Convenience Addresses Lifestyle Changes
Everything from food pantries to fast, casual restaurants are taking roots in the new hotel lobby.
By Karyn Strauss, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 1/1/2005
 The Golden Bean is the quick-service F&B concept for InterContinental’s new Indigo lifestyle brand. |
Hotels marketing to 25- to 40-year-old “Gen X” and “Gen Y” consumers and, to some extent the aging baby boomers, need to deliver an F&B product today that is either stimulating to the senses or in keeping with changing lifestyles. The traditional hotel dining room is no longer appealing as far as these guests are concerned—service is too slow, and the check is too high. While this message may not apply as much to the luxury and high-end resort markets, it is resonating with forward-thinking hoteliers worldwide who are responding with a multitude of convenience options, re-engineered menus and kitchens, as well as a product that could be called the new hotel café.
In this look at how hoteliers are addressing the F&B needs of their evolving customers, HOTELS focuses on the convenience aspect of their offerings. Perhaps two of the more intriguing approaches can be found, not surprisingly, at one brand new hotel concept and another relatively new brand—InterContinental’s Hotel Indigo and London-based Malmaison Hotels Bars & Brasseries. Indigo is a brand specifically designed to meet changing lifestyles and its Golden Bean F&B concept does the same—a fast, casual restaurant where the guests have more control. At the Malmaison in Newcastle, England, the company has successfully launched Café Mal in what was previously seldom-leased meeting space. Breakfast take-up has increased from 50% in the more traditional hotel brasserie to 60% to 65% at Café Mal. In addition, the café is generating about US$1,500 in to-go lunch business daily from the surrounding business district.
 The San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino has succeeded with its Wan Chai Noodle Bar. |
Malmaison CEO Robert Cook is so pleased with the initial success that he plans to launch another café at the Oxford hotel and wants to add Manchester and Birmingham, as well. The idea is simple: A breakfast menu with items such as granola, fruit salad, croissant, a breakfast panini and good coffee in branded containers. At lunch, less than £4 buys locals a sandwich and coffee. Margins run about 60% to 62% versus 70% in the full-service brasserie, but volume is making up the difference, according to Cook.
At Hotel Indigo, The Golden Bean concept is a nice deal for franchisees because it is not a money-losing proposition, according to Ned Barker, InterContinental Hotels Group vice president of franchise food and beverage. “Break even is ambitious and worthy as F&B profit comes from banquets and catering,” Barker says. “This is a real nice lifestyle offering that does not drain the pocketbook.”
What makes the concept so efficient is the use of technology. The engines that run the kitchen are three Turbochef computerized ovens that prepare quality products such as a steak in less than 10 minutes. A special panini grill was specified with a glass, ceramic bottom that prevents bread from sticking to the bottom of the grill and does not require the use of messy cooking oil. In addition, the small but efficiently engineered working space controls labor costs. Customers walk up to the counter, place their orders, make selections from a pastry case with branded coffee, and take food to-go or sit in the relaxing café setting.
 Breakfast take-up at Malmaison’s Café Mal in Newcastle, England, has increased from 50% to 65%. The nearby business district also has strengthened the café’s to-go lunch business. |
The Grab & Go Phenomenon
Several hotel companies continue to install pantries; kiosks
with coffees, juices and pastries; and other products that
allow guests to grab and go, especially at breakfast.
One of the more inventive approaches is being taken by Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Sheraton brand, which has developed a to-go bag option for guests on the run. Guests can order the to-go bag advertised on table tents at the full-service restaurant and even more easily when they fill out the door knob-hanger roomservice breakfast card. Along with the usual roomservice breakfast menu is a to-go section with a “lo-carb buffet in a bag” or a “in a New York minute to go” option. The low-carb bag includes fruits and berries tossed with roasted pine nuts; portions of cheese, Canadian bacon and beef salami; a hard-boiled egg; and a bottle of water for US$18.50.
Starwood Corporate Chef Richard Faeh calls the new to-go program “reasonably successful.” It tends to be utilized more often in business hotels and gets a bit of use in leisure destinations, for example, when golfers want a snack to take to the course.
 Accor’s Boutique Gourmande at its Suitehotel concept has several gourmet food kits available for on-the-go guests, including foie gras and specialty cheeses with a glass of wine, for e11. |
Faeh also has been working on menu simplification at Sheraton and Westin three-meal restaurants to speed-up service, reduce inventories, cross-utilize popular products such as chicken breast and create efficiencies. He says the breakfast buffet menu has been simplified and items at lunch, such as a panini sandwich, now are pre-made, placed in a cooler and easier to finish for service.
To the detriment of full-service restaurants, another grab-and-go trend is the proliferation of lobby pantries or convenience stores that may include a coffee kiosk. At Courtyard by Marriott, a 24-hour food pantry is meeting with enough success that Marriott International plans to test the concept at its Residence Inn and Springhill Suites brands. This option has been made available to accommodate the Gen X business travelers who more often want to socialize in the lobby with access to food at odd hours, as opposed to older travelers who just retire to their room.
 Sheraton is marketing a grab & go concept sold through the roomservice breakfast menu and via table tents at its full-service restaurants. |
Marriott has even moved the convenience concept to resort settings. For example, the San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino has two grab-and-go outlets: Café Merchant & Bake Shop and Wan Chai Noodle Bar. The lobby café serves Puerto Rican coffee, breakfast breads, pastries and sandwiches and sales have increased 26% in 2004 versus 2003. The noodle bar, open from 6 p.m. until 4 a.m., is actually located inside the hotel’s casino, serving Asian noodle dishes and Dim Sum. Sales have doubled since its opening in March 2004.
InterContinental has a convenience store concept for its StayBridge Suites product called Bridge Mart, which will be rolled out across the system this year, according to Barker. The well-stocked stores focus on branded items such as ice creams, soft drinks, sweet and savory snacks and well-known microwavable meals.
For Accor, The Boutique Gourmande is the answer for convenience-seeking guests at its new Suitehotel concept. More upmarket snacks are available on a 24-hour basis in a self-service environment. They go as far as to create gourmet food kits that feature foie gras and specialty cheeses for e11. Each kit includes a glass of wine and some offer wooden cutlery as opposed to plastic. The shop also offers a gourmet breakfast kit that might include ham, cheese and a croissant, and sells mini-sandwiches, soups, salads, and desserts. In addition, a variety of rolls are baked on the premises three times a day and made available to guests.
All of these F&B concepts are perfect for people who skip meals and can be found running through the lobby with a briefcase, suitcase and newspaper under their arms. George Vizer, vice president of food and beverage for Hyatt Hotels Corp., says about 70% of Hyatt hotels offer some sort of kiosk, stand or full-blown general store with hundreds of items. “Guests’ tastes and time constraints have shifted revenues from the restaurant to the kiosks,” Vizer says.
“Revenues in kiosks have grown 10%.”
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