Come dine with us - the HMI breakfast briefing

Delegates from across Europe's leading hotel operators gathered in April for Hotel Management International's breakfast meeting at The Park Lane Hotel. Sponsored by SandenVendo and hosted by the resident food and beverage director, Andrew Bennett MBE, the day's discussion focused on one of the most significant challenges facing the hospitality sector: how can hotel restaurants outshine high street competition and become profitable business centres in their own right?

Bennett has spent over four decades working in some of the industry's top kitchens. Prior to joining The Park Lane Hotel in 1994, he opened the Conrad in Chelsea Harbour. He has also worked at the Michelin-starred Rue St Jacques and The Hyatt Chelsea Room. Over his long career, Bennett has noticed a fundamental shift in the way hotel kitchens operate.

"When I started out, a hotel like Claridge's would have had 80 or so chefs for 203 bedrooms," he told the assembled delegates. "In my current role, there are about 26 for 305 bedrooms. I'll leave the maths to you."

The point, he continued, was that Starwood had realised that in-house restaurants were potentially worth big money. As a result, culinary balance sheets are taking on a new level of significance within the brand. Other key industry players are also starting to think along similar lines. Today's hotel eateries are leaner than their predecessors and chefs must work harder to achieve the levels of financial growth hoteliers are coming to expect.

Something spectacular

Being aware of economic potential is by no means the same as actually driving revenue growth, however. In-house restaurants face stiff high street competition. According to Bennett, there are around 5,000 hotels and restaurants in central London alone. With such a variety of cultures and flavours for guests to choose from, hotels must offer something spectacular to stand any chance of retaining their custom.

The other delegates at the breakfast agreed that the situation was challenging. The solution, it was felt, was for hotel restaurants to become business centres in their own right. Rather than being seen by guests and public as mere extensions of hotels, they should be independent destinations, as worthy of visiting for a meal as a dedicated eatery. If a hotel restaurant can attain this sort of social and cultural gravitas, improved revenue generation should follow.

For Bennett, the key to improving a hotel restaurant's finances lies in combining a constant stream of new ideas with continual improvement. Fostering such a culture motivates the kitchen team, increases employee retention and attracts high-calibre job candidates. It also creates awareness on media platforms, and is a huge marketing and PR opportunity. The bottom line is that innovation leads to a healthier balance sheet.

"Whatever style of property you're running, innovation is essential," he said. "We can't increase our prices because people are simply not prepared to pay, so over the last few years we have made sure that we have stayed creative and menu-engineered our dishes. Being put under pressure by a price point can be a strong motivator in that regard."

He went on to outline some of the more restaurant-relevant innovation strategies adopted by Starwood. Top of the list was the positive impact of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programme, a loyalty system that enables guests to build up reward points that can be spent on a variety of perks.

"The Park Lane generates more than 55% of its occupancy through SPG and the programme offers numerous incentives to dine at our restaurants, whether you're or a guest, a member or just want to come in and eat," he said.

"We've seen a significant uplift of 12,000 additional breakfast covers a year as a result of the SPG programme and we only see that growing."

Feed their minds

Bennett also made the point that many hotel staff working outside the culinary area had little idea of how the restaurant functioned, or were even aware of its central theme. These workers, it was thought, should be better educated, perhaps by being served a free monthly meal at the restaurant in order that they might then be able to sell it more effectively to customers.

But while innovative ideas are essential for hotel restaurants looking to grow in today's competitive environment, Bennett also pointed out that managers and chefs had to be careful to ensure they did not forget the foundations of good cooking.

"Some recipes can come across as being creative for creativity's sake. Having spent many years judging food competitions, I've witnessed chefs feeling that they have to use modern techniques and equipment, or they'll be left out," he said.

"We have to remember the core principles of cooking and not become modern for the wrong reasons. If you look at many of the restaurants in London, it's those that are keeping the food simple and authentic and cooking with quality products, that are consistently performing and have queues out the door."

As the delegates finished up their coffees and prepared to leave, the overriding message of the day seemed clear. If hotel restaurants are to become the profitable enterprises that managers now expect, fostering a culture of innovation is of paramount importance. Only then will in-house eateries be able to compete with the best the high street has to offer - and win.