If you’ve managed restaurants for a while, you know how to keep multiple balls in the air. Ordering from vendors, tracking inventory, overseeing and adjusting staff schedules, and maintaining high levels of customer service are just a few of your priorities.
If you’re transitioning into hotel restaurant management, you may wonder if your responsibilities will change.
Hotel restaurants operate differently than the typical eatery, but the good news is that most of your management skills are automatically transferable.
For the rest? This article has you covered. Read on to find the key differences between hotel and standalone restaurants and what that means for managers. Then, see our list of the top do’s and don’ts to ensure your restaurant thrives.
What is hotel restaurant management?
Hotel restaurant management is a section of the hospitality industry that focuses on operating a restaurant based within a hotel. This includes restaurants within large or mid-sized hotel chains, privately owned hotels or local chains, resorts, and casinos.
Given the nature and location, restaurant managers work closely with hotel managers and personnel. Their duties may vary slightly from those in traditional roles, and they may take on extra responsibilities. For example, some managers oversee both the hotel and the restaurant.
While hotel restaurants often attract local diners, they also serve tourists, business travelers, and conference attendees.
If you’re already in charge of a restaurant, note that the essential restaurant manager skills still apply.
What is the difference between a hotel restaurant and a regular restaurant?
Making a successful switch to a hotel restaurant means understanding some distinct differences.
Operating hours
Hotel restaurants are often open longer, even 24 hours a day, to serve their guests at any time upon arrival. Hotel guests checking in late at night or early in the morning often don’t have the time (or energy) to seek other options.
In fact, 48% of guests value all-day dining over any other amenity the hotel provides. In addition to quality, restaurant operations must focus on convenience and reliability for guests who don’t want to venture out.
Aesthetic and ambiance
Hotel restaurants are often more upscale than others in the restaurant industry. The design elements will be closely tied to the hotel’s branding and reputation.
Whether guests are at the hotel for business or pleasure, they often seek a chance to unwind from the stresses of travel. Hotel restaurants strive for a comfortable, relaxing environment.
Service provision
While hotel restaurants benefit from guests dining in, they must also be prepared to offer room service (day or night.)
Some also provide grab-and-go options, with customers selecting from a limited menu or items at their convenience.
Hotels might also host conferences or other events requiring catering, such as weddings or anniversary celebrations.
Hotel perks
Depending on the size and scale of the hotel, restaurant diners could earn loyalty points or receive discounts or promotions tied to their hotel stay.
Don’t dismiss this perk even if operating on a smaller scale. With 38% of guests highly motivated to return to a hotel offering loyalty points for dining in their on-site restaurant, odds are they’ll return for a meal, too.
Menu offerings
With such a wide variety of diners, hotel restaurant menus are typically designed to appeal to many tastes and preferences.
If a hotel restaurant specializes in a particular cuisine, there are likely to be multiple dining options on-site. A full range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage options will also be available.
In many cases, national chains tie their restaurants closely to the location. For example, Kimpton Hotels ensures that each of its more than 80 restaurants offers distinctive regional fare.
3 differences between managing a hotel restaurant and a standard one
Managing a hotel restaurant also differs from regular restaurant management in a few key ways.
Basic operations
With hotel restaurant operations, most of the basics are connected directly to the hotel.
Restaurant marketing efforts focus on promoting both the hotel and restaurant, including those possible perks for dining in. Make sure the hotel marketing manager knows all the key selling points about your restaurant to use in marketing materials.
The hotel restaurant’s finances are generally part of the hotel’s total finances. While restaurant bookkeeping is still necessary, it may be tied to the hotel’s general books.
The staff may also have more responsibilities than those in a traditional restaurant, including room service and catering.
Relationships
Managing a hotel restaurant includes fostering relationships with those working in the restaurant and the hotel.
You work in alignment with hotel and hospitality management and ownership, along with their house staff (e.g., receptionists, guest relations, concierges, valets.)
In addition to working with vendors, your relationships with local businesses may include event planners who host conferences and celebratory events at the hotel and hire the restaurant for catering.
Guest experience
While the customer experience is essential no matter which sector of the hospitality industry you work in, you’re now tasked with managing hotel and restaurant guests’ expectations.
Hotel guests will consider themselves the priority, so balancing dine-in vs. room service orders is critical.
Now that you understand the differences between hotel-based and regular restaurants let’s turn to our guide for successfully managing a hotel restaurant.
The 8 dos and don’ts of hotel restaurant management
Here are the top ways to manage your hotel restaurant (as well as what not to do.)
Create a stand-out web presence
Craft your website to showcase how your restaurant stands out from the crowd. Ensure the restaurant’s brand, mission, and values align with the hotel’s. Describe your menu and specialty offerings, including any happy hours or promotions.
Enlist a professional photographer or developer to ensure your website translates seamlessly among devices.
These details matter. About 32% of customers always check a restaurant’s website before visiting, so ensure your site draws them in immediately.
Your website must also connect to the hotel’s site so guests can request room service, place pick-up orders, or make reservations.
For more tips, check out our guide: How to increase restaurant sales.
