How to Make Your Hotel a Culinary Destination

Creating a successful hotel F&B (food and beverage) program is hard.

It’s labor-intensive. It requires skill, vision, and market savvy. Volatile food pricing eats into profits. F&B brings in less revenue than rooms do.

And yet, it’s essential. A hotel’s culinary reputation is the magic ingredient that attracts guests and keeps them coming back. How can you elevate your dining and make that magic happen?

Surprise your guests.

Dining at the Ritz Paris is all about tradition: a croque-monsieur at the Bar Vend?me, a sumptuous pastry presentation at Le Grand Brunch on Sundays. But even at the Ritz, guests don’t want the same old thing over and over. That’s why the hotel opened Espadon, a 30-seat restaurant where Michelin-starred chef Eugenie Béziat crafts dishes inspired by the flavors of Congo, Gabon, Senegal, and C?te d’Ivoire.

Diners watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen as they taste a multi-course menu. Another innovation: non-traditional beverage pairings by sommelier Florian Guilloteau, including juices, broths, and other alcohol-free beverages.

The takeaway: Instead of giving guests what they expect, serve a meal — and drinks — they’ll remember.

Make sure guests get what they like.

What’s the first rule of hospitality? Anticipate guests’ needs. Don’t wait for them to ask for something; provide an answer to a request before the guest even makes it.

That’s not easy to execute, of course. One way to achieve this high standard of hospitality is to ask the questions first. Fauchon l’Hotel contacts guests prior to arrival to inquire about their favorite nibbles: Do they like salty, sweet, or both? The hotel then provides a gourmet selection in their room, tuned to their tastes. (Fauchon began as a delicatessen, patisserie, confectioner and chocolatier, so they know their snacks.) This approach extends to the hotel restaurant, which replaced the classic three-course menu with a mix-and-match approach.

However, guests don’t generally want a 15-page menu of options. (Hotel culinary directors don’t either.) They prefer a thoughtfully edited selection of a la carte offerings or a simple prix-fixe menu that makes the decision process easier. Such a streamlined menu makes it easier for chefs to focus on ingredient quality and make every dish superb.

The takeaway: You can pare down your hotel culinary program while still offering options that are tailored to guests’ individual tastes.

Invite guests to dine outdoors.

The concept of a rooftop bar is nothing new. One of the most famous hotel rooftop spots is Le Grill at the H?tel de Paris Monte Carlo. Opened in 1959, this Le Grill has a retractable roof painted with stars and offers sweeping views of the Mediterranean. Beginning in the 2010s, hotels worldwide saw a surge in interest in rooftops: Everyone, it seems, agrees that cocktails just taste better when you’re looking out over the city.

What if your property doesn’t happen to have amazing skyline or sea views? That’s OK. The draw of a rooftop spot isn’t just the view, but the feeling of nature and being outside, said Rob Polacek, a hotel architecture and design consultant. “Greenery is a huge driver, particularly in cities,” he said. “In very urban or dense cities, being able to go to a rooftop and be surrounded by natural elements and plants just makes people feel better.” Other essential elements: artwork, fire pits, retractable awnings or other shade, and most importantly, food.

The takeaway: Look for outdoor dining opportunities at your property, whether a rooftop, courtyard, patio or terrace. Don’t have the space? Bring the outdoors into your dining room with plants and natural materials.

Remember that hotel F&B is more than dinner service.

When hiring a star chef or culinary director, make sure they have experience with in-room dining, catering, events and breakfast. While dinner at the hotel restaurant may get the most attention and accolades, the other areas of foodservice are just as important.

Take breakfast, for example. In TripAdvisor’s TripIndex Breakfast survey, 65% of guests said they chose a hotel based on breakfast service. 91% said they prefer to eat breakfast in the hotel, and 83% said breakfast service is essential for a positive hotel experience. Breakfast is also the final interaction most guests have with a hotel’s F&B, so it makes a lasting impression.

The takeaway: Remember that the quality of breakfast, banquet service, and even grab-and-go snacks all contribute to your hotel’s dining reputation.

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