outside of your hotel door, on the floor – that’s why you’re frequently tripping over people’s trays and champagne buckets in hotel corridors. However, if you don’t want to lug the tray outside, it’s just as acceptable in the world of room service etiquette to call down and say your tray is ready to collect. A member of the F&B team will be up reasonably promptly.”

Some of us have bucket lists, others have “to eat” lists – and these fine dining restaurants are some of the most ravishing places around the globe to share a meal. From experimental Scandi venues to classic Italian cuisine, via restaurants drawing on the indigenous and native plants and techniques of their country, you can count these 10 stops as a cultural experience in themselves.

Le Monzù, Capri, Italy

Perched on a dramatic cliff with sunset views, Le Monzù is a showstopper. A hotel restaurant in the Le-Corbusier-designed Punta Tragara hotel, it attracted one Michelin star in 2019. Now, head chef Antonio Pedana’s dainty take on Neapolitan and Caprese cuisine includes octopus ragu served on mezzipaccheri pasta, cuttlefish with sea urchins and green apple, and “milk and cookies”, a deconstructed biscuit dessert with hot and cold creamy foams. The eight-course Labyrinth of Flavors tasting menu will take you through the best of Padana’s creations. Luxury Gold clients get to visit Le Monzù on Day four of our Ultimate Italy journey.

La Colombe, Cape Town

The drive to this restaurant, on the Silvermist wine estate in Constantia, hints at the fine dining experience that awaits: a minimalist white conservatory, views of forested mountainside, and imaginative plates served on smooth-edge, shell-like ceramics. Head chef James Gaag crafts little canapes inspired by snacks from South Africa’s Cape Malay culture, followed by the signature “Tuna la Colombe” dish, unfurled in a tuna tin but revealing high-end seared Bluefin tuna with king crab and caviar. Dishes are inspired by Gaag’s travels and the wine list, naturally, is ample and strong on South African vintages.

Food at Mayta restaurant, Lima, Peru

Alchemist, Copenhagen, Denmark

With two Michelin stars in one of Europe’s premier dining cities, Alchemist isn’t just a dinner, it’s a theatrical experience. Six hours, 50 bites, different locations around a labyrinthine industrial building, video screens on the ceiling… as fine dining restaurants go, it’s quite a head-spinner. You might eat freeze-dried butterflies (head chef Rasmus Munk is championing them as a future sustainable protein source) or what looks like a plate of plastic junk (but is actually grilled cod jaw with a “bag” made from dehydrated cod bouillon). There’s a strong sustainability message, but the performance trips through emotions, memory and even interpretive dance.

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Mayta, Lima, Peru

A contemporary Peruvian restaurant in the country’s capital, Mayta takes plenty of inspiration from nature. Weaving native leaves, moss, rocks bark and flowers into the restaurant’s dish presentations, chef Jaime Pesaque conjures up dishes like scallop with leche de tigre, grilled eggplant in a smoky broth or Amazonian paiche fish cheeks in a rich glaze. This fine dining restaurant’s name means “Noble Land” in the indigenous Aymara language of the Andes, so it’s Peru’s heritage and character that’s being celebrated in its fine dining experience – all among nature-inspired interiors of plants and hanging baskets.

Belcanto, Lisbon

Portugal’s capital is an underrated fine-dining treasure trove, and this restaurant in the Bairro Alto district has the two Michelin stars to prove it. Helmed by chef José Avillez, the space itself is all wood-paneled, parquet-floored, mirrored grandeur, while the tasting menu reinvents several Portuguese classics. Among them are pot-au-feu, with meats, sausages and potatoes in a slow-simmered dish, and Avillez’s grandmother’s rice pudding. But also expect intriguing bites like crunchy seaweed with barnacles, or partridge escabeche.

A “heartbeat” themed interior at Alchemist restaurant, Copenhagen

Oteque, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Atmospherically set in a 1930s house in Rio, this restaurant from Japanese-Brazilian chef Alberto Landgraf is all about fish and seafood. Oysters with brazil-nut milk and green apple, monkfish with burrata, glazed turbot, sea urchin with mussel cream… let’s just say you have to love the fruits of the sea to get on board with this one. Styled with Japanese flair and the star of the show might be the venue’s playlist: a grunge-rock riot of Smashing Pumpkins, Pink Floyd and Judas Priest you won’t find in most fine dining restaurants.

