Why hotel restaurants struggle
When you book a stay at a hotel, no doubt you’ll read the reviews of the bedrooms, the service, the facilities and, of course, the food.
Whatever the reason for your stay (weekend day trip or a romantic break for two), the first three are non-negotiable. You want to relax in a clean, comfortable bedroom, be assured of good service and relevant facilities.
The food on offer at the hotel, however, may not necessarily be at the top of your tick list. After settling into their room, many people find they would rather go out and explore the local fare on offer in the town, city or resort they’re staying in than venture the short trip to the in-house restaurant.
Indeed, it was estimated that by 2017, UK consumers could be spending as much £54.7bn on eating out after a boom in 2015. In fact, figures from the quarterly Cardlytics Spending Index found that in the second quarter of 2017 eating out was the main driver of consumer spend, tying in with the wider trend of consumers wanting to treat themselves during ‘leaner’ times.
Coupled with figures which reveal that the contribution of the hospitality industry to the British economy outpaced growth in every other sector since 2008, hotel restaurants should then be finding themselves in an opportune situation.
However, as previously mentioned, while the figures are promising, the problem often lies in getting people into, or rather staying in, your venue. In the case of budget hotels, for example, this is rarely a problem. Not known for their gourmet cuisine, these hotels usually offer a simple continental breakfast option and a short ‘snacks’ menu of sandwiches, paninis and other light bites to those looking for a quick fix or a fall-back option in between other activities. No pressure there.
But for hotels that pride themselves on their top quality, full-service offering, a hotel restaurant can find itself on the back foot. As well as the problem of hotel guests fleeing through the doors of a competitor of an evening, hotel restaurants can also face a stigma from passing trade who assume it is just that - a hotel restaurant, reserved for guests only.
Successful hotel restaurants are usually those that have managed to carve out a brand of their own. We all know of restaurants like The Grill at The Dorchester and The Pig because they have succeeded in establishing themselves as venues offering a top quality dining experience in their own right. A delicious meal which is either followed by a night spent in a beautiful hotel room or your own bed? What could be better? It’s all about the experience.
Establishing a reputation then, is important; but success is not immediate. In creating their brand, many hotels will focus on their entire offering, but sometimes this can act as more of a hindrance than a help, especially in attracting that passing trade.
While the two offerings should undoubtedly complement each other, by marketing them separately one avoids being overshadowed by the other. Giving the restaurant an identity of its own enables a hotel’s marketing team to focus a concerted effort on promoting it and establishing that desired reputation to attract diners, both locally and from further afield.
For newer hotels or those that have recently revamped their food offering, it takes time to build a reputation of any kind or alter any preconceptions of what went before. In the same way that the reputation of one can overshadow the other, so a restaurant can struggle if the hotel itself lacks influence.
However, for many hotels, the restaurant can be its saving grace. Even if your hotel restaurant doesn’t have a name, it can still have an identity of its own which, if good, can further enhance the reputation of the hotel itself, often contributing to those return stays aimed at exploring more of what it has to offer.
It’s important therefore to invest in your restaurant offering. As you would with bedrooms, perhaps decorating with the latest interior design trends or installing the latest technology, the customer experience in a restaurant is just as important as the service received at the reception desk, in the spa or the facilities on offer in the bedroom - you only need to read the reviews to get an idea of just how much.
Word of mouth recommendations are powerful. Many people make their decisions based on what they’ve heard is good and what isn’t. Getting people to review the food on offer at your hotel is a sure fire way to guarantee bookings - if those reviews are positive. But again to the question of how to get people to the table?
Giving your restaurant a USP can bring in huge benefits. A highly-trained chef, award wins, a beautifully presented venue and even a sommelier, who can advise guests on the best wines to enjoy with their delicious food, elevates the status of your restaurant from more than just a ‘hotel restaurant’ to a high-class venue in its own right.
Once you have a USP (or two), make sure to promote these. For example, if your chef is shortlisted for an award, this can generate huge media interest which in turn builds brand awareness among the general public, thereby generating interest in your offering.
Look to your social media channels too - sharing mouth-watering images of the food on offer will no doubt whet the appetite of potential diners and encourage them to visit. The informal nature of social media also means that people who are wary of venturing to a hotel restaurant can enter into online conversations with the venue, reassuring them that they are very much welcome.
It is clear that dining out has always been a luxury that people will invest in. By making an investment in your hotel restaurant, hoteliers can ensure they are tapping into this trend and positioning themselves at the forefront of people’s minds. And if they decide to book a stay too? Well then, that’s just a bonus.
