Can hotel stop you from eating your own food in the room?

smeedyova

Hi all, was thinking about booking a break in a 5 star hotel in Ireland but heard that they have a sign in the room saying that people who eat food in the room that was not purchased from the hotel will be fined. I thought that if you paid for a hotel room it was yours for the duration and you could do anything, legal, that you wanted in it...Is anybody better informed? Thanks.

foghlu

Honestly cant see how they can stop you from eating in your room...

But if they had signs and a policy against it you could just say that you had food allergies and wouldnt feel comfortable eating the food supplied on the premises!

keithclancy

Almost as bad as singapore airlines: :pac::pac::pac:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article2747522.ece

Honestly though i've never heard of that before in any hotel (in any country), whoever told you that made it up methinks.

Smoking is about the only thing i've seen forbidden.

phasers

how would they know you were eating outside food anyway?

You could always say you're diabetic (my mam is and
she likes to have her own food because she knows exactly what goes into it that way)

listermint

I have never seen this in any hotel ive stayed in.

Mr E

I think its mainly to stop stinky takeaways from stinking up the room.
Just take any food waste away with you when you're leaving.

stargazer 68

Never seen signs like that anywhere either. We have eaten chipper in a couple of hotel rooms and I have seen people bringing in pizzas too.

Storminateacup

I've seen that policy in a Hotel I stayed in, in Waterford. When I was checking out, I made sure to leave the Thai curry cartons that I had the previous night, in the room. I didn't get fined or anything.

godtabh

I remember staying in a hotel in sligo and getting a 4 star pizza family deal and eating it back in the hotel room.

no issue the next day with the pizza boxes. i'm sure the hotel would prefer you to eat in the hotel and that sign probably encourages people to do it but there is little they could do to enforce it i would imagine.

smeedyova

godtabh wrote: »

i'm sure the hotel would prefer you to eat in the hotel

Indeed, and their restaurants are mega, mega expensive, but you know what the hotel told me the reason for this was? Food poisoning...yes, you could get food poisoning if you eat food that was not bought on their premises.

I've also ordered in when staying in many hotels without any problems.

My grump about it is that this place has rooms that start at 170 euro a night...for that price I'll eat what I want and don't expect threats about being fined!

bcirl03

How would they even impose the fine?

If they added it to the bill I wouldnt be paying it and would also copy up to Trip Advisor.

Any chance ya can name n shame?

smeedyova

I don't think they could reasonably impose the fine, but the fact that they would issue threats about fines is crazy and I guess it means that they wouldn't let you receive delivery of a pizza or whatever...I wouldn't care in a hostel but if I'm forking out a LOT of money I don't expect to be told that I can't eat my own apple in the room!

Somebody else reported on tripadvisor that the same place added a 5 euro charge to their restaurant bill for tap water, but the hotel told me that the don't charge for tap water.

JimsAlterEgo

Email and ask them? Then name and shame if you have proof.

Welruc

I've been working in a 4 star hotel for a few years now and never heard of anything like this, probably trying to encourage guests to eat the hotel food.
Defo don't pay any fine they try to impose if you do eat in your room!

chicken fingers

The standard of 5 start hotels in Ireland is absolutely pathetic.
With few exceptions, they are money grubbing, begrudging assclowns.
The service has always been sub-par for the prices.

I frequently stay in 4 and 5 stars in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and the standards are completely different. I often would call the reception and tell them to order me a pizza from dominos or whatever was the best pizza place, they would buy it, tip the driver and add it as room service with no extra hotel charge.
Or sometimes I will have to meet colleagues etc in the suite, I will order sandwich platters or seafood buffet or something.
The hotels never have a problem and the staff are only absolutely delighted to help you out with whatever little thing.

In Ireland, paying 200 per night for some average room in a 5 star hotel with rip off cokes and rip off restaurants, the staff will still have snooty attitudes.
I've seen staff in a Dublin hotel wrinkle their noses at basic requests and make you feel guilty for asking something or doing anything except sleeping in your hotel bed.

Well F**k them. Seriously, without us they have no business.

bcirl03

chicken fingers wrote: »

The standard of 5 start hotels in Ireland is absolutely pathetic.
With few exceptions, they are money grubbing, begrudging assclowns.
The service has always been sub-par for the prices.

