You don’t need a room key to enjoy casual hotel restaurants. Yet decade after decade of operators have agonised over the lack of non-residents using their fabulous dining areas and hotel bars for meetings, after work drinks and mate dates.
It’s something of an eternally unresolved dilemma. But finally, the tide is turning.
Now, casual hotel restaurants, bars and lounges are getting recognised as desirable spaces for meetings, informal work sessions and social soirees for everybody, besides overnight guests.
So, what’s behind this about turn?
Consumers are Taking a Fresh Look at the Casual Hotel Restaurants They’ve Been Walking Past
The corporate market is re-evaluating where it goes for smart informal meeting spaces, appraisals, or an hour away from the office buzz.
Traditionally, casual hotel restaurants and bars might not be first on their list. But they should be.
A recent visit to our client the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester’s Store Street Exchange reminded us why:
- Stylish, spacious surroundings with no booking hassle
- The only cost of entry is a great coffee or cocktail
- A productive alternative to a paid meeting room
Think about it. Hotel bar culture offers a savvier, more cost-effective way to enjoy a premium hospitality setting on a walk-in basis, without hire fees or admin.
And it’s not just dawning on people in nearby workplaces.
Incorporate Hotel Dining Trends Locals Can Tap Into
Why would a % of consumers default to rowdy sports bars when football and rugby are also filling screens in hotel bars and lounges?
It’s one of many reasons hotel teams are rethinking their hospitality food strategy and drink offer for a wider audience of local residents, professionals and special interest groups who want:
- Great cocktails and quality craft beer
- Shareable plates for working lunches or relaxed catch-ups
- An atmosphere flexing between focused meeting to easy social hangout
We’re seeing this done brilliantly, with DoubleTree by Hilton Leeds’ Lock Grill, DoubleTree by Hilton Chester’s Garden Room, and Voco Leicester and Manchester proving strategic casual hotel restaurants can earn their place in the local community.
The trick? Treading a fine line between indulgence, accessibility, good vibes and realistic prices.
Quirky but Casual Is the New Standard for Hotel Dining
This isn’t a throwaway trend.
The latest 11 Trends Shaping the Dining Out Sector report from Restaurant and SevenRooms flags an industry-wide shift from formal fine dining towards more casual hotel restaurants.
“Hotel restaurants have changed significantly over the past few decades, and the current shift is a move towards informality and accessibility”, it explains. “Many leading London hotels have replaced difficult-to-fill and expensive-to-run Michelin-chasing restaurants with more casual, yet still spendy, concepts.”
This includes personality-led dining, such as Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen just opening its first UK hotel restaurant at the DoubleTree by Hilton Bath.
Elsewhere, Innside by Meliá continues championing approachable, conceptual dining through its partnership with Gino D’Acampo.
It’s a win: win for the right pairings, with accessible, well-executed food and drink driving footfall from both hotel guests and near neighbours.
Good Enough, Isn’t and Never Has Been in Hotels – This is the Point
At 360 Food Partners, we help hospitality businesses and casual hotel restaurants develop food and drink strategies to make your spaces profitable, compliant, and a pleasure to experience.
Get in touch for reassurance casual doesn’t mean compromised. In fact, it can be a commercial opportunity hiding in plain sight when expertly delivered.
And the next time the local offices are planning a meeting or plotting a leaving do, what’s stopping them from trying the hotel bar and restaurant around the corner?
