Rethinking Hotel Food and Beverage: Industry Leaders Discuss Guest Insights and Evolving Dining Trends

As the hospitality industry continues to navigate shifting consumer habits, economic pressures, and rising competition from outside sources, hoteliers are being forced to take a fresh look at how they deliver culinary experiences. At The Hospitality Show, industry executives gathered to explore these pressing challenges during a well-attended educational session titled “What Hotel Guests Actually Value: New Consumer Insights.”

Moderated by Brandy Rand, vice president and market leader of hospitality at Forge, the panel offered a deep dive into modern guest behavior using exclusive consumer research from Questex. The discussion featured a high-powered panel of industry leaders, including Jason Reader, chief operating officer at Davidson Hospitality; Scott Strickland, chief commercial officer at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts; and Fabien Gnemmi, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour.

Together, the executives unpacked critical topics ranging from loyalty programs and booking habits to the evolving role of hotel food and beverage programs. Their insights shed light on how modern properties can successfully position their restaurants and bars as independent, standalone destinations capable of competing with third-party delivery apps and off-site local culinary hotspots.

Onsite Dining

One of the most striking findings presented from the Questex research was that 44 percent of hotel guests intentionally choose not to patronize a hotel’s in-house food and beverage program, primarily because they prefer to explore local culinary offerings in the surrounding area. This statistic highlights a persistent challenge for hoteliers: how to make their properties attractive dining destinations for both registered guests and local residents, while simultaneously respecting the reality that travelers often want a taste of the community they are visiting.

Fabien Gnemmi noted that attempting to act as gatekeepers who keep guests trapped inside the hotel is ultimately counterproductive. The true objective, he argued, is to deliver the absolute best overall experience to the traveler.

“I believe that people want to venture out, and we’re here to accommodate them and be their guide,” Gnemmi said. “The better guide we are, the better you’re going to be able to bring [the guest] back to visit again. It’s all about retention.”

To bridge the gap, Gnemmi added that luxury hotels frequently collaborate with renowned local restaurant groups. These partnerships strengthen the hotel’s brand through positive association, successfully drawing in-house guests to unique culinary concepts while capturing valuable additional revenue streams.

Jason Reader echoed this perspective, explaining that modern operators cannot realistically expect guests to remain sequestered on property for the entirety of their stay. Instead, he emphasized the vital importance of establishing a distinct, independent identity for hotel restaurants and bars.

“One of the key things we do is, we don’t use the word ‘outlet,’” Reader said. “We use restaurants and bars. So, the key is to make the hotel restaurant feel like a regular restaurant. Part of how you get that guest to go to your restaurant is to run a really good restaurant.”

Because contemporary consumers heavily rely on digital platforms and review sites to research dining options, Reader pointed out that hotels have a much higher likelihood of capturing local and in-house demand when their culinary venues maintain stellar ratings on platforms such as Yelp. This gives property owners and operators a degree of control over whether visitors decide to dine on-site.

“You can control some of that based on how well you run it,” Reader noted.

Even when guests do decide to venture off-property for a major meal, hotels still retain lucrative opportunities to capture food and beverage revenue. Reader offered common-sense examples, such as travelers stopping by the lobby bar for a pre-dinner cocktail before heading out into the city, or returning later in the evening for a relaxing nightcap. Furthermore, he highlighted how introducing live entertainment within hotel restaurants and bars can actively encourage guests to linger on the property, generating extra revenue opportunities for the establishment.

Room Service vs. Third-Party Delivery

The panel also addressed the growing friction caused by the rise of digital food delivery services. Citing additional findings from Questex, Rand explained that guests who frequently ordered traditional room service also ranked exceptionally high for utilizing third-party delivery platforms. This presents a complex operational challenge for hotels, particularly those that have poured significant capital into upgrading their in-house food and beverage programs. With guests placing a premium on convenience, hotels find themselves forced to compete directly with third-party apps on the fronts of cost, ease of use, and menu selection.

Gnemmi acknowledged that third-party delivery can be a notable pain point, especially within the luxury hospitality segment where operators naturally want guests to fully immerse themselves in the property’s curated amenities. However, he reiterated that the foundational priority must remain serving the guest and facilitating their exploration of the destination. Hoteliers, he suggested, “have to look at it from the guest’s standpoint.” Third-party apps provide travelers with immediate access to authentic local cuisine, and their widespread popularity can serve as a catalyst for hotel culinary teams to continually innovate their own menus and concepts.

Reader added that this dynamic shifts considerably depending on the specific property type and its geographical location. Drawing a parallel to the broader conversation surrounding on-site dining, he noted that operators must accept certain limitations.

“You’re not going to capture every meal,” Reader said.

He pointed to airport hotels as a prime example, where travelers frequently arrive late at night exhausted from travel and are inherently more inclined to order delivery straight to their rooms.

“It really depends on the hotel and location,” Reader said. “लेकिन I think it’s the reality… of our world today.”

Meanwhile, Strickland shared how major hotel companies are proactively adapting to these consumer habits rather than fighting them. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, for instance, has actively embraced third-party delivery partnerships within its select-service portfolio.

“We partnered with Grubhub,” Strickland said. “We have Grubhub stickers in many of our rooms or at check-in to remind people they can earn loyalty points if they use it.”

Strickland also emphasized the operational necessity of helping select-service hotel staff smoothly accommodate delivery orders, particularly regarding logistics like food storage.

“Do they have a cubby environment, a place where they can keep it warm or cold?” Strickland asked, highlighting the logistical adjustments required behind the front desk. “So, we absolutely embrace the idea.”

Expectation vs. Luxury Offering

The conversation eventually shifted toward the morning meal and the fundamental role that breakfast plays in shaping the overall guest experience. Rand cited Questex research indicating that 57 percent of guests still choose to dine on-site for their first meal of the day.

Gnemmi noted that hotels frequently struggle to draw a clear line between basic amenities that guests firmly expect as part of their standard stay and upscale offerings designed to genuinely elevate the experience. As an illustration, he pointed to one property’s past decision to eliminate complimentary coffee as a cost-saving measure. The operational shift provoked what he described as a “horrendous” backlash from guests, ultimately forcing management to quickly reinstate the offering once the depth of guest dissatisfaction became apparent.

“The feedback was just so overwhelming that we had to look at the situation and say, clearly we have a need for this, and it has become an expectation,” he said. “We just had to put it back in place.”

Strickland shared a nearly identical cautionary tale from Wyndham’s select-service portfolio. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company temporarily removed traditional breakfast offerings for safety reasons, dismantling traditional setups and replacing them with a simplified grab-and-go program. The strategic pivot was initially projected to boost profitability for property owners by cutting down labor and simplifying morning food service.

“We thought that our owners are going to be able to make a little more money now because all they need to provide is a grab-and-go coffee service,” Strickland recalled.

However, Wyndham quickly discovered that consumer expectations had not permanently shifted. Guests still explicitly desired the interactive elements of the traditional breakfast experience, such as classic waffle-makers and the ability to customize their morning meals. This widespread consumer sentiment ultimately drove the company to bring those classic amenities back.

“It’s an expectation, even at the select-service level,” Strickland concluded.