Of all the aspects of hospitality lost to COVID, the hotel bar was missed more keenly than most (second only, maybe, to the breakfast buffet). The bar is a uniquely convivial experience: a place to sit shoulder to shoulder with fellow guests and savor the experience of being somewhere unfamiliar but welcoming.
People want that opportunity to socialize again. That’s why it’s time to reinvest in the hotel bar and end any limitations on food and beverage services, hospitality experts say.
“International travelers want a great bar experience in particular,” Sloan Dean, CEO and president of third-party management company Remington Hotels, said at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference. “Often they stay and dine in the hotel, whereas domestic travelers often don’t. So we need our food-and-beverage really dialed in.”
Here's a look at some hotel bar trends and opportunities to maximize revenue and guest satisfaction.
1. Give the hotel bar a distinctive personality.
Generic isn’t inviting. If guests’ perception of the bar is just “a counter with stools,” they have no reason to go. Think hard about what type of hotel bar would most appeal to guests and fill a niche in the surrounding area. Relaxed sports bar? Belgian beer and frites bar? Sultry ‘70s cocktail bar?
“Be more intentional,” advises Steve Palmer, managing partner of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group. “We saw that when we did that, our food and beverage revenues were often 50 percent of total revenue.”
2. Evoke the feeling of a classic hotel bar.
New York City’s historic Hotel Chelsea never had a grand lobby bar, like most other hotels of its era. So the hotel created one in the spirit of iconic European hotel bars, with plush seating, chandeliers and vintage lamps. “Beverage director Brian Evans put together a comprehensive cocktail menu that riffs on classic drinks and also pays homage to iconic cocktails from bars around the world,” WWD reports, “including the Duke Martini for the Dukes Hotel in London, Arnaud’s French 75 for Arnaud’s Restaurant in New Orleans, and Tommy’s Margarita for Tommy’s Bar in San Francisco.”
Of course, this kind of sumptuous, vintage design doesn’t work for every property. But it’s worth asking how you might create that classic ambiance that makes guests feel at home. Get some ideas from Architectural Digest’s list of the 20 best-designed hotel bars in the U.S.
3. Make the most of outdoor space.
One legacy of pandemic-era drinking and dining is that guests developed a new appreciation for being outdoors. “It doesn’t even matter if you have a view or not—people love to be outside and so we are putting a lot more importance on rooftop bars, outdoor seating, and kitchens,” Palmer says.
If your property doesn’t already have a rooftop bar or a courtyard, look for opportunities to create outdoor space. Could part of the parking lot be reclaimed for a patio? Could a covered pergola bar be placed by the pool, or near the entrance? Or bring the outdoors in with tall plants and nature-inspired décor. For inspiration, look at The Nest in the Treehouse London.
4. Prioritize sustainability in your cocktail program.
The next generation of hotel bar guests cares intensely about spending on sustainability, says Jill Cockson, F&B partner for Anna’s Place, the new cocktail bar at Hotel Indigo Omaha Downtown. Cockson uses locally sourced lavender, aronia berries, honey, corn, apples, cherries and sumac, a plant native to Nebraska that was part of Native American diets. “It opens the door to all kinds of conversations about how sustainable practices can help us recover the use of ingredients that are indigenous to this land and create even better products,” Cockson tells HospitalityNet.
5. Make the hotel bar an all-day business.
Coffee drinks early in the morning. Fresh smoothies mid-day. Late afternoon happy hour. Early evening aperitivos. Maximize hotel bar profits by welcoming guests to sit down and enjoy a drink (alcoholic or non-) at any time of day.
6. Invest in the right tech and bar equipment to improve efficiency.
You can invest as much time and money as you want in designing a hotel bar that feels fresh and inviting — but if you don’t have excellent service, it’ll fail. As the hotel labor shortage persists, operators must look for ways to make it easier for F&B staff to do their jobs well:
- Contactless ordering and tableside payments are proving popular with guests, freeing staff to do the work that matters more: making and serving drinks and food.
- Programmable drink blenders, such as The Eclipse™ Blender, make it easy for staff to blend drinks to perfection with one press, whether frozen cocktails or breakfast smoothies. QuietBlend™ technology minimizes noise.
- The PrimaVac™ line of in-chamber vacuum sealers simplifies prep work — for food and beverages —while cutting waste. Measure, prepare and season perfect portions. Make housemade syrups and infusions with more speed and less mess.
See the full line of durable Hamilton Beach Commercial equipment for busy hotel bars.
