Dear WuBookers, an in-house restaurant adds complexity – and costs – to your property, but if managed well, it can also have a very positive impact, both in terms of revenue and image.

In this article, we have gathered some tips for managing your hotel restaurant, providing an additional service to your guests and creating an extra source of income.

Differences between an independent restaurant and a hotel restaurant

Although very similar (both offer catering services), an independent restaurant and a hotel restaurant differ in at least three fundamental ways:

• opening hours: often the restaurant kitchen is also the only kitchen on the property. This means that, in addition to satisfying orders from the dining room, it may also have to respond to room service requests at any time. This means that it has to stay open for long hours, often 24 hours a day;
• orders: the second difference stems from the first, namely the need to coordinate different orders, even at peak times, organizing the kitchen perfectly to avoid inefficiencies or discontent among guests or staff;
• logistics: in addition to the dining room, hotel guests may also want to eat in other areas of the property: in their rooms, but also on the veranda or by the pool. Such flexible logistics require an equally adaptable and responsive service.

In addition to this, the hotel restaurant – if managed internally and not outsourced – contributes to the overall economy of the property. Therefore, its management requires collaboration with all other departments to ensure sustainability and the achievement of business objectives: a potential difficulty that an independent restaurant does not have.

For business reasons, it may be necessary to attract different types of customers: not only those already staying at the property, but also people from outside. This is a further level of distinction from a normal restaurant, with which a hotel restaurant is in fact competing.

Tips for managing a hotel restaurant and making it work

There are many examples of hotels with integrated restaurants. On the other hand, fine dining in hotels is a growing trend: started by a few niche boutique properties, it is now spreading to international chains to meet the expectations of an increasingly knowledgeable and demanding clientele.

This is why it is important to know how to manage your offering in the best possible way, starting with how you communicate it.

Identity: make your restaurant a brand

The first step in promoting your restaurant is to communicate it well. A well-designed graphic identity is essential for conveying your offering to all your customers and guiding their perception.

Ultimately, it will be the dishes that speak for you, but without adequate brand communication, it will be difficult to attract guests from inside and outside your restaurant.

So make sure you have defined how the restaurant should present itself and that you have all the necessary materials: if it has its own name, it might be useful to create a sign and signage inside the hotel; then prepare business cards and customize the menu. Staff uniforms, furnishings, and table linens can also be branded, without neglecting consistency with the rest of the hotel so as not to betray its style and atmosphere, especially if these are aspects appreciated by your customers.

Qualified staff: your pride and joy

You are no doubt already aware of how much hotel staff can make a difference, both in terms of customer satisfaction and internal organization.

Being able to count on qualified professionals ensures better service for those who choose your property, limiting unexpected events and possible interruptions to business, including restaurant service.

A chef with experience in the hotel sector and equally well-trained staff guarantee the smooth running of the kitchen and dining room, as well as the smooth management of any off-hour or unscheduled orders.

Diversification of the offering: from restaurant to ristobar

The classic restaurant is not the only way to offer a food and beverage service to your customers, and there is no shortage of more informal solutions in the sector, such as cocktail or lounge bars.

In these cases, the à la carte menu is very simplified, while the selection of snacks and drinks, even elaborate ones, is more extensive. This is a very popular option, especially among foreign customers, and, in general, it has many advantages, including economic ones.

Obviously, it is important to know your target audience and the context in which you operate: if your clientele is mainly families, it is unlikely that they will be attracted to a place serving aperitifs. If there are plenty of bars and pubs in your area, keeping your restaurant open might not be a bad idea to offer something different.

Special board and discounts: give value to your customers

An existing customer costs less than a new one. So why not make the most of them with a tailored promotional strategy?

For example, you could offer a special discount for your restaurant to all guests who book a stay directly on your website.

Depending on their arrival time, you could then tempt them with an email informing them that you have reserved a table for them at the hotel restaurant, with no obligation, should they wish to refresh themselves before starting their vacation.

Breakfast: an important moment to enhance

If your guests have booked breakfast at the hotel, try to offer impeccable, high-quality service. Their day will start off on the right foot and they will get a taste of what your kitchen has to offer.

In fact, don’t forget that every occasion is a good opportunity for upselling and cross-selling, including breakfast. Remind them that they could enjoy an equally pleasant experience at lunch or dinner: it will be easier to convince them to book one or more extra meals if they have already had a taste of what you have to offer.

