Your hotel’s restaurant or coffee/gift shop offers you the ability to attract guests and deliver more direct bookings incentives. Both the trends and technology for hotel restaurants this year are worth taking note of, as they will tie directly into how you can approach your strategy on your hotel and restaurant supporting each other to attract more guests and create the ultimate guest experience…….all while improving how you run the business side of your hotel.

POS Technology

Today, a hotel’s core operation is primarily based on the selected PMS software they utilize. However, if your hotel has a restaurant or coffee/gift shop, you need a POS technology that integrates seamlessly to your hotel PMS, some also include food & beverage, spa and retail features as well. While there are stand-alone POS options, a hotelier should be focused on using a solution that is integrated organically as part of their PMS. It allows a hotel to run cleaner POS reports, with great detail that can be categorized and sub categorized. It will simplify billing, with the easy transfer of POS bills to room folios perfectly and payments can then be settled directly during checkout. Most importantly, a hotelier will experience an easy to configure POS solution that is quick and simple and does not require additional integration support. The cloud now offers these type of POS tools as well, and according to a study by research firm Hurwitz & Associates, cloud PMS solutions can reduce the TCO for POS software by up to 55 percent.

Trends In 2018

Once your hotel and restaurant are integrated through your PMS/POS solution, keeping aware of the latest trends to help promote your restaurant will allow you to create a better and marketable customer experience. One of the big trends is also simple