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DiverXO, Madrid, Spain

With ice-white interiors, dramatic curtained tables and wacky art, this avant-garde Madrid restaurant has no less than three Michelin stars. The dining room feels like a blank canvas for the colourful cuisine that emerges from the kitchen: head chef Dabiz Muñoz spins stories across a 26-course menu that might include mini caviar curries with sauces in miniature pans, beef rib soup dumplings or coconut ganache with black garlic. Quirky animal sculptures and figurines from flying pigs to chrome ants set the tone for something weird but wonderful.

Frantzen, Stockholm, Sweden

Frantzen’s head chef, Bjorn Frantzen, was a chef in the Swedish army before taking on the fine dining world. Here he creates New Nordic cuisine with Japanese and French elements across a three-floor dining room of dreams: canapes are served in a comfy lounge before you’re shown to a chilled counter, with all the ingredients that will be used in your tasting menu on display. One of the more expensive menus on this list, it’s not for the faint hearted, but whimsical dishes include a truffled French toast, pumpkin macaron with foie gras and pork chawanmushi (a Japanese egg custard). Wine list connoisseurs will also appreciate the thousand or so wines on offer.

@restaurantfrantzen / Instagram

Den, Tokyo, Japan

One of the best restaurants in Tokyo, this creative spot recently earned a Michelin Green Star for its sustainability efforts, on top of the two Michelin stars it already held. The “Dentucky Fried Chicken” is probably the most famous dish, a deep-fried chicken-wing dumpling with sticky rice and chicken ginseng soup, served in a faux takeaway carton. But there’s plenty more to this modern update on the traditional Japanese kaiseki form, including clay-pot-cooked rice and bamboo shoots cooked two ways. The dining room is small and minimalist, with a counter facing the open kitchen. Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa says his main goal is “to make others happy”, and you’re sure to leave with a smile on your face.

Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Not all fine dining restaurants are futuristic spaceships of white and chrome: this traditional Buenos Aires parrilla (steakhouse) has a classic green-striped canopy and a cosy, brick-lined dining room trimmed with wine bottles. It’s all about the meat here: different cuts of steak, morcilla blood sausage, provoleta cheese and even vegetables cooked on the vast, smoky parrilla grill. The wine list draws on a 60,000-strong cellar and owner-chef Pablo Rivero has done great work when it comes to sourcing sustainable beef and working with the Argentinian cattle farming world. The olde-worlde looks mean it has atmosphere in spades. All of this adds up to one Michelin star, well deserved.

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It’s the ultimate treat: neat trays of cloche-lidded dishes, tiny condiment jars and paper-topped glassware delivered to your room. A feast you can eat in a pristine white towelling bathrobe. A spread of potentially over-ordered, almost certainly mismatched items with no one around to judge. The only thing more luxurious than a late-night order at a hotel is an order at the world’s very best room service hotels.

Aman New York

New York City has perhaps the highest concentration of fabulous in-room dining experiences. Take the recently opened Aman Hotel’s in-room omakase service. Meaning “I leave it up to you”, this Japanese style of dining allows an expert sushi chef to slice and sizzle a curated selection of bite-sized dishes, creating a feast of surprises. Only guests in the Aman Suite, spread across floors 11 and 12 with corner views of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, can request this rarefied private audience with chef Takuma Yonemaru.

The Savoy, London

Adding a bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne, or smoked salmon and caviar, to your room service breakfast is just one opulent room service option at London’s A-list hotel. Past midday there are dedicated oyster and caviar menus, Cornish lobster rolls, Wagyu beef tartare, comfort foods like mac and cheese with black truffle or lobster, and sought-after vintages of Dom Perignon and Krug. Make like past guests Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra and lounge in your monogrammed bathrobe to enjoy.

Intercontinental Bora Bora, French Polynesia

This honeymoon spot makes the list of best room service hotels for its photogenic ‘canoe breakfast’, where breakfast trays of lavish tropical fruits, fresh juices and hot foods arrive floating on a va’a, a traditional wooden outrigger canoe. Decorated with local flowers, the vessel will glide up to your overwater villa, where a waitress in a flower crown serves piles of fresh pastries, melon and pineapple, yoghurt bowls served in half-coconuts, hot omelettes, sausages and more.

