I do!!!!!!!!!!

We loved going to the Four Seasons in Philadelphia for afternoon tea. And its restaurant was one of the city's best.
Many hotel restaurants also put on superb Sunday brunches and those are actually quite good value for money. At one hotel in Portland, OR, a high school football coach used to take his team there for Saturday brunch (NOBODY can put away food like an active male teenager! Just imagine how much damage two dozen 16 and 17 yo guys could do to an "all you can eat" brunch spread). They ate so much that eventually the team was banned from coming en masse.

I'm a'waitin, Ms Scarlett. (insert drumming finger icon here)

Let's also not forget those mornings when on vacation we are too hung over to go any farther than the bathroom. Room service to the rescue!!

Seriously -- I have stayed at many a hotel, and being a solo female traveler, I thank & love hotels that have a nice, safe, good quality restuarant that I can eat at or get room service so I don't have to travel an unfamiliar city alone. I now actuall book hotels that I know have these options so they are there for me in case I need them - expense account or not, my safety is #1.

Here in Boston/Cambridge some of the good restaurants are in hotels that locals go to. All not expensive. Years ago, most hotels were not noted for good food. Living in a city, not staying at the hotel, I can understand why a tourist would eat somewhere else, to see the city

In Honolulu, many of our best restaurants are in hotels and are no more expensive than comparable non-hotel eateries. We not only eat in them, but hold our graduation parties, showers and birthday parties there!

I also use room service when I travel, especially when I'm alone. I love the luxury of eating a very late dinner or breakfast in bed! I guess the key is to choose hotels with good restaurants..

If I know that I want to go to a great restaurant and it happens to be in a hotel, then I have no problem with it. They are often expensive because they are 4 star and have quality food and drink. I just went to the Pump Room last week in Chicago's Omni East and had a wonderful meal. Often I just eat in local eateries but I will splurge once or twice on a vacation.

Heavens: It all depends on the hotel and where it's located. And it all depends if we have our little one with us. Sometimes it's just easier to do it at the hotel restaurant when the little one is with us. Sometimes a hotel might have a GREAT restaurant. Why not eat there then? If the food is GREAT, I certainly don't mind the high prices. Sometimes the hotel has an ok restaurant with lots of GREAT restaurants in town or in another town nearby, then we'll eat at those. As I said, it all depends...

Wow we do and it has nothing to do with being lazy. Swan Court at the Maui Hyatt was fabulous as was Va Bene at the Maui Marriott Ocean Resort, just to name a few. The Garden Court at teh Palace Hotel is beautiful and has a great brunch/lunch.

On the topic of meals...My wife and I are celebrating our 1st anniversary in April. We are considering Las Ventanas in Cabo. Question: Are meals and drinks included, or is it order & pay? This will be our first truly upper scale vacation, and aren't sure what to expect.

Thanks.

Heavens, I think your post is about 15 or 20 years out of date. There was a time when what you seem to say would have been correct. Hotels generally were actually meant as a convenience to those who stayed there. Prices were invariably high and the offerings often glorified banquet food.

But today things are much different. Many hotels even lease out space to top chefs for their own restaurants which will be as good in a hotel as they will be anywhere else. Local eateries you say? Well, many hotels in some smaller cities may offer the best "local eatery" choices, as most other restaurants may be chains and fanchises.

But I suspect your last sentence is the real clue. You mention such "an expensive place", so is your question really that you don't appreciate paying high prices for food regardless of where? Do you also avoid fine restaurants by top chefs because they are "expensive"? If you are one that prefers to pay $20 for a salad bar and a choice steak then fine -- you are entitled to, but if you are saying you don't approve of fine dining, then you have a point. You are probably wise to stay out of most fine hotel dining rooms, just as you'd never appreciate a trip to a really fine independent restaurant.

hedo, you can go all inclusive at Las Ventanas but it isn't included in the room price. I think we paid about $1200 per day for hotel and all inclusive. Oh so very worth the price.

I have to laugh. I live in Tampa and have never stayed at the Hyatt but have been to Armani's many times and OysterCatcher's a few times, though it's been awhile since I've been to either. It really just depends on the restaurant and the caliber of the food. And when I've travelled on business, I've been exhausted after a long day and used the hotels restaurant, often room service. The Lucerne in New York City has a wonderful restaurant, I was happy to discover. Sometimes a warm bed and a noisy TV are just as good as a warm body and a fight with your room-mate.

Heavens, I think your question is out of date, as Patrick mentions. I'm wondering what cities you are referring to.

Jimshep beat me to it about Seattle... many of the downtown hotels have excellent restaurants, not <fancy and formal> or <outrageously priced> ones that people go to who are not staying at the hotel or on huge expenses accounts.

Whenever we travel to the Caribbean we always eat in the hotel for our first night. We are usually tired from traveling and just want to unpack, eat and go to sleep so we are rested for the start of our vacation. Our vacations are usually about 10 days so we have a lot of time to eat in other places. We have actually had great meals at Rosada's at the Fiesta mericana Condesa in cancun, the Blue Bayou in the Hyatt Cancun Caribe, the outdoor restaurant in the Maui Hyatt and in 2003 at the Alamanda in St Martin. We later found out that the Alamanda's chef went to an upscale restaurant on St Bart's. They no longer serve dinner.

The Fountain at the Four Seasons in Phila. is considered by many to be the best restaurant in Phila.

I wonder if you ever travel with kids. We stay at lots of lots of Holiday Inns and Hampton Inns so we can grab a quick (free) breakfast and get on our way. When we vacation with the boys, we are not there to eat!

DH and I almost always get room service breakfast when we travel. He likes a big breakfast; I just want toast and coffee. So we order and he eats while I take my time getting ready.

I would do it more frequently, if they were not so expensive. They always look so inviting and who knows if the place around the corner is any better. I love the luxury of walking downstairs and eating a lovely meal. It sounds good to me!!

My husband and I live in Philly and consider ourselves to be foodies. We eat out quite a bit all over the city, and this has included some fantastic hotel restaurants: The Grill at the Ritz Carlton, Fountain Restaurant at the Four Seasons, and Ristorante Panorama at The Penns View Inn...Not to mention, the Ritz has a chocolate buffet every weekend and a hot chocolate sommalier during the winter, and The Four Seasons has a yummy dessert buffet with Jazz in a cozy lounge.

I actually just had the BEST meal I've ever had at a hotel restaurant in Portland, Oregon. When I checked into the 5th Ave Suites, I asked for a restaurant recommendation. The clerk pointed me to the hotel's restaurant, the Red Star. I rolled my eyes and decided to take a walk around the block to see what else there was. I passed the restaurant and, lo and behold, it looked really nice. Not formal or stuffy, but warm and cozy. It had a big separate entrance (away from the hotel) and the hotel entrance was small and unnoticeable. In short, it didn't *seem* like a hotel restaurant!

I was not disappointed. The service was good, the food delicious and they feature Oregon wines (of course).

I highly recommend it.