In some ways, a food & beverage program for a hotel seems like a lower-stakes endeavor than a stand-alone restaurant. The presence of hotel guests might lead one to assume that hotel restaurants don’t need to go to extraordinary lengths to attract clientele; after all, they have a built-in customer base!
But established hotel dining groups know that being the path of least resistance for weary guests is not sufficient for long-term success. For best results, hotel restaurants must also forge an attractive reputation among local residents.
If you’re wondering how to achieve this balance and forge a strong and enduring identity in the hotel hospitality world, read on for expert tips from industry vets.
Focus on collaboration with your teams both large and local.
In this day and age, fully independent hotels are something of a novelty; even chic boutique hotels often exist under the umbrella of a larger hotel group. This arrangement has the potential to cause friction between the property’s local team and the “corporate” side of the equation, but Betty Woodward, director of food & beverage for the soon-to-open Hotel Heron in Alexandria, Virginia (which is part of the Aparium Hotel Group), emphasizes the positive.
"One of the biggest advantages of building out [our] hotel F&B plan is that we have an extremely talented HQ team building out the bones of our program," says Woodward. "As a local team, we get to walk in on the fun part with an arsenal of support and knowledge at our fingertips."
While the team on the “HQ level” lends their considerable resources to creating the hotel’s F&B program, Woodward also explains the unique influence wielded by the local team and how these two forces combine to create something very special. “We [as the local team] get to finesse the vision and put together a thoughtful path towards it. Our goal, on a local and HQ level, is certainly to have a thriving business, but how do we get there? We add value to the local community, take care of our team and our guests alike, and, to put it simply, we put on a fun night for everyone.”
But even the most well-calibrated plan shaped by the HQ team would be useless without a top-notch local staff to refine and execute. That’s why Woodward focuses a great deal of energy on “building the right team and onboarding leadership that not only supports but drives what we’re trying to do, is knowledgeable and passionate about hospitality, and thrives off pushing the envelope (in a good way!). Once we have that team, the rest is just organized, fun chaos.”
Do thorough research on your market.
Market research is a crucial element of building any new business, but because hotels cater to both local residents and visitors, their “markets” involve particular nuances and complexities that must be addressed. “We want to understand the consumer, our target audience. So we go on a journey of conducting a market visibility and analysis, and it tells us a lot about what concept direction to take,” says Patrick Berwald, senior vice president of food & beverage at Pyramid Global Hospitality, a firm that works with hotels to develop customized dining concepts.
In addition to demographics and “peak or optimal times for operations,” Berwald says that the research stage gives hotels insight on “price point sensitivities, how people are spending, and where they’re spending.”
These types of analyses can help hotel F&B programs figure out what Adam Crocini, senior vice president and global head of food & beverage brands for Hilton, refers to as “white spaces,” or areas that are primed for development based on the wants and needs of the customer base.
“We find that ‘white space’ and develop food and beverage concepts that serve as destinations for both hotel guests and locals, ones that are programmed as independent restaurants but exceed the needs and expectations of the culinary traveler," says Crocini. "The goal is to develop a restaurant or bar concept that helps the property serve as a leader in the market, driving value for the owner as well as awareness to the overall property; an outlet or outlets that enhance the fabric of the market’s dining scene."
Crocini provides an example of a project that Hilton launched in Orlando, Florida called Conrad Orlando. “Conrad Orlando [is] where our team designed five custom food and beverage concepts that include an elevated rooftop dining experience featuring modern Mexican cuisine and a contemporary waterfront Polynesian lounge,” he says, noting that the Hilton team researched the Orlando market and discovered a need for upscale-yet-relaxed venues. "These restaurants and bars serve as unique destinations for the city, enhance the culinary offerings of the region, and help to serve the local market as well as those visiting the area for work or leisure.”
Consider the impact of inflation and find ways to justify your costs to both guests and to local customers.
When we asked our hotel experts about the “trend” that most affects their business lately, the response was near unanimous: inflation.
Berwald tells us that the post-pandemic return to travel norms provided some temporary relief for struggling hotel restaurants, but rising costs across the board soon caused both travelers and local residents to worry that “they’re not getting the value for what you're charging. [For residents,] it's cheaper for them to just eat at home. A lot of our properties are very supported by the communities, and we can see up to 40% capture in the local environment with non-hotel guests, which is great. But we're seeing a diminishment of that.”
In Berwald’s opinion, an effective way to gain back some of that waning local business (while still keeping hotel guests engaged and excited) “is experiential dining. And that could be in the form of specialized offerings, special menus, and opportunities for the guests to engage with the chef or even a specialized purveyor of food and beverage. These are events that can educate and enrich the guests.”
Woodward agrees, adding, “I’ve also seen more of an ‘I only live once’ mentality and a growing appreciation for different experiences that makes people excited about trying new things. This means that chefs and bartenders can get even more creative with ingredients and techniques and put dishes on the menu that perhaps people wouldn’t have tried before. As a former very picky eater, this is the best trend I’ve seen, and it’s here to stay.”
Wellness and sustainability are trends with serious staying power.
“Wellness” as a buzzword has a huge impact on countless industries, and it often goes hand-in-hand with eco-friendly policies and a growing interest in sustainability. The hotel pros that we spoke to for this story see this “trend” as a lasting force that will continue to influence hospitality practices for years to come. After all, sustainability is not new. "It's not new in our world and talking about it and doing the right thing from a sustainability perspective remains important,” says Berwald.
But where he has witnessed a change is in customer awareness of sustainable practices. “Now we're at a point where the guests are actually making decisions where they eat, dine, and stay based on what the property is doing from a sustainability perspective," he says. "How are we handling food waste? How are we handling single-use plastics? Who are we partnering with in the community, whether it be a food bank or or a nonprofit that we support? And what are we doing from a responsibility standpoint?”
As far as wellness goes, Crocini says, “The wellness trend has staying power – and for good reason! Guests are looking more closely at what they are putting in their bodies and are in search of healthier options – ones lower in calories, fats, and sodium. This trend naturally affects F&B programs and operations.”
In order to accommodate the requests that Hilton regularly fields from guests looking for wellness-centric service, Crocini tells us, “Hilton developed a first-of-its-kind partnership with Bluestone Lane for its Tempo by Hilton brand to enable an elevated on-property food and beverage experience that will meet the evolving needs of today’s guests who are seeking more progressive fare with healthier options. We also created a cocktail program specifically for the Tempo brand that gives equal billing to ‘Spirited’ and ‘Free-Spirited’ drinks. By introducing this program for Tempo by Hilton as a brand standard, we are providing an uncompromised food and beverage experience to our guests regardless of routines or regimens.”
Crocini also tells us that Hilton is committed to offering wellness-related benefits to guests at all price points and is devoted to accommodating dietary needs of all kinds. “Just last year, DoubleTree by Hilton, which is well-known for its beloved signature cookie, began offering a new allergy-friendly soft chocolate chip cookie alongside the original to extend the iconic welcome to even more guests," he says. "With more than 32 million people in the United States alone affected by food allergies, not to mention those with food intolerances and dietary preferences, it is more important than ever for the hospitality industry to evolve and innovate on ways to be more inclusive to all guests."
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