By Russ Spencer
For hotel operators, customer satisfaction is the lifeblood of business. It’s important to keep guests satisfied and create a memorable experience to keep them returning. While guest occupancy remains the top source of income for hotel operations, there are ways to transition business models to add new, fruitful revenue streams. An important aspect of hospitality services to consider is the food and dining experience. When vacationing or traveling for business or personal affairs, hotel customers look for dining experiences that are convenient and enjoyable. Vacation is all about relaxing and indulging, and there is no better way to do that than dining at a restaurant where ambiance and quality are priorities for customer satisfaction.
Create Local Experiences Within Food & Beverage Offerings
Updating hotel food and beverage concepts can attract current hotel guests and influence them to return. If a customer is already paying for a room in the hotel, they are likely to spend more if there is a bar or restaurant that is easily accessible and offers unique offerings to draw them in. This will not only benefit the customer by providing them a convenient place to eat and drink but will benefit the business by keeping the customer on the premises longer. Since hotels are a destination point, they also have a captive audience in their guest. The more time a guest spends within the hotel property, the more opportunity the hotel has to capture the sales versus allowing those sales to walk out the door and be spent elsewhere.
In the restaurant industry, operators are advised to own their “three-mile radius.” Recent studies have shown that consumers’ average distance between the food establishments they frequent and their homes is 2.6 miles (standard deviation, 3.7 miles). Restaurants are advised to connect to their local communities by promoting local brands and events. Local events, such as music festivals, sports games and conferences, often attract visitors who then may choose to stay at a hotel.
In addition, hotel guests often visit from out of town, so they’re interested in sampling local food and drink offerings. Operators should consider partnering with local brands– local meat, craft beer, cheese, wine and farm-to-table offerings. If the city is known for offering a signature sandwich, like the Philly Cheesesteak or the Cuban in Miami, make sure to allow guests the opportunity to order it from the hotel’s restaurant menu. Pair main food offerings with local craft beers and wines.
Use Hotel Guest-Specific Specials
Another way to attract guests to the hotel restaurant is to offer specials unique to the hotel guest experience. For example, operators should consider offering a dinner voucher for hotel guests who stay for multiple days in a row. Hotels can also consider introducing a loyalty program.
While a loyalty program does provide the customer with benefits and rewards, do not forget the real purpose of a loyalty program–to encourage the frequency and purchasing behaviors of an existing customer base. So revisit how to structure a loyalty program to drive those results. For instance, consider double points in off-peak meal periods or free late-night appetizers for room guests (this would encourage a drink purchase which is incremental profit with a higher margin). Opening the bar or restaurant at specific times when people will be around is also beneficial. Breakfast and late-night dinners are popular times guests spend time at the hotel, so making sure that the bar and restaurant are open during these times will increase traffic, and profits will go up.
Hotels have a unique advantage over other restaurant and bar establishments in that they are able to collect background information on their guests before they even step foot in the door. This information may include but is not limited to, their name, home address, date of birth, hotel loyalty membership and how many guests they’re traveling with. Hotels can create specials and personalized offerings with this info, such as offering a free dessert at the on-site restaurant for guests that stay with them during their birthday month. If the guest is traveling with young children, operators may want to offer a special that gives a discount on a kids’ meal with the purchase of an adult entree.
Use Hotel Data to Forecast
Just like collecting personal information about their guests can be used to a hotel’s advantage, knowing their guest occupancy can also create a unique benefit. Hotel operators have information about guest occupancy at any given time. Operators can compare the number of guests staying in the hotel with the hotel restaurant sales to determine trends in how they fluctuate and which times of the day bring in the most traffic. This makes it easier to plan in advance based on how many guests are staying there each day. Based on this information, operators can staff appropriately, prep food in advance, and stock up on products needed to create positive guest experiences and help minimize the chances of running out of supply.
For example, suppose the hotel is regularly booked at 100% occupancy every home game of the month for the local college football team. In that case, operators should ensure enough staff and supplies are available to serve the guests, so tables are turned over in a reasonable time frame. However, if on weekends when the football team is not playing at home, and the occupancy drops to 70%, then the 30% decrease should be factored into the projected sales at the restaurant and bar.
Staffing appropriately is important because it ensures that someone is there to help at all times, making the guests feel secure during their stay. Knowing the occupancy rate also helps staff prepare the correct amount of food for the number of guests served and reduces unnecessary waste. Lastly, stocking up on products based on guest occupancy is important to help ensure all guests have what they need at any time. These aspects of hotel food and beverage operations are beneficial because the business will run smoothly, and the guests will be satisfied with the full experience of their stay.
While managing restaurant sales, traffic trends, staffing and inventory can be done by pen and paper or Excel, it is a time-consuming process and, with too many moving parts, can create room for error. For this reason, it’s advised that operators utilize technology to manage and track this crucial data in real-time. Operators can then use the time to implement changes to impact the overall service and operations of both the hotel and restaurant, thus improving the overall guest experience.
