Because hotel owners and operators think they'll make more money without offering kitchens. In-room kitchens (or even shared kitchen spaces) would increase the hotel's cleaning and maintenance costs, while reducing demand for the hotel's own cafes and restaurants.

"It's obvious that many guests ... desire to cook and prepare some of their meals." - No, that's not at all obvious. My impression is that the number of guests in 4 & 5 star hotels who want to cook their own meals is vanishingly small.

Think about the space usage, cleaning, and maintenance requirements of a kitchen. It'll displace a few rooms, reduce room service usage, and cost money without bringing in additional revenue. Plus people who can afford hotels can generally afford to eat out. Renting an apartment is a better option if you want to prepare food yourself.

@David You're right. I changed the question to shared kitchens then.

Shared kitchen still changes little in terms of not bringing value to the hotel and it is still generating additional cost. It's smaller than with kitchen per room scenario but considerable. Also some of the guests decide to eat at the hotel simply because they are too tired to go out and still would like to eat something (I know that from personal experience). Finally there might be other factors, like safety regulations. You may look for hostels though. At least some offer shared kitchens while still having reasonable room quality. Yet the trade-off can be that the bathrooms are also shared.

@Greek-Area51Proposal changing the question means the answers now no longer match the question...

Get yourself a private room in a Hostel and you'll get your kitchen!

We like to cook on holiday occasionally. So we book a better class of holiday flat, which has a kitchen and everything you need. There is usually a washing machine too. You can still got out to eat any time you want to. This does not answer your question, but is a suggestion.

> Why pay $50 for one piece of tuna at a restuarant, when they can buy it for $5 and grill it themselves? Well, you've answered it yourself. Why allow guests to eat tuna at $5 when you can sell it at $50 at your restaurant?

A video game room and a kitchen aren't remotely comparable. A game room costs the hotel next to nothing if they have the space. Just a few TVs and a couple consoles and games. Staff can check on it on an occasional basis just to make sure nobody is trashing it and to wipe up. A kitchen costs a ton to build (you need plumbing, gas, electrical, exhaust vent, fire sprinklers, etc... just to have a space, plus all the fixtures). It requires vastly more attention: five star hotel guests would expect a clean well-stocked place, so you'd need staff constantly cleaning up and doing dishes.

Plus, a game room is significantly more unlikely to burn down your hotel.

If you want access to a kitchen in order to prepare your own food then don't stay in a "hotel"!? "why hotels can't offer at least 1 communal kitchen(ette)" - some of these (luxury) hotels have in excess of 200 rooms! "Why pay $50 for one piece of tuna at a restuarant, when they can buy it for $5 and grill it themselves?" - c'mon, give the chef a bit of credit!

If you want to grill a $5 piece of fish, you can buy a $2 bbq or find one which has been installed by the town or park people (if they do in that part of the world) and cook out in the open.

@alephzero don't forget also, that according to Greek's questions, his grandparents are renown troublemakers who have fun ruining other people's day. Having to share any place with them would be a total disaster for most of us.

At a place that DID have a shared kitchen, above the eight different colored cutting boards was a sign stating what each color should be used for. When I mentioned my suspicion that compliance was unlikely, he said he hadn’t even noticed the sign.

the question is flawed there are vast numbers of hotel-like businesses, which are "hotels, but with kitchens". The extremely simple answer to "Why doesn't the Four Seasons do it?" is incredibly simple: nobody, not one person, is asking for it. I can assure that if there was any demand for that, they would have serried ranks of stunning pro kitchens on hand.

@alephzero That's not what I meant by 'share'. I meant a kitchen that must be booked by appointment.

@brhans 'My impression is that the number of guests in 4 & 5 star hotels who want to cook their own meals is vanishingly small.' Is this impression correct? I've seen many guests complain about overpriced hotel food, and buy groceries and takeout from external restaurants.

@NiteeshShanbog That only spurs another question: why don't more guests complain enough that hotels offer these on-demand kitchens?

Most likely because 1) the guests staying in such hotels don't care or 2) because there are enough alternatives which a guest can book if he needs a kitchen in his accomodation.

@Greek-Area51Proposal That only spurs another question: why don't more guests complain enough that hotels offer these on-demand kitchens? - The guests who stay at a hotel don't usually care. Those who do, like you, do.

@Greek-Area51Proposal probably because the fact your famously hard-to-satisfy grandparents want this doesn't mean it's a common desire among hotel visitors.

Your thesis is people outraged by overpriced food will therefore want to cook. One doesn't follow from the other; they don't want to cook, they want a half priced meal. This smells like yet another of your hypothetical questions, which are off-topic.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's a hypothetical question, which don't work in this format.

@ZachLipton That's a big thing I imagine. There's probably a significant insurance implication for allowing guests to cook on the premises. Having a designated cooking area would help; but is still probably significant for insurance and for the fire protection they would need to install.

The question is invalid as the OP is asking why hotels without kitchens don't offer kitchens. And if his "grandparents" really wanted to grill a piece of fish and/or totally-non-Hawaiian Okinawan sweet potato, the Four Seasons - Maui offers many public outdoor grills

"Isn't it obvious that a POD kitchen would be used more than recreational facilities like the Four Seasons Maui's 'Games Room and video games including PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 & Nintendo Wii'?" No, it's very much not obvious, and I'd say quite obviously the reverse. Families are in a fancy hotel because they are on vacation and want to relax, which for most includes not having to cook. Many of them will also have children, who will no doubt be suffering withdrawl from their own consoles and would love to spend as much time in the game room as their parents will allow.