Press Release: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
December 8, 2000
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- When it comes to hotel dining, most Americans say forget finger bowls and fancy fare, opting
instead for simple lunch and dinner favorites like burgers, club sandwiches, salads and steaks and hearty breakfast
fare such as Belgian waffles, French toast and eggs any style. In fact, 61% of Americans surveyed by Sheraton Hotels
& Resorts said they would choose a burger over foie gras (9%) any day. And for some, a burger beats a different
kind of decadence -- when asked what they desire in a hotel room late at night, a few folks (4%) say they'd even
take a burger and fries over sex!
Guideline Consulting Corporation, a New York-based research company, interviewed over 1,000 Americans for Sheraton
to gauge travelers' attitudes toward hotel dining. Sheraton conducted the survey as part of the development of
its new Sheraton Cuisine Essentials program, which features a revamp of the 30 most popular menu items ordered
throughout the brand's North American hotels, which collectively serve almost 10 million meals annually. Developed
by Sheraton's corporate chef, Richard Faeh, the philosophy behind Sheraton Cuisine Essentials is to do the basics
best.
Hotel Dining Not Always Tasty
A new and improved menu may just hit the spot. According to Sheraton's survey, hotels have plenty of room for improvement
when it comes to dining. While one in five Americans say that hotel dining is ``on par with a nice restaurant,''
37% say its ``just OK,'' 16% say it's ``a half step above fast food,'' and 3% say its even ``as bad as airline
food.''
``Our research clearly shows that hotels can do better when it comes to dining options, and that was our intent
when we developed our new Sheraton Cuisine Essentials menu,'' said Randy Kwasniewski, Sheraton's executive vice
president of operations. ``Not only are we serving our guests what they actually want to eat on the road, but we're
confident that we're offering outstanding versions of each popular dish.''
No Need for a Recount: Club Sandwiches and Burgers Top Favorite Hotel Food List
``Whether at the Sheraton in San Diego, St. Louis or Seattle, the most popular menu item is a club sandwich, followed,
in order, by a burger, chicken sandwich, chicken Caesar and a Cobb Salad,'' said Philip Kendall, vice president
of food and beverage for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Sheraton's parent. ``So we said to ourselves,
if that's what our guests want, let's use our resources to develop the very best club sandwich, the very best burger,
and so on.''
Chef Faeh, a Swiss-trained chef, spent the last six months creating the new Sheraton Cuisine Essentials core menu
of hotel favorites that also includes a seared ribeye steak, an oriental noodle salad and a grilled portobello
wrap. Chef Faeh conducted hundreds of taste tests in search of the perfect penne pasta Alfredo, a world-class chicken
potpie, and, of course, the hotel industry's very best turkey club. All 30 Sheraton Cuisine Essential items will
be featured in 100 participating Sheraton hotels in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to a core menu of popular
items, each individual hotel chef can add regional favorites such as a Crabcake Sandwich in Stamford, Connecticut;
BBQ Ribs in Kansas City; and Drumfish Meunier in Baton Rouge.
Do You Deliver?
Sheraton Cuisine Essentials is also available via room service in all participating Sheraton hotels. Room service,
according to most Americans, continues to carry some cache. In fact, 65% say they consider room service as ``a
treat'' vs. ``a necessary evil'' (15%). And, over half of all Americans (54%) say room service is a romantic thing
to do when traveling with a spouse or significant other. In case you're wondering, 39% of Americans eat room service
at a table, but as we suspected, a sizable share say they nosh in bed (28%). Two percent choose the floor as their
dining venue, and 1% said they usually eat room service in the, uh, bathroom. While they're eating room service
meals, 63% of Americans watch TV, 26% talk on the phone, 22% read and 17% do work -- lets hope this is limited
to the folks that dine in their room and not in their bathroom.
Variety is the Spice of Life
While conventional wisdom says that a smaller menu means a superior menu, that is not the case when it comes to
hotel dining. Americans are divided as to what they want from hotel food, with needs ranging from convenience to
indulgence:
``Upscale hotel dining really does need to offer something for everyone, and the Sheraton Cuisine Essentials
menu, which was created by popular demand, reflects that,'' said Jane Mackie, Sheraton's vice president of marketing.
``Whether a guest wants a great steak or a super plate of pasta, or wishes to sample local fare, or maintain a
diet, or be a little naughty and have nachos and chicken wings for dinner, Sheraton Cuisine Essentials can meet
their needs.''
Please Sir, May I Have Some More?
More than a third (35%) of Americans say they eat more for breakfast in hotels than at home. A quarter of Americans
also eat bigger dinners on the road, while they tend to lighten up on lunch, with a quarter saying they eat less
for lunch when they travel vs. at home.
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts has more than 375 hotels in 67 countries and is the largest brand of Starwood Hotels
and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is one of the leading hotel
and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned
and managed properties. With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and
franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by
Sheraton, W brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of
high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit us at http://www.starwoodhotels.com.
The Sheraton survey is based on 1,008 telephone interviews conducted on a national omnibus survey during the period
of November 9-12, 2000. The survey was conducted among a nationwide cross-section of adult American men and women
ages 18 or older living in the continental United States (504 men; 504 women). The survey respondents were drawn
from a nationally projectable RDD (random digit dialing) telephone sample. The margin of sampling error is +/-
3 percentage points on the total.
SOURCE: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.