Food & beverage Walters offers the example of the Sakura Club at
Conrad Washington DC, which reinvented the way guests can access food and beverages with the introduction of a 24/7 Magic Fridge. “[The] 24/7 Magic Fridge concept… provide[s] those needing a pick-me- up snack a way to satisfy their appetite without having to wait to be served. The concept includes a cabinet featuring half refrigerator, half freezer, offering up a buffet of sweet treats, beverages and other options ideal for snacking.” The uptake of innovative technologies like these
Above: The Hilton Honors app allows guests to enjoy unique experiences that immerses them in the local culture.
Previous page: Anticipating a rise in bleisure, Signia by Hilton San Jose combines business with luxury and personalisation.
room service, where provided, guests could experience contactless delivery.” Over the following months, the programme expanded to include “physically-distant event sets and unique solutions to areas like buffets as well as sit-down services”. As restrictions lifted and travel began to return to
a more familiar pace, the provision of outdoor dining spaces became a property across the Hilton chain. “Throughout the pandemic,” Walters says, “hotels maximised their outdoor spaces, showcasing outdoor dining and event areas if they had existing venues or, in some instances, creatively reimagining available outdoor space.” In a number of venues, Walters explains, an “increased focus on experiential travel” has led the development of “outdoor food and beverage experiences at individual properties with offerings like ‘Table to Tide’ at The Reach Resort Key West – Curio Collection by Hilton, which allows guests to enjoy meticulous service and white-tablecloth dining on Key West’s only private, natural sand beach”.
their outdoor spaces, showcasing outdoor dining and event areas if they had existing venues or, in some instances, creatively reimagining available outdoor space.”
Left out in the cold Outdoor space has been essential for the success of a number of venues – but it is by no means a one-size- fits-all solution. “As travel, dining and events returned,” Walters says, “hotels with outdoor dining options or event venues, especially in warm-weather locations, fared better and recovered more quickly than others.” For venues in colder climates, or without the capacity to create new outdoor seating, Hilton had to think laterally to develop alternative solutions.
40
has been essential to the survival of hotel bars and restaurants since the pandemic and has, in turn, brought about a change to the way that menus are imagined. “We shifted the way we present room service menus in the guest rooms from paper copies to QR codes on the TV screens, which allows us to update our menus daily and implement a sense of seasonality that wouldn’t come with a static printed room service menu,” Walters explains. “This seasonality also addresses the rising interest in locally-sourced food and healthier menu options, creating a win-win scenario for our guests, with 32% reporting that they will prioritise locally-sourced food and beverage products in 2023.” This growing interest in locally sourced food is matched by the rise of a new traveller, who increasingly prioritises both sustainability and wellness. Accordingly, “these menu changes also factor in travellers’ growing focus on wellness,” Walters explains, “as more than two in five travellers will be looking for healthier options to eat and drink as they travel next year. Looking to 2023, we know that travellers’ food and drink preferences will continue to change with the times. We are prepared to manage this by staying true to our customer promise of being reliable and friendly, and curating our menus and experiences to accommodate and meet our guests ‘needs’.”
Kicking back, giving back
If the pandemic made people wary about busy public spaces, it also prompted many to reassess their personal values and these changing mores have also been a key aspect of Hilton’s roadmap out of the pandemic. According to their global trends report, 36% of travellers will be looking to learn about local cultures or give back to the community during their 2023 travels. As a result, Walters says, Hilton is committed to “driv[ing] responsible global tourism and support[ing] the local communities we operate in through sourcing sustainable and local ingredients across our global portfolio”. At the Rooftop bar of the Conrad in Washington DC, the chefs even “cook select menu items in a solar oven, and the property’s cocktails feature garnishes that have been harvested from the rooftop garden, which is irrigated through a sustainable rain capture system”.
Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
Hilton
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57
