Added Incentive

F&B promotions encourage guests to come and stay. They provide rewards for F&B staff, as well.

By Joan Marsan, Associate Editor -- HOTELS Magazine, 11/1/2000

Food-to-go, offered by the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles, transcends the F&B department’s greatest barrier to increasing covers—the guest’s departure. Now even while guests are away, the hotel earns F&B revenues on such easily transportable items as bagels and cream cheese for breakfast or maki sushi rolls or Montecristo sandwiches for lunch. All items, ranging in price from US$9 to US$20, can be ordered through roomservice.

A 70% increase in covers. A 60% increase in

revenues. The reasons for holding promotions are as

compelling as customers and cash. But promotions promise more than

additional income. With their necessary dose of freshness and creativity,

they boost a property’s image.

And they offer great rewards to kitchen staff who can

learn from the new techniques and ingredients promotions

may require, or the new chefs to whom promotions may offer them

exposure.

Promotions should enhance an F&B program’s already-established

image. Westin has worked to achieve a culinary identity based on

simplicity and a three-flavor profile approach to cooking. Westin’s

summer 2000 F&B promotion (above), highlighting classic servings

of Häagen-Dazs ice cream served single scoop or as part of such

lavish creations as a banana split in a chocolate bowl, support the

chain’s epicurean goals.

“We involve all our chefs in the development of

our winemaker dinner menu from the executive chef down

to the commis chef,” says Darren Cann, general

manager, the 332-room Stamford Plaza Auckland, New Zealand.

The hotel’s wine promotion acquaints cooks and

guests alike with New Zealand’s up-and-coming winemakers.

Each month, chefs focus on pairing foods with different

wines. “To a degree the dinners are a testing ground

for new dishes for the restaurant, and many of the dishes

created for the winemakers eventually end up on our a

la carte menu,” Cann says. The promotion helps

expand the kitchen’s repertoire even while it brings

additional business to the hotel. The monthly dinners

seating 64 people, staged in the Raffles Ballroom, generate

an additional NZ$75 per guest, an affordable price that

encourages a good cross-section of local diners to attend.

Guest Chefs

Two guest chefs from the 609-room Westin Philippine

Plaza, Manila, joined the staff of the 418-room Sheraton Surabaya

Hotel & Towers,

Indonesia, assisting them with the production of authentic Filipino

food for a Filipino culinary festival. Sponsorships from Bouraq

Airlines helped to provide three raffle prizes of airfare for guests,

as well as airfare for the chefs. The Sheraton’s cooks expanded

their knowledge of the neighboring islands’ cuisine, while

covers and revenues increased by 60% as locals (including members

of Surabaya’s large Filipino community) flocked to the hotel

for the two-week event.

Cooking courses like the Ritz-Carlton Bali’s Rasa-Bumbu program, during which guests travel with Chef Roy Khoo to local markets, educate guests and provide an additional revenue stream. They also allow kitchen staff to interact with discriminating customers, developing a deeper understanding of their tastes and preferences.

“The hotel became the talk of the city,” says Mintoro

Tedjopranoto, F&B director, Sheraton Surabaya. “The idea

of creating a promotion is to offer the market a variety of cuisines

appreciated by the locals and that could increase not only F&B

covers and revenue, but also public awareness and loyal,

returning guests.”

The 430-room Ritz-Carlton Chicago, a Four Seasons hotel, experienced

a 20% increase in covers during a similar one-week promotion that

highlighted the cuisine of its sister property the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix

and awarded guests with a trip to the new hotel. The promotion gave

the Chicago property an opportunity to add Southwestern-style cuisine

to the menu at a time of year, early summer, when customers crave

the spicy fare. It also created top-of-mind awareness, says Susan

Maier, marketing director, encouraging guests to keep Ritz-Carlton

in mind when they make travel plans in other cities.

If guests don’t know about a promotion in advance,

it has little hope of generating increased interest and

covers. The Epicurean (above), the Ritz-Carlton Chicago’s thrice-yearly

F&B newsletter,

elegantly alerts diners on the hotel’s mailing list (those

with a demonstrated interest in the hotel’s restaurants, and

therefore, those most likely to visit) to promotional

events scheduled at the hotel’s restaurants.

The Importance of Partners

The 517-room Furama Hotel, Hong Kong, relies on partners

to increase the success of its promotions. By offering

discounts in specific restaurants to credit cards

holders of banking partners, the Furama boosts covers by about

25% and increases revenues by 8% to 10%.

But a partnership with the Hang Seng Bank,

through which the hotel offered a “Buy One Get One Free” meal promotion, resulted

in a 70% jump in covers and a 15% revenue hike during the hotel’s

low season. “When you offer ‘Buy One Get One Free,’ you

would expect food costs to increase quite dramatically,” says

Belinda Franz, advertising manager, Furama. “However, as we

offered the discount on set menus and buffets only, we actually found

that our food costs for the month remained the same.” Additionally,

the bank covered all advertising and direct mailing costs,

allowing the hotel to achieve an unprecedented profit on the promotion.

Seasonal promotions, such as Wyndham’s spring shrimp special (above), bring something fresh to the table. Guests enjoy the celebration of the seasons, and the kitchen reaps the rewards. Seasonally appropriate produce is less expensive to procure and is top-of the-line quality.

Marriott International benefits from strong

relationships with food supplier partners when it organizes company-wide

F&B promotions,

such as a winter menu featuring pork and apples. With

an average of 140 properties participating in the promotions Marriott

develops, supplier cooperation is imperative. And, says Brad Nelson,

director of culinary development, so is seasonality. A focus on

abundant ingredients at the appropriate time of year assures growers

will be able to supply a large quantity of quality produce at a

lower cost. And guests appreciate the freshness and of-the-moment

attitude a seasonal menu conveys.

Pride of Place

Promotions must be place-specific, Nelson

asserts, and Edna Fuentes, F&B manager, the 426-room Hilton Cancun Beach & Golf

Resort, agrees. The Hilton celebrates its oceanside

location on full moon nights by hosting moonlight dinners

at the beach. Guests who register in advance receive a private

waiter, a four-course menu and a bottle of wine for US$80 per person.

In a single month the promotion allowed the hotel to sell an additional

92 dinners, raising the average check from US$29 to

US$42.

Location also sells during the high season,

when the Hilton offers a poolside breakfast. A full

Mexican breakfast in the hotel’s

indoor Spices restaurant sells for US$16, while the poolside

buffet costs US$5.99. But the outdoor venue attracts

64 more breakfast covers per day during its season, improving

the ratio of guests taking breakfast in the hotel from

.69 to .78. And because the increased number of guests

is distributed between two locations rather than concentrated in

a single venue, alternate kitchen staff members have the opportunity

to experience a leadership role, building their skills while raising

revenues.

On the Side

TURNING TABLES To sell guests on the superior

service they can expect from the Hilton East Brunswick, New Jersey,

Executive Chef John Shirley will cook anything, anytime, anywhere.

He proves it when he hosts private chef’s tables, treating

about a dozen diners to his undivided attention as he prepares

for them one-of-a-kind, five-course feasts. The interactive events

turn a healthy profit, too, generating about US$125 per guest,

or more than US$1,250 per meal, and securing thousands of dollars

in additional business for the hotel.

“We bring in a group that will schedule other events, and

we expose them to my personality, treat them to one-of-a-kind service,” Shirley

says, a tactic that encourages them to return to the Hilton East

Brunswick. The hotel’s sales staff particularly encourages

meeting planners to attend chef’s tables, which highlight the

kind of personalized service the chef can offer to clients.

The elements of theater, education, and specialization

make the chef’s tables a success. The chef’s gregarious nature

and showmanship draw in guests. Shirley teaches the diners about

the ingredients used to prepare the meal and shares his knowledge

of the wines chosen especially for their event. And a unique menu

and presentation make the meal memorable. Shirley will prepare a

limitless range of cuisine, including menus featuring vegetarian

cuisine, comfort food or venison, in such diverse locations as the

kitchen, customer’s homes, and even the hotel elevator.

NEW VENUES CELEBRATE OCEANSIDE

DINING When

it opens its doors in late 2000, the Mandarin Oriental Miami’s restaurants will compete

with the waterfront views for guests’ attention. Designed by

Tony Chi and Associates, New York, the Café Sambal all-day

dining and the Azul fine dining restaurants will offer a taste of

the Mandarin Oriental’s Asian heritage in their Singapore Chili

Crabs. Other specialties will include dim sum, sushi,

and Thai salads.

In keeping with the location, seafood dishes will reign supreme,

with guests delighting in stone crabs and seaweed wraps, chilled

oysters in frozen sea salt and fish grilled over an open fire. The

South American influence evident everywhere in Miami appears here

in mixed grilled meats reminiscent of an Argentine parilla.

Recent renovations at the Hotel del Coronado,

Coronado, California, resulted in the opening of Sheerwater, a

seaside restaurant highlighting California coastal cuisine. Instrumental

in creating the highly seasonal menu is Joseph Giunta, executive

chef, joining the hotel after an award-winning tenure at the Westin

Rio Mar Beach Resort, Puerto Rico. The new Sheerwater space features

outdoor dining terraces, giant fireplaces and a wood-burning exhibition

oven used to create the restaurant’s specialty item, afternoon

tapas.

F&B APPOINTMENTS

• Bass Hotels & Resorts named Jean Pierre Etcheberrigaray vice

  president, F&B, The Americas...

• The Amari Boulevard Hotel, Bangkok,

  announced the appointment of Marco Maggio, chef,

  and the Amari Watergate, Bangkok, welcomed Chef Frola Matilde...

• Uwe

  Lasczyk, executive chef, and Sergio Albergo, restaurant

  manager, joined the Furama Hotel, Hong Kong...

• Salvatore Giardinetto

  joins the Sheraton Dubai and Towers as executive

  chef...

• Outrigger Reef Fiji Resort, Viti Levu, Fiji,

  named Stephen Marquard executive chef, while the Outrigger

  Wailea Resort, Hawaii, promoted Michael Pastula to

  director of F&B and

  welcomes Leanne Kamekona, executive chef. The Outrigger Waikoloa

  Beach Hotel & Resort, Hawaii, named Miles Togikawa executive

  chef...

• The Renaissance Grand Beach Resort, St. Thomas, U.S.

  Virgin Islands, welcomes Mark Hiebel, director of

  restaurants...

• The Arizona Biltmore, Phoenix, appointed Rick Boyer

  chef de cuisine...

• Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, named Yves Bainier

  executive chef...

• Eric Brennan joins the Federalist of

  Fifteen Beacon, Boston, as executive chef...

• Auberge

  du Soleil, Rutherford, California, of the Relais & Chateaux

  group, welcomes Executive Chef Richard Reddington...

• Four Seasons

  Hotel Washington, D.C., appoints Matthew Linderman

  senior manager, F&B...

• The Westin Seattle named Vince Speziale

  general manager, Roy’s Seattle.