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An omakase chef will come to your suite at the Aman New York

Raffles, Doha

In the sculptural, horseshoe-shaped Katara Towers in the Qatari capital, this glossy new Raffles doesn’t do anything by halves. And that includes its in-room dining, where nine-course breakfast trollies are brought to majestic suites (involving Arabic touches such as signature shakshouka and labneh with honey). Meanwhile the all-day menu encompasses foie gras au torchon, wagyu rib-eye steaks, lobster casarecce, sole Meuniere and the signature Gold Cappucino. Want something even more niche? Every guest at this all-suite hotel has a butler on call, 24/7.

Park Lane Hotel, New York

Not every hotel can boast a “Caviar Hotline” ‒ but that’s the room service essential this Central Park-side hotel lays on for its guests. Dial 5 from your in-room telephone and you’ll select your caviar presentation of choice: from the tin, with blinis, creme fraiche, capers and red onion? Or sprinkled on nachos, topping deviled eggs, along with a glass or bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Brut champagne ‒ or a shooter of Stolichnaya vodka.

Four Seasons Chicago

Whether you’re over or under the age of 21 will dictate which room service treat will bring you back to the FS Chicago. Will it be the legendary in-house ice cream cart? Call down to summon it for a 30-minute spree in your room, choosing between new seasonal flavours dreamt up by the hotel’s chefs, plus toppings from fudge sauce to sprinkles and M&Ms. Or for a more grown-up palate, you might craving the services of the martini cart, which appears with the questions: gin or vodka? Olive or twist? Both options have been delighting guests for nearly 25 years.

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The ice cream cart at Four Seasons Chicago hotel

The Peninsula, Bangkok

In a city known for its affordable, high-quality street food, staying in for tray service may seem especially decadent. But the Peninsula’s breakfast spreads alone are the stuff of legend: there’s a Chinese Breakfast involving dim sum and congee rice porridge, a Thai breakfast packed with fresh fruits and crabmeat omelettes, and a plant-based menu for vegans. Oysters by the half-dozen, and a whole range of Thai specialities from steamed sea bass to roasted duck red curry, give you options from comfort foods to luxury treats.

Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston

Got a VIP – a Very Important Pet, that is – traveling with you? You’re going to want to check in at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, which has a luxe in-room dining menu for guests’ dogs, as well as their humans. Codfish and caviar is the standout dish, though there’s also organic scrambled eggs with kale and quinoa for the health-conscious hound, and beef patties made (naturally) with the finest Aberdeen Angus beef.

Four Seasons Ko Samui

Make your reservations now for this Ko Samui resort – it’ll be booked up for years after its starring role on the next season of The White Lotus. But TV tourism is just one reason to visit: the hotel is known for its in-villa barbecues, where guests are treated to a traditional Thai moo kra ta feast of tiger prawns, Angus beef, pork and chicken cooked in a hot pot over glowing coals. Meanwhile, gourmet picnic baskets can be loaded up for you to enjoy in your villa or around the resort, featuring prawn and pomelo salads, mango and sticky rice and chicken wraps.

Vegan, healthy and even dog options are often available

Pendry Washington DC

With a Potomac river view, a rooftop sushi restaurant and glamorous pool terrace, the Pendry is one of DC’s hottest newcomers. And its in-room dining matches that energy: caviar-topped deviled eggs, Cobb salads sprinkled with lobster, and a New York strip steak with a decadent black truffle gratin. (Pair them with several top champagnes, Napa Valley reds or Provence rosés.) The Maine crab cakes are a real hit with regulars, while California rolls and artisanal cheese plates can be ordered if you get in after hours.

Milestone Hotel, London

Fancy a cocktail, but staying with someone you want to impress? At London’s Milestone Hotel, one of the creative room service options is an audience with one of the hotel’s expert mixologists. They’ll come up to your room to consult on your favourite notes and flavours, then stir you up the perfect aperitif. You could try the hotel’s own Smoky Old Fashioned, request a margarita or Manhattan as you like it, or ask your private bartender to shake up something entirely different. The Milestone is part of the Red Carnation group, the preferred hotels of Luxury Gold groups when staying in Britain.

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