Food & beverage
Above: The opulent Peacock Room at IHG’s Hotel Fontenot, New Orleans.
Below: Though traditional bars are still appreciated, new and inventive ways of bringing people together to drink are also being explored.
Hilton Los Cabos. With new mixologists, it goes without saying, come new mixes. To an extent, that just involves finding clever ways of blending booze. In 2022, for instance, IHG developed a range of cocktails to mark the company’s 75th birthday. Celebrating the company’s Canadian roots, the ‘Canopy Fizz’ encompasses Labrador tea, local gin, absinthe – and a patriotic dash of maple syrup.
Not that every innovation needs to be alcoholic in nature. On the contrary, as a thoroughly global company, IHG is increasingly developing cocktails for non-drinking groups like Muslims. Another anniversary drink is a case in point: designed for the Intercontinental Ras Al Khaimah outside Dubai, the ‘Arabiana’ blends coconut, pineapple and dates. At the same time, operators are adapting to a broader cultural shift where tippling is less common than it used to be. “We’ve found that travellers across the globe are prioritising wellness more than ever,” says Crocini, “and that same sentiment has carried over to their drink order.” A fair point: in the US, to give one example, Gallup found that the number of student teetotalers
has risen by 8% in only a decade. With this in mind, it’s unsurprising that both Hilton and IHG should be developing alcohol-free menus, with smoothies, boosters and adaptogens all making an appearance. Dragging the menu away from alcohol equally gives managers opportunities to rethink the overall bar experience. Gingerich, for his part, suggests that zero-alcohol menus can help “foster inclusivity” at his watering holes, while Crocini notes that the ideal Hilton property “extends far beyond just the drinks themselves”. To this end, many operators are working to soften the atmosphere of their bars – often by simply dragging them away from high-ceilinged lobbies and ancient saloons. IHG is an excellent case study for this, with a basement storeroom becoming a speakeasy in Portland and an empty courtyard transforming into a winter-themed hangout in Southern California. European managers, for their part, are no less assiduous here. At The Hoxton in Southwark, for instance, this summer’s Oriole pop-up dovetails great drinks with innovative Spanish cooking. Not to be outdone, the Four Seasons in Madrid recently opened a patisserie in its El Patio lobby bar.
Raise a glass Taken together, these innovations represent a major shift in what hotel bars can be. Nor are the most thoughtful operators stopping there. Exploiting the industry-wide push towards sustainability, IHG is introducing zero-waste programmes across some of its properties – which, apart from avoiding rubbish, also obliges bartenders to be even more thoughtful in how they meld limited ingredients. That’s echoed by related work beyond the hotel threshold. Partnering with a vineyard in the Languedoc, for example, IHG is now able to offer guests a range of biodynamic bottles. Taking it a step further, Gingerich adds, some bartenders are reviving classic drinks, or else developing new ones, by introducing unusual spirits. Once again, environmentalism is the key here – such as the Scottish brand that uses fruit scraps from food processing plants to make vermouth.
But, though the what, where and how of hotel bars are all changing fast, we shouldn’t count traditional establishments out just yet. “But that fancy lobby bar won’t go away either – perfectly positioned bars that allow all-day people-watching are still beckoning to belly up to the bar,” is how Gingerich phrases it, a sentiment Crocini wholeheartedly agrees with. As he puts it: “We think the expectation for hotel bars – especially ones considered ‘destinations’ in their own right – will continue to evolve.” Fair enough: it may be a jazz age holdout, but Bemelmans has lately enjoyed a glut of Gen-Z visitors, with queues to get tipsy now starting as early as 2pm. Casey Stengel would surely be proud. ●
34 Hotel Management International /
www.hmi-online.com
Hilton; IHG
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