I frequently stay in 4 and 5 stars in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and the standards are completely different. I often would call the reception and tell them to order me a pizza from dominos or whatever was the best pizza place, they would buy it, tip the driver and add it as room service with no extra hotel charge.
Or sometimes I will have to meet colleagues etc in the suite, I will order sandwich platters or seafood buffet or something.
The hotels never have a problem and the staff are only absolutely delighted to help you out with whatever little thing.

In Ireland, paying 200 per night for some average room in a 5 star hotel with rip off cokes and rip off restaurants, the staff will still have snooty attitudes.
I've seen staff in a Dublin hotel wrinkle their noses at basic requests and make you feel guilty for asking something or doing anything except sleeping in your hotel bed.

Well F**k them. Seriously, without us they have no business.

+1 and well said

5500

This actually happened me awhile ago in a hotel in bray (not sure about naming names but it has a simular name to the monarchy) On my way back to the room at about 11.30 I was stopped in the lobby with my big bag of chips and told by a porter that I couldnt bring them into the hotel (no food was available in the hotel at that time either)

I asked for the manager and apparently said porter was in charge that night and what he said went. I politely told him where to go and went to my room with my grub.

I didnt see any signs of it being policy in the hotel, and the next morning checking out he was nowhere to be found nor was a manager. I followed it up with an email but never heard any reply from them.

tallaghtoutlaws

chicken fingers wrote: »

The standard of 5 start hotels in Ireland is absolutely pathetic.
With few exceptions, they are money grubbing, begrudging assclowns.
The service has always been sub-par for the prices.

I frequently stay in 4 and 5 stars in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and the standards are completely different. I often would call the reception and tell them to order me a pizza from dominos or whatever was the best pizza place, they would buy it, tip the driver and add it as room service with no extra hotel charge.
Or sometimes I will have to meet colleagues etc in the suite, I will order sandwich platters or seafood buffet or something.
The hotels never have a problem and the staff are only absolutely delighted to help you out with whatever little thing.

In Ireland, paying 200 per night for some average room in a 5 star hotel with rip off cokes and rip off restaurants, the staff will still have snooty attitudes.
I've seen staff in a Dublin hotel wrinkle their noses at basic requests and make you feel guilty for asking something or doing anything except sleeping in your hotel bed.

Well F**k them. Seriously, without us they have no business.

Very well said. I have said in many 3 star hotels across the world that would also put our so called 5 star to shame.

But the level of service in 4 or 5 star hotels around the world do make Irish ones look amateur. They can't do enough for you to make your stay the best you have ever had. Irish hotels don't give a flying fook about their guests for the most part. Few exceptions out there of course.

smeedyova

Totally agree. What I had to listen to on the phone yesterday was ridiculous. The girl told me that I couldn't eat my own food in the room in case I got food poisoning, but even went on to say that, for example, if I was eating an apple at check-in they wouldn't stop me from going to my room with it!!! I asked her if the hotel also had a policy on what foods are/aren't more likely to cause food poisoning...if I would be allowed to proceed with my apple but not with, say, my dinner.

maxer68

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

Very well said. I have said in many 3 star hotels across the world that would also put our so called 5 star to shame.

But the level of service in 4 or 5 star hotels around the world do make Irish ones look amateur. They can't do enough for you to make your stay the best you have ever had. Irish hotels don't give a flying fook about their guests for the most part. Few exceptions out there of course.

So how come Loch Eske Castle in Donegal won best luxury hotel in the world?

Also 5 star means different things depending on location. 5 star in a city would be 5 star business service, whereas 5 star in a resort area would mean 5 star holiday service. So comparing a resort hotel in Dubai with a business hotel in Dublin can't be done.

sozbox

I regularly stay in 5 star hotels in Dublin and I've eaten everything from Subway to Chinese to Pizza in my room without bother, I certainly wouldn't entertain a suggestion of not being allowed to eat my own food in a room I paid for.

sallydan

The only place I have ever seen this is in a hostel!

keithclancy

maxer68 wrote: »

So how come Loch Eske Castle in Donegal won best luxury hotel in the world?

Also 5 star means different things depending on location. 5 star in a city would be 5 star business service, whereas 5 star in a resort area would mean 5 star holiday service. So comparing a resort hotel in Dubai with a business hotel in Dublin can't be done.