Provide world-class catering
Hotel event spaces allow hotel restaurants to cater to a wide range of milestone event types. You might host weddings, bar mitzvahs, or retirement celebrations.
Business events, including conferences, fundraisers, and holiday parties, often occur in hotels to accommodate out-of-town attendees. Coordinate with the hotel to offer guests discounts on rooms or other amenities.
Create a one-stop-shop event for your client by partnering with local vendors and event planners.
Following the event, contact the client for testimonials and post positive reviews on hotel and restaurant websites.
Vary the cuisine types
While some guests seek local cuisine, others want comfort food that reminds them of home. With a hotel restaurant, aim your menu planning to appeal to as many tastes as possible. You might have a menu with standard offerings, such as BLTs and burgers, and specials highlighting your region (e.g., Cajun, Cuban.)
Understand how your diners may shift during the week. For example, you might see more business travelers and conference attendees during weekdays, while locals and international travelers are more frequent on the weekends.
Consider how religious observances and dietary restrictions affect your menu. The CDC reports that 6% of adults have allergies. Personal preferences matter, too. About 5% of adults report being vegetarian, and 4% are vegan.
Highlight the guest experience
Connect with the hotel’s reservation system and guestbook to immediately identify and welcome new and repeat guests.
Partner with the hotel to offer repeat customers loyalty points or other perks. For example, they could enjoy a complimentary glass of wine or appetizer with any entree, whether they head to the restaurant or dine in their rooms.
Encourage locals to try your restaurant through targeted marketing efforts and exclusive offerings. Hire local bands to perform live music on the weekends or partner with local brewpubs and wineries.
Use robust technology
Since hotel restaurant managers must manage multiple responsibilities, why not invest in a comprehensive platform to streamline your operations? Lark is the super app that puts everything at your fingertips.
For example, Lark Base is your operational hub for viewing data and gaining actionable insights. You can upload forms and create dashboards to visualize trends, patterns, and operations. Lark Base integrates with Square to view POS information so you can quickly take action.
Here are some other ways Lark can help.
Lark Attendance
The Lark Attendance app is designed for hotel restaurant managers and employees. It allows you to manage employee attendance, including determining shift types and setting schedules. You can also run reports to track attendance, discover trends, and monitor overtime.
Employees can easily clock in and out for their shifts using their devices through GPS or WiFi. They can also request leave and track their approvals through the app.
Lark Meetings + Lark Messenger
Collaboration is seamless with Lark. Use Meetings to include off-site employees, with language translations to support a diverse workforce. Employees who can’t make it can easily refer to the transcription later.
Through Lark Messenger, keep employees, hotel management, vendors, and ownership in the loop. You can quickly check in, ask questions, and respond to concerns, and you can also sync your information to emails, calendars, and approvals.
Lark Calendar
The Lark Calendar makes sharing schedules and common meeting times easy. You can also add public calendars listing restaurant, community, and hotel events.
Lark Templates
Lark offers more than 100 free templates for download.
To get started, try the Order & Inventory Management template to keep track of current stock and know when it’s time to reorder.
With the New Location Preparation template, you can quickly see which timelines for your restaurant are in progress, delayed, or completed.
Now that you understand the best strategies for successfully managing a hotel restaurant, here’s a brief rundown of what not to do.
Don’t separate the restaurant from the hotel
Ensure your restaurant is immediately identifiable with the hotel. Since many of the customers will be hotel guests, it’s important for the restaurant to be visible, accessible, and well-integrated with the hotel itself.
Connect with the hotel to align marketing efforts and promotions to benefit each.
Don’t neglect cleanliness and safety
Your restaurant must meet high standards for cleanliness and hygiene.
Since many hotel guests will walk by the hotel restaurant, they’ll see firsthand if it’s appealing, clean, and orderly.
This doesn’t just relate to the overall vibe. Customer perceptions about the staff’s appearance and the condition of the restrooms also affect their impressions.
Poor performance in these areas could negatively affect the hotel, damaging the relationship with hotel management/ownership. Additionally, untidy and unsanitary spaces lead to negative online reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations.
For proper protocols, access, and layout, ensure your space follows ADA guidelines for inclusivity.
Don’t make room service an afterthought
Room service should be held to the same standards as the dining room. With 27% of guests spending $100 or more on room service, this is an area to pay attention to.
Devise a system to balance room service with in-person diners so they aren’t waiting overly long for their orders. Meals should be presented professionally, with servers trained in the nuances of delivering food to personal spaces.
Curate your menu carefully, too. Recent research shows that 49% of customers opt for burgers when ordering. If burgers aren’t an option, stick to other preferred casual fare offerings (e.g., pizza and club sandwiches).
Invest in Lark for top-notch hotel restaurant management
Ready to leap into hotel restaurant management? Remember the key differences, including how closely aligned your restaurant is with hotel operations, marketing, and staffing. Ensure your restaurant stands out and keep repeat hotel customers returning.
Use robust technology to help you. With Lark, you have all the apps you need to stay in touch with staff, set and adjust schedules, manage inventory, and gauge customer service. Download one of their free templates to get started with your new location.
Learn more about Lark and how it helps restaurants maximize operations today.
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