Is this the next generation of hotel restaurants?
What the travelling majority wants today when staying at a hotel is, simply put, an effective way to order what they want and when they want. Today’s hotel customers have already highly adopted to the mobile world. When texting, they want to communicate through channels they have become accustomed to, likes using WhatsApp. When posting on social media, they use Instagram, when hailing a cab, they use UBER and when they order in food, they use Deliveroo (in the wesern world) or Talabat (in the middle East). The overarching common denominator of these three examples is that they are universally adopted modes of communication, using one single app solution that works globally. It, therefore, should not come as a surprise that there has been a market push in demanding that hotels adopt a more lenient policy when it comes to hotel dining.
How has the pandemic changed hotel food service operations?
The pandemic has accelerated customer centricity for hotel food and beverage in ways we could not have imagined five years ago. Hotel customers today are looking for more flexibility in what types of cuisine they can order, considering the ease and variety they have at their fingertips when ordering through Deliveroo, UberEATS, Postmates, Talabat etc. at home. On top of that, today's hospitality operators are desperately looking for qualified staff, dealing with supply chain issues, disappearing customer loyalty, the "on again - off again" issues tied to the appearance of new Covid variants etc.
What should hotels be doing right now?
What hotel operators should be looking at now is a solution that responds to the "click and collect" activity their customers are demanding - let's call it "deliver and pander", for the lack of a better term. This could take shape through dedicated delivery windows or catering points within hotels. Further, the re-heating of food, re-plating and delivery or pick up service (whatever the customers prefer) is surely something the customer would be willing to pay a service fee for, so what’s keeping hotel operators from giving the customers what they want and when they want it?
Of course, there are quite a lot of hoops to jump through :
The stability and consistency of food delivery needs to be better controlled as the transportation means for deliveries
Delivery temperatures need to be better managed to allow for some service fundamentals to be respected: hot food should be served hot, and cold food cold. Could we not imagine a real-time temperature tracker throughout the entire delivery process, from the moment the meal leaves the ghost kitchen to the delivery window?
Then there's the liability issue for any food intoxication claim that might arise. Could this be covered through in-app disclaimers?
Understandably, there's the hotels' risk of suffering an image loss by being associated with low-quality vendors,
The could’s, the would’s and the should’s - Some food for thought
Could hotels begin to be referenced on food delivery platforms to be integrated into their in-house food delivery journey, thereby providing a more seamless experience to its customers?
Would it be a great opportunity to reduce the high overheads of running food service operations within hotels? Just imagine what hotels would be able to do with the cost savings - how about increasing staff salaries and wages for starters...?
Should hotels (individually owned, hotel groups or even mega brands) should even consider diversifying into such models’ operations through strategically located ghost kitchen logistics, providing them with an opportunity hotel never had before: the real scaling of local foodservice operations. Not only would this allow such a hotel to tap into a new business model and market (imagine the Four Seasons and their service catering to your homes), but would this possibly further leverage their reputation in the cities they are operating in?
What next
One thing is for sure, the convergence between hospitality and big tech companies had started way before Covid (OTA Kayak has ventured into hotel operations by opening its Kayak Hotel Miami Beach and Uber had ventured into food deliveries), but the pandemic has had a catalyst effect on the industry and consumer adoption. And another thing is undeniable: we need to adapt and accept this new reality, as those that embrace this change will reap great rewards.