Groceries Are Knocking At Your Hotel Door

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham now offers its guests easy access to the ingredients they need to feel at home on the road with its newly-launched grocery delivery service. Through new partnerships with Peapod and Instacart, Wyndham Hotel Group now brings groceries straight to guests’ doors.

The service is currently piloting at eight Hawthorn Suites hotels in and around Chicago, Ill.; Philadelphia, Penn.; Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.; Hartford, Conn.; and Orlando, Fla. It is the brand's newest offering developed to help long-term guests maintain their routines when away from home, and is the latest addition to Homemade @ Hawthorn, the brand's in-room, chef-driven cooking program designed for hotel living serving up seasonal, home-cooked recipes from award-winning chefs which can be easily prepared in a fully equipped in-suite kitchen.

Guests at the pilot hotels can find and order all of the ingredients for their favorite Homemade @ Hawthorn recipe, or their most-wanted grocery items, and have them delivered straight to their hotel.

"We know convenience is king for long-term travelers staying in new cities for weeks or months at a time," says Larry Hambro, vice president, brand operations, Hawthorn Suites. "An essential part of helping our guests stick to their regular regimens when they stay with us is delivering the comforts of home, like a homemade meal or their go-to snack. Our grocery delivery pilot makes that possible by giving guests the power of selection combined with the convenience of online shopping and curated dishes. We get everything delivered these days straight from our computers and phones, from car rides to shaving kit subscriptions to groceries – so why shouldn't we also get them when we're traveling for extended periods?"

Interest in online grocery ordering and delivery is on the rise: U.S. consumers spent an estimated $42 billion online in groceries in 2016, up more than 160 percent over 2015. Industry experts predict the segment has the potential to grow five-fold over the next decade with American consumers spending upwards of $100 billion by 2025, according to company officials.

"More and more people are getting groceries delivered at home – last year, one in 10 Millennials and Gen Xers in the U.S. shopped for groceries online, up almost 10 percent from 2015. Why shouldn't they have that same convenient experience when away from home?” Hambro says.

New Season, New Recipes

Hawthorn Suites has created a selection of new easy-to-make recipes perfect for spring and summer, whether travelers are hitting the road or firing up the backyard grill. Each home-cooked dish – like a decadent pub cheese and ham sandwich, colorful summer pasta with vegetables and a refreshing watermelon salad – was designed to be prepared in 30 minutes or less.

The brand tapped acclaimed culinary minds Chef Hari Nayak – a New York-based chef, restaurateur, author and culinary consultant – and Chef James Rigato – former Top Chef competitor and owner of the award-winning The Root Restaurant & Bar and Mabel Gray in Michigan – to create these exclusive recipes designed for hotel living.

A recent survey1 from Hawthorn Suites uncovered 66 percent of Americans, including 84 percent of Millennials, agree being able to cook in a hotel room would make them feel more at home when traveling. The same survey found comforting and familiar foods topped the list with 38 percent of respondents longing for baked goods, followed by pasta (31 percent) and salad (27 percent), according to company officials.