Needs to go to a hotel for food (4)
I believe the answer is:
hash
'food' is the definition.
(hash is a kind of food)
'needs to go to a hotel' is the wordplay.
'needs' becomes 'has' ('have' can be a synonym of 'need').
'to go to' says to put letters next to each other.
'a hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet).
'has'+'h'='HASH'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for hash that I've seen before include "Recooked dish - quite a jumble" , "Chopped meat mixed with potatoes and browned" , "Pot" , "Mess; meat/potato dish" , "Meat dish; mess, jumble" .)