The reason 5 star hotels in Ireland are rubbish is becuase the staff get paid regardless, whereas other Countries part of their wage is tips.

Seriously ... 5 Stars in Ireland are up their own hole.

I would assume they won the best Luxury Country Hotel (lots of categories btw) because they are an excellent country hotel, fair do's to them

I'm comparing like for like, basically the attitude of the staff is that you should be of a certain calibre to stay in the place.

chicken fingers

smeedyova wrote: »

Totally agree. What I had to listen to on the phone yesterday was ridiculous. The girl told me that I couldn't eat my own food in the room in case I got food poisoning, but even went on to say that, for example, if I was eating an apple at check-in they wouldn't stop me from going to my room with it!!! I asked her if the hotel also had a policy on what foods are/aren't more likely to cause food poisoning...if I would be allowed to proceed with my apple but not with, say, my dinner.

Which hotel was this?

maxer68 wrote: »

So how come Loch Eske Castle in Donegal won best luxury hotel in the world?

Also 5 star means different things depending on location. 5 star in a city would be 5 star business service, whereas 5 star in a resort area would mean 5 star holiday service. So comparing a resort hotel in Dubai with a business hotel in Dublin can't be done.

I did say, with a few exceptions... This is probably one.
BTW it won that dodgy award twice... But thats OT.

And 5 star service is 5 star service. For me, Dubai is a place of business, I could not imagine going there to a resort. I'm talking about being respected and good service. Were not talking about resorts, were talking about silly restrictions and excuses. I don't pay 'to stay somewhere and be lectured about food poisoning. What nonsense is this!

julyjane

The only time I've heard of people not being allowed bring in outside food was at weddings, hotels want couples to pay for both the meal and the evening buffet instead of getting a caterer for the buffet. They say for health and safety reasons which is sort of OK because if one of the wedding guests gets sick from the buffet word could get around that the hotel was the source. They make an exception for wedding cakes

I have to admit I'd feel a bit cheeky calling up Dominos or whoever and getting pizza delivered to the hotel, with reception having to phone the room and say your pizza was at reception or send a porter or someone up to the room with it.

But I wouldn't feel a bit cheeky bringing my own food in. Maybe the hotel are worried about their image if people are walking through reception with pizza boxes and McDonalds bags. It is absurd to be fined or told "you're not allowed"

I'd be tempted to wink at them and say "I've done much worse things in that room than eating pizza"

keithclancy

julyjane wrote: »

I'd be tempted to wink at them and say "I've done much worse things in that room than eating pizza"

Ah yes ... the ol' was it a Bin or Toilet after a few jars on a night out.

thebullkf

Storminateacup wrote: »

I've seen that policy in a Hotel I stayed in, in Waterford. When I was checking out, I made sure to leave the Thai curry cartons that I had the previous night, in the room. I didn't get fined or anything.

How nice of you.

rubadub

deuceswild wrote: »

probably trying to encourage guests to eat the hotel food.

This is most likely it, and to possibly stop stinking up of the place, or people slopping takeaway food over the place as they have no proper plates etc.

Some hotels have really cheap rooms but might insist you get a dinner. There was something in consumer issues about this before, some voucher you got with petrol but had to buy an expensive dinner.

I have brought food into hotels before and sort of hid it in case somebody questioned it, I would have had a few drinks on me and been thinking of it like smuggling into a cinema! Sort of similar idea as a cinema I suppose -they can have all the rules they want, but the fine is sort of an empty threat. If there is a fine I expect it might have to be declared, like they cannot say "you ate a raisin so now pay €10,000 fine" -I can't see how it could be enforced.

They probably just hope people will eat there and have no intention of ever fining people and hope most won't even think about it.

google

hotel rules "no food" site:.ie

Shows the no food rule for weddings and debs and a B&Bs

tallaghtoutlaws

maxer68 wrote: »

So how come Loch Eske Castle in Donegal won best luxury hotel in the world?

Also 5 star means different things depending on location. 5 star in a city would be 5 star business service, whereas 5 star in a resort area would mean 5 star holiday service. So comparing a resort hotel in Dubai with a business hotel in Dublin can't be done.

Read what I said Very last line of what you quoted.

Few exceptions out there of course.

But to be honest with you how this country rates its hotels is beyond me. Of course as I said there are few exceptions but most hotels in this country couldn't justify their standards in other countries around the world.

And before you say we can't compare this service world wide I ask you why not? They all aim to provide the same services. And to call yourself a 5 star hotel and provide a 3 star service you are taking the p1ss as many hotels in Ireland do.

JustAddWater

Dovies wrote: »

We have eaten chipper in a couple of hotel rooms and I have seen people bringing in pizzas too.

Now that's what I call a durty weekend

wmpdd3

A friend has a B&B, she doesn't allow food in the bedroom, but has no problems setting a table downstairs for takeaway etc. There's no where suitable to eat up stairs so when other guests ate chipper food there, they got grease on the bed sheets.

jack presley

Could you bring a bag of crisps, a bar of chocolate etc? That's food

smeedyova

I'm not sure. I was told if a person is eating an apple or an orange at reception they won't ask you to leave the hotel. Not sure about a Mars bar though.

-Corkie-

smeedyova wrote: »

I'm not sure. I was told if a person is eating an apple or an orange at reception they won't ask you to leave the hotel. Not sure about a Mars bar though.

Lol must be watching too much Fawlty towers...:D

the_syco

keithclancy wrote: »

Ah yes ... the ol' was it a Bin or Toilet after a few jars on a night out.

For this reason, you should never really use the sink if it's in the same room as the beds; "the toilet was too far away"...

spoonface

smeedyova wrote: »

Hi all, was thinking about booking a break in a 5 star hotel in Ireland but heard that they have a sign in the room saying that people who eat food in the room that was not purchased from the hotel will be fined. I thought that if you paid for a hotel room it was yours for the duration and you could do anything, legal, that you wanted in it...Is anybody better informed? Thanks.

Please name and shame the hotel in question. In reality, it's completely unenforcable unless it's among the rules you signed agreement to upon check-in or booking. If you are fined, simply refuse to pay it and say 'show me where I agreed to that'. Conditions can't just be added after you are shown to your room - the agreement is made on booking or check-in.

whydoibother?

spoonface wrote: »

Please name and shame the hotel in question. In reality, it's completely unenforcable unless it's among the rules you signed agreement to upon check-in or booking. If you are fined, simply refuse to pay it and say 'show me where I agreed to that'. Conditions can't just be added after you are shown to your room - the agreement is made on booking or check-in.

You could have agreed to it without it being specifically stated in the conditions. There might be a general term saying that you agree to be bound by the hotels rules. If you are particularly concerned about what the hotels rules are, it's up to you to contact them and find out before booking. Obviously most people don't bother doing that and just discover the "rules" when they arrive in the forms of signs etc.

I suspect it's something that is not enforced too often, but just a tool they like to have in their backpocket in case a guest starts taking the p$ss e.g. has something that smells awful or spills 4 takeaways on the carpet and doesn't want to pay for the cleaning. I suppose the few that take it seriously will spend more on the premises too.

Atlantic Dawn

wmpdd3 wrote: »

A friend has a B&B, she doesn't allow food in the bedroom, but has no problems setting a table downstairs for takeaway etc. There's no where suitable to eat up stairs so when other guests ate chipper food there, they got grease on the bed sheets.

So they don't wash the sheets when the next guest books in? Classy place

wmpdd3

no, the sheets were stained so they were replaced.

harr

maxer68 wrote: »

So how come Loch Eske Castle in Donegal won best luxury hotel in the world?

Also 5 star means different things depending on location. 5 star in a city would be 5 star business service, whereas 5 star in a resort area would mean 5 star holiday service. So comparing a resort hotel in Dubai with a business hotel in Dublin can't be done.

Indeed loch Eske is a fine hotel and maybe the best 5 star in Ireland but its never the best luxury hotel in the world,i have stayed in luxury hotels from Mexico to china and have worked in a few as well that would put any hotel in Ireland to shame .

dudara

spoonface wrote: »

Please name and shame the hotel in question.

Please don't name the establishment in question.

thesandeman

5500 wrote: »

This actually happened me awhile ago in a hotel in bray (not sure about naming names but it has a simular name to the monarchy) On my way back to the room at about 11.30 I was stopped in the lobby with my big bag of chips and told by a porter that I couldnt bring them into the hotel (no food was available in the hotel at that time either)

I asked for the manager and apparently said porter was in charge that night and what he said went. I politely told him where to go and went to my room with my grub.

I didnt see any signs of it being policy in the hotel, and the next morning checking out he was nowhere to be found nor was a manager. I followed it up with an email but never heard any reply from them.

Stayed in that hotel 5 times about 2 years ago. Never a problem with the night porters regards food etc. Found them to be really sound actually.
Management however was a different story. On our final visit there our room was a disaster (fan buzzing outside window from 3am, no hot water etc.) We mentioned it on leaving to reception and the duty manager who was hovering (not hoovering) came over with the helpful remark 'what do you want me to do about it? If you really need a shower you can use one of the other vacated bathrooms before we clean the room' as he pointedly looked at his watch.
We also emailed the hotel but no response. Needless to say it was our last visit there.
Back on topic I presume the food rule is just in case somebody messes up the room too much so the hotel can cover themselves, same as the group deposits etc.

charlemont

smeedyova wrote: »

Hi all, was thinking about booking a break in a 5 star hotel in Ireland but heard that they have a sign in the room saying that people who eat food in the room that was not purchased from the hotel will be fined. I thought that if you paid for a hotel room it was yours for the duration and you could do anything, legal, that you wanted in it...Is anybody better informed? Thanks.

That would be very Irish alright..

mikemac

It's a coverall rule OP.
I've stayed in hotels for six weeks straight for work and worked on the other side as a porter.
Taking a pizza up to your room is no issue at all and the staff will take away the box in the morning as rubbish

But a gang of ye can't sit in the lobby eating pizza. It looks bad and it's not the hotels food. So that's fair enough and you didn't mention it

Joe Duffy had a segment on a guy drinking wine in his room and the hotel charged him corkage, outrageous! The manager came on the radio, apolgogized and gave a voucher.
But the rule was there as drinking in your room is cool but six or more lads buying a slap and drinking in a room is not on and the night porter would sort that out, did it myself.

I realize I've given examples that didn't happen here.
My point is there are catch all rules that are to deal with messing and parties in rooms but some hotel staff fail to use discretion and hassle the quiet single person causing no trouble

whiterebel

Book a room in a 5 star hotel, but eat takeway food in the room?
Just book a 3 star and eat in the restaurant......;)

Pythia

I've stayed in hotels before where the front desk has take away menus and will recommend places you should order from. In a hotel I stayed in in NYC, take away menus were often slipped under the door of the room. In Vegas, one night when we were really tired we got takeout and had it in the room too.

Generally I get takeaway food in a hotel when I'm really tired or in a slightly isolated location. Takeaway is generally nicer and cheaper than the hotel restaurant too.

maxer68

smeedyova wrote: »

Hi all, was thinking about booking a break in a 5 star hotel in Ireland but heard that they have a sign in the room saying that people who eat food in the room that was not purchased from the hotel will be fined.

I don't think any of us read the OP properly.

Re-reading it - he/she "heard" - heard from who? Have they even bothered to ring the hotel and check the policy?

Possibly there may be a sign regarding certain types of foods - such as late night takeaway type stuff and this would be more because of the mess and smell it can leave behind.

smeedyova

If you read the rest of the thread it will be clear that I did "bother" to ring the hotel and they confirmed that the sign exists and that it applies to all foods, except perhaps an apple or an orange that one might be eating on check-in.

I became aware of it first through a friend and then I read same on Tripadvisor, where a person who had stayed at the hotel had complained about it.

maxer68

smeedyova wrote: »

If you read the rest of the thread it will be clear that I did "bother" to ring the hotel and they confirmed that the sign exists and that it applies to all foods, except perhaps an apple or an orange that one might be eating on check-in.

I became aware of it first through a friend and then I read same on Tripadvisor, where a person who had stayed at the hotel had complained about it.

apologies - but then it probably to do with problems they have encountered by other guests. Unfortunately there are quite a few people who treat other peoples property with total distain and it casues problems for everyine.

bcirl03

smeedyova wrote: »

I became aware of it first through a friend and then I read same on Tripadvisor, where a person who had stayed at the hotel had complained about it.

Got a link to Tripadvisor review you could share with us?

smeedyova

I don't think I'm allowed to name the place.