Room service: a way to increase orders

Room service is another important lever for increasing restaurant orders. Guests may be tempted by certain dishes, especially if they don’t have to go to the trouble of booking a table and going to the restaurant area.

That’s why, despite any management difficulties, it’s useful to include this among the services you offer. To limit any operational complexities, you could decide to create a dedicated reduced menu or only open orders at certain times.

A varied and inclusive menu for all tastes

A hotel restaurant that is also open to external customers has to deal with different dynamics and types of audience. On the one hand, there are the guests staying at the hotel, who may not visit the property very often; and then there are the locals, who may return several times in a short period of time. So how can you meet the expectations of both occasional and regular customers? One way to do this is to vary the menu enough to keep them from getting bored, but not too much to confuse them. If there are dishes for which your restaurant is known and appreciated, it is best to keep them on the menu and periodically replace the other offerings.

Remember to always include vegetarian or vegan options and, when possible, smaller portions or dishes designed for children (such as mini pizzas). This will make it easier to entice and satisfy everyone.

Visibility and reputation: get yourself seen so you get chosen

If you want to attract customers from outside, you need to communicate, communicate, communicate! Online and offline.

Website and social networks are the first tools to activate to tell the outside world what they can find inside your property: the menu, daily specials, but also special recipes, staff, and guests. As some of the most famous movies set in hotels teach us, the life of a hotel restaurant is made up of many moments and, if well packaged, they all have the potential to win new customers.

Don’t forget specialized portals such as The Fork or TripAdvisor, and above all, don’t underestimate reviews: manage positive and negative comments without fear, they are excellent opportunities to show who you are and what you are like beyond simple promotion.

And offline? Organizing special events, such as theme nights or parties open to the public, can ensure good visibility even to people who don’t know you yet.

Even in the analog world, the rule of networking applies: build relationships with suppliers, partners, and nearby businesses, including other restaurants. A mutual exchange of visibility can only benefit you and them.

Hotel and restaurant management software: Zak by WuBook

Much of what we have said so far would not work without a restaurant management system integrated with the hotel PMS to streamline all activities.

An example? Zak, WuBook’s management software for hotels and accommodation facilities, which also includes a module for restaurant operations. With this tool, you can automate and speed up everyone’s work by taking advantage of various features, such as:

• creating digital menus that your guests can access via QR codes, which are easy to edit and print;
• associate tables with rooms in your property and link the restaurant cash register to room billing for faster allocation of meals and related costs;
• easily manage external customer reservations, including takeaway orders;
• create and configure different areas of your restaurant (bar, veranda, pool) and assign a different digital menu to each one;
• Vary the distribution of tables based on reservations.
• Forward orders directly from the dining room to the kitchen without having to write them manually on impractical “flyers.”
• Connect waiters on multiple devices so they can send orders from any device.
• Activate differentiated access for staff so that everyone can only access the parts relevant to them.

With Zak, the customer experience also improves: you can set the order of restaurant orders, so you can orchestrate service based on the actual situation, reducing waiting times for impatient or “VIP” guests. In addition, to avoid queues at the time of payment, you can quickly calculate individual bills or split the total into equal parts for the number of guests.

And what about evaluating performance over time or planning ahead? With meal reports and detailed statistics, you can immediately get an idea of the work ahead (and how many supplies you need) and get an instant, accurate overview of how the restaurant is doing during the period you’re interested in, even comparing different times or filtering by specific parameters.

The advantages of managing a hotel with a restaurant

Given everything that restaurant management entails, it may be tempting to outsource this activity to a third party, unrelated to the hotel. This is certainly a valid solution, but it is not without risks or potential drawbacks. You need to make sure that the company you choose is experienced and capable, that there will be no conflicts with other departments of the property, and that profits are distributed in a way that is satisfactory to everyone.

On the other hand, managing the hotel restaurant directly—in addition to the hotel itself—is not without its challenges. When everything works, however, the advantages are clear.

In a nutshell, a hotel restaurant means:

• a wider offering, capable of attracting and satisfying different customers, including any agencies with which to create vacation packages complete with meals;
• higher earning potential, especially if the offering is tailored to the context and audience;
• greater visibility for the hotel property: customers can generate good word of mouth.

And with the right tools, this sector can also be managed in a consistent and coordinated manner with the rest of the hotel, to the benefit of the entire property.