Ever wonder how to order room service without internet, electricity, or a phone? Well, wonder no more. In a clip with more than 600,000 likes, Catarina (@professionaltraveler) showed how she ordered room service sans technology in a luxury eco hotel.
@professionaltraveler Luxury eco hotels = you pay more to have less comfort 🤦♀️ #ecofriendly #tiktoktravel #tulum #azulik #travelhacks #howto #moreyouknow ♬ Novice Juggler - Joey Pecoraro
The technique is pretty straightforward. The clip begins with Catarina explaining she's given a small, hollowed-out sphere with her room number on it. She then writes her order down on a piece of paper, rolls it tight, and slips it into the ball.
Outside her room is a wooden box with a long tube inside. She drops the ball in and we watch it roll away, gravity doing all the work. She explains that the tube is connected to the kitchen, where her order presumably arrives without trouble.
"And voila, you have your room service ordered," she says in the clip.
Seems easy enough.
But as many commenters pointed out, no electricity or phone doesn't sound so luxurious. One user said, "Fancy hotel with no electricity or phones. Doesn't sound so fancy🤷♀️." And Catarina jokes in her own description, "Luxury eco hotels = you pay more to have less comfort 🤦♀️."
So what is an eco hotel and why should you consider staying in one?
Eco- or "green" hotels focus on sustainability, something severely lacking in the traditional hospitality industry. Eco hotels employ sustainable practices like recycling greywater, hiring local staff, sourcing artwork and furniture locally, using renewable or alternative energy sources, offering alternative transportation to guests, and more.
And the difference they're making is big. With traditional hotels in virtually all parts of the world, the hospitality industry contributes 1% of global carbon emissions. With the industry growing daily, the Sustainability Hospitality Alliance estimates that the hotel industry needs to reduce carbon emissions by 66% per room by 2030 and 90% per room by 2050 to ensure the forecasted growth doesn't lead to increased carbon emissions.
So when booking your next vacation, consider booking in an eco- or green hotel. If you do, you may get to order room service via tube!
In terms of Catarina's stay, commenters had plenty of praise and questions.
"Where is this?" one user asked.
"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen," another added.
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