Earlier this month, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced it was teaming up with DoorDash to offer free food delivery to guests at 3,700 properties in the U.S. The partnership brings on-demand food access to most Wyndham’s 20 hotel brands – including Days Inn, Super 8, and La Quinta.
In the bigger picture, the move is part of an industry shift away from hotel room service. As The New York Times reported a decade ago, room service has always been both a laborious and money-losing proposition for hotels. By 2016, only 22 percent of U.S. hotels even offered room service any more — a stunning drop from the 37 percent that offered it in 2014, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
But it’s not as if hotel guests have given up in-room dining. It's just that, instead of calling down to the hotel kitchen, they’re picking up their smartphones and ordering dinner through on-demand meal-delivery apps like DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats and Seamless.
DoorDash now leads the sector in both market share and selection, offering door-to-door meal delivery in 4,000 cities in the U.S. and Canada from over 310,000 establishments. The company has partnerships with 90 percent of the top 100 restaurants that offer delivery, including national fast-casual favorites like The Cheesecake Factory, Wendy’s and Chipotle.
Chipotle is just one of many meal delivery options from DoorDash
DoorDashFor DoorDash, partnering with a major hotel group like Wyndham is a no-brainer. Hotel orders have been on the rise for the past several years and have even increased month over month throughout early 2019, per company data. In just the past year, hotel orders have more than doubled in several key markets such as Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago, according to a company spokesperson.
DoorDash’s partnership with Wyndham is also a win for hungry guests who want to explore what’s on the menu at local restaurants. While you can order straight from the DoorDash app, it makes much more sense to go through the hotel portal to score extra perks.
Guests who are current DoorDash customers will receive $0 delivery fees on orders delivered to Wyndham properties when they use promo code WRD, while guests who are new to DoorDash will receive an additional $5 off plus 2,000 bonus Wyndham Rewards points when they use promo code WR5. If you start your order at the Wyndham Rewards/DoorDash portal, you will receive an additional 250 bonus Wyndham Rewards points. To take advantage of the offer, you must have or create a valid DoorDash account with a valid form of accepted payment on file.
Wyndham isn’t the only hotel group partnering with a food delivery app. Since November 2017, guests at IHG properties have been able to order meals through Grubhub with the IHG app, website, and IHG Connect in-room television menu. Guests can order at more than 1,000 Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn Express, and Staybridge Suites properties in the U.S. and earn up to 500 IHG Reward Club points for the first order and 250 points for every subsequent order. You must enter a valid IHG Rewards Club Member number and complete an order on Grubhub.com or the Grubhub app to qualify.
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