A planned release in the United States failed to materialise, as the duo's label there, Edel Records America, had been disbanded the previous month due to financial difficulties.

AllMusic called it an "exciting, immediate, high-gloss pop gem that contains very little filler indeed",[1] although other publications were critical of Per Gessle's lyrics, particularly to album track "Jefferson".

The record performed well commercially throughout mainland Europe, and was one of the best-selling albums of the year in several territories, but was largely ignored in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 120.

[3] That song was first recorded in October 1997, and is the only track on Room Service to feature a production credit from Have a Nice Day co-producer Michael Ilbert.

[2] In a 2009 interview with Swedish publication Filter, when asked about the possibility of working with Fredriksson again following her brain tumour diagnosis in 2002, Gessle responded: "This is difficult to say, but when I think about the [Room Service] sessions, she was obviously not too interested in Roxette [in] the years before she got sick.

[8] Filmed over three days at The Madonna Inn in California, it is Roxette's most expensive music video, surpassing the budget of "Spending My Time" from their 1991 album Joyride.

[2] Photography for the record sleeve was shot at The Madonna Inn and was created by Tempel, a design duo consisting of Åkerlund and photographer Sarah Sheppard.

[20] The tour began on 28 September and saw them performing in Spain, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Russia, Estonia, Finland and Sweden over its 25-dates.

Leslie Mathew of AllMusic said it was their best album since Joyride (1991), calling it an "exciting, immediate, high-gloss pop gem that contains very little filler indeed.

[29] Bjurman from Aftonbladet put it bluntly: "[Room Service] is not very good", elaborating: "Many songs sound like covers of old Roxette material.

However, he did praise the three singles, calling "Milk and Toast and Honey" their "strongest ballad since 'It Must Have Been Love' or maybe even 'Listen to Your Heart'," before ending his review with "Roxette is not finished.

"[26] Ward additionally noted that "Make My Head Go Pop" has "everything and the kitchen sink thrown into it—keyboards, techno beats, the guitar riff from the Stones' 'Satisfaction', and strings.

"[28] Anders Nunstedt from Expressen initially gave the album a positive review, rating it three stars out of five and praising Gessle's songwriting and Clarence Öfwerman's production.

[43] It performed particularly well in Scandinavian territories, ending 2001 as one of the top fifteen best-selling albums of the year in Finland (tenth),[44] Sweden (twelfth),[45] and Norway (fourteenth).