Three Benefits of Hotel F&B Programs Done Right

MIAMI—Just how important is the food and beverage (F&B) component in hotels today? GlobeSt.com caught up with Dianna Vaughan, global head and senior vice president of All Suites brands by Hilton, to get her insights. You can still read part one of this interview: Why the Multi-Branded Hotel Market is Invading Suburban Markets.

GlobeSt.com: How important is F&B in the development of an all-suite hotel?

Vaughan: When done right, food and beverage programs can boost guest satisfaction, repeat business and overall profits. The key is to continuously update the dining experiences offered to stay ahead of guests’ preferences and on top of overall industry trends. This is true regardless of whether the hotel offers complimentary breakfast or a full-service meal experience, and the process must be done in a way that appeals to guests while providing a strong return on investment for owners.

GlobeSt.com How does your company approach F&B?

Vaughan: Each of the All Suites brands by Hilton has its own distinct F&B program, including a complimentary daily breakfast at Home2 Suites, a complimentary daily hot breakfast and evening social Monday through Thursday at Homewood Suites, and a free made-to-order breakfast and daily evening reception at Embassy Suites. As we look at these offerings, including the on-site infrastructure necessary to execute each of these dining experiences, we are always looking at ways to make them more efficient, improve our menus to be in-line with current trends, and keep costs down.

For example, Embassy Suites recently unveiled two dining concepts designed to deliver an elevated dining experience for guests and increase profitability and efficiencies for owners. Brickstones Kitchen & Bar was created to work with the brand’s Design Option III prototype and offers a full-service dining experience, while E’Terie is meant to seamlessly integrate with our legacy hotels utilizing a fast-casual model. Both follow a bar-centric approach, offering simple, modern food in an environment that invites guests to stay past the complimentary Evening Reception hours, thus creating more revenue-generating opportunities on-site.

A handful of our Embassy Suites’ properties in the Southeast already feature these concepts. Our hotel in Charlotte-Ayrsley, North Carolina, now features a Brickstones Kitchen & Bar, while two of our properties in Atlanta offer the E’Terie fast-casual concept.

We also revisited the Evening Reception at Embassy Suites and combined the complimentary bar with the paid bar into one centralized location, so they can upgrade their beverage or stay for dinner after the reception ends. Again, this all goes back to our goal of enticing guests to stay beyond the complimentary hours to generate more revenue for owners.

GlobeSt.com: What is the overall development outlook for All Suite hotels in the Southeast?

Vaughan: All-suite hotels have proven to withstand the cyclical nature of the hospitality industry, making them a top choice for developers across the country and abroad. This is especially true in the Southeast, as these types of hotels offer unparalleled flexibility, making them a good fit for the variety of markets seen in the region—coastal, suburban, surban and urban.

The All Suites brands by Hilton are no exception. Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites closed 2018 with more than 900 hotels and pipeline of more than 550 pending locations. More than 40 of these hotels will open in the Southeast in 2018 alone, including an Embassy Suites in Sarasota, Florida, a Homewood Suites in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, and a dual-build with Hilton Garden Inn and Home2 Suites in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.