Brewing Afresh

From a breakfast option to an effective experiential investment, coffee experiences within hotels have had an image makeover, leading to higher ROIs

- Madhulika Dash

Coffee is a brew that luxury hotels experimented with even before they veered to the high tea experience. At The Tamara Coorg, located within a lush coffee estate, guests can pluck the berries in season, pulping, blending and roasting the beans to make their own blend. At Vivanta by Taj, Madekeri, guests can wake up to a strong cup of coffee from the coffee estates close-by and a view of the intense green jungle.

OYO Rooms has made it possible for guests associated with them to order beverages through a mobile app. Without a doubt, coffee has been the most ordered beverage on this app. Even your average hotel today offers a myriad coffee choice.

The selection of coffee is determined by two factors: One, says Manmeet Singh, director of f&b at The Park Kolkata, the commercials involved and two, the machine used to make the brew.

The history of how the coffee experience in hotels evolved is fascinating. Reminiscing to the beginning of the coffee culture in hotels back in the 1980s, he says, “When most budget hotels were happy serving coffee traditionally brewed in a boiler and then transferred into a kettle, which a server takes around on request (a service we see largely in flights these days), premium brands would invest in fancy coffee machines that would dole out popular variants,” he says.

But such coffee machines were limited to sections in hotels that mattered such as a business lounge, coffee shops (now reinvented as all-day dining) or as Saket Gupta, vice president-sales & marketing, Waterstones Hotel likes to put it, “Hubs that could make a sell. After all coffee, back in those days, was a serious investment and could cost up to INR15 a cup.” Clearly, that was a mini fortune in the 1980s.