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MEALS ON THE FLY
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HOTELS OFFER
TASTY FOOD TO GO FOR AIR TRAVELERS
BY LAURIE BURSTEIN
Sliced tenderloin with pasta salad, fresh fruit and a linzertorte
is probably not the typical lunch being served in coach class these
days. But thanks to several area hotels, guests who are catching
a flight can enjoy fresh and tasty food in the air by ordering meals
to go during their hotel stays. As airlines have scaled back on
food service, The Adam’s Mark Hotel, The Westin, The Renaissance
St. Louis Hotel-Airport, and the Marriott Hotel-St. Louis Airport,
have stepped in to offer take-out food for hungry airline passengers.
The 910-room Adam’s Mark St. Louis hotel offers a program to provide
boxed meals to go for the convenience of guests upon checkout, and
has seen an increase in the number of travelers requesting this
service. It is available to any guest staying at the hotel for a
meeting or convention, as well as to business and leisure travelers.
JOE
GRAF
director of catering and conference services, Adam’s
Mark |
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Meeting and convention groups often request this service for their
participants. Upon the conclusion of the final meeting, the box
lunches are stationed outside the meeting room so attendees can
simply pick them up on their way out. This can be pre-ordered weeks
before the group’s arrival or after they check in.
“Meeting planners appreciate the convenience of take-out meals because
they know many of their attendees are anxious to get to the airport,
and do not want to take the time for a sit-down meal at the conclusion
of their meeting,” says Joe Graf, director of Catering and Conference
Services for the Adam’s Mark. The Adam’s Mark provides this service
for meeting groups of all sizes with one of the largest being box
lunches to go for 1,000 attendees.
“We have a number of different catering menus, but we’ll also customize
meals based on the preference of the group. In addition, any item
on our hotel restaurant menus can be made to go in a matter of minutes
for group or individual travelers,” Graf says.
Box lunches can range from casual fare such as deli sandwiches,
fruit, chips and cookie to more elaborate cuisine including the
sliced tenderloin described above. Vegetarian meals to go are also
available.
Gary Tarpinian, director of Sales & Marketing at The Westin in downtown
St. Louis, says he has also seen an increase in the number of requests
for take-out meals from hotel guests.
“There is a real need for providing airline passengers with good
take-out food. We are seeing more and more demand, and it’s a great
niche for the hotel industry to fill,” Tarpinian says.
Through The Westin’s Service Express program, guests can request
a cooked-to-order pizza that is ready in 15-20 minutes. Other popular
take-out items are chicken wraps and the seafood cobb salad.
Tarpinian says the hotel’s 24-hour room service is popular for those
who have gotten off a late night flight where there was limited
food service.
Two St. Louis airport hotels have also recently begun offering grab
and go meals. The Gourmet Get Away Program was introduced at The
Renaissance St. Louis Hotel and The Marriott Hotel and is designed
for airline travelers who want quick and good tasting meals to eat
on board a flight.
“Our guests want convenient take-out meals that can fit into a briefcase,”
says Doug Dean, marketing director of both the Renaissance and Marriott
hotels at the airport.
Dean adds, “Our menu is geared to airline travelers who need practical
food that is conveniently packaged and not too messy to eat on a
flight. At the same time, meals must be tasty and healthful. Our
signature item is a grilled chicken club sandwich, with a variety
of other lunch and breakfast options.” Dean adds that most of the
items are in the six-to-nine dollar range to keep meals at a reasonable
price.
Hotel guests are given a brochure about the program upon check in.
Take-out meals are pre-ordered and then picked up in the nearby
lobby restaurant during check out.
With all the cutbacks in the airline industry, passengers now have
the option of having tasty food in the air catered by some of the
top hotels in town.
Laurie Burstein is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
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