Are Your Restaurants Buzzing?

F&B outlets can be a great asset to a hotel - they present an additional source of revenue, add to the bottom line, and are an attractive feature for guests. Some hotel restaurants are simply an extra venue for guests while others strive to be a part of a city’s popular restaurant list. In bigger cities that are known to have a multitude of great dining options, it can be tough for hotels to keep the local diners’ interest alive.

We talk to experts in F&B hospitality industry and find out how they generate interest amongst local diners for their hotel restaurants and ensure their local guests do not step out to dine. We understand what specific measures they take for the hotel restaurants to keep buzzing and generate revenue as they say the success of food and beverage can make or break a hotel.

- Sharmila Chand

Praveen Shetty – Executive Chef, Conrad Bengaluru

How best to enhance F&B outlets

Innovative concept based menus – for e.g. at the GOT event, we curated a 5-course meal to represent the five iconic scenes of the series. This was well received by the local market and put us a notch above other restaurants in the city in the culinary space.

Promote local cuisines – having regular pop-ups at the outlets to keep the local diner engaged and to offer freshness every time he/she dines with us. For e.g. we have done hugely popular ones like Mangalorean, Kerala, Abhinaya Dakshin, Karnataka, Rajyaotsava Sri Lankan.

Pairing the culinary excellence with international wines and spirits - The focus here is to unveil meats & ingredients uncommonly known to the local market. This has been well appreciated, as our guests go back with more information than they came with. We also share DIY recipes with those who join in so that goes back home and try in their own kitchens.

As a brand, one of our philosophies is to stay locally inspired. We introduce rare ingredients to the local market in our restaurants and ensuring that it is sourced from the place of origin.

From a marketing perspective – we have created different mini brand identities to keep our restaurants at the top of our mind for our customers. From set meal “Lunches at Conrad” starting at Rs. 1000 only at three of our distinct dining restaurants that cater to the corporates located within 4km radius of the hotel, to enhanced activities at the kids zone for Sunday brunch- the only longest brunch in town starting at 11 AM to 3:30 PM and conceptualising mid-week in buffets that highlight innovative grills and roasts complemented by a host of thirst-quenching cocktails and more. Promoting concepts like these across social media, radio, digital, print mediums is how we stay connected with our customers.