Pros and Cons of Eating in Your Hotel Room While Traveling
Whether for work or fun, traveling requires some planning and preparation if you are to have a successful trip. Regardless of the reason for your excursion, you need to account for your daily meals. You should never be too busy to take the time to eat and recharge your battery. While you travel, you can either eat in your hotel room or go out to a nearby restaurant. Both have their drawbacks and benefits. It’s helpful to know what staying in for your meals can offer and where this may have some negative aspects.
Pro: Save Some Money
If you’re on a tight budget, it might make sense to skip the café or restaurant and eat in your room. It’s no secret that eating out can take a bigger chunk out of your wallet. Depending on which city you’re in and where you’re eating, you could fork out $20, $30, $40, or even $50 or more for a single meal. And if you’re traveling for multiple days, those costs add up in a hurry. Now consider if you’re traveling with other family members and how much more you would spend eating out. If possible, taking food with you on your travels and eating in can be a huge money saver.
Con: Miss Out on Some New Places and Opportunities
It can be fun and exciting to travel to a different city, especially if this is your first visit. At home, you’re probably familiar with many of the popular restaurants. But in another city, there could be some options you otherwise would never visit. Eating in your hotel room takes away these experiences.
Pro: Save Time
In many cases, traveling, either for work or pleasure, has you up against the clock. You could be on a tight schedule, and eating out can double, triple, or quadruple the time you spend on meals. Eating out will require travel time, time waiting for a table and your food, and time dealing with crowds. If you have meetings to get to or other events on your agenda, eating in your hotel room might make more sense. This is especially true if your schedule includes events at or near the hotel.
Con: Miss Out on Socializing
For business travel, it can be a team-building experience to go out with coworkers to a local restaurant for lunch or dinner. This is a good chance to be off the clock and get to know one another more. Here, you can unwind a little, blow off some steam, and relieve some stress. You can even develop friendships or strengthen relationships with clients. Eating in your hotel room may give the impression that you aren’t a team player or that you don’t get along well with others in your travel party.
Ordering in and eating in your hotel room can be a good idea under the right circumstances. If you opt for this method, get a Grubhub promo code and order your favorite meal for the night. You can see that there are benefits to doing this, as well as some potential pitfalls.
Sources:
https://www.travelguideline.net/eating-hotel-room.html
https://www.moneycrashers.com/eat-cheap-traveling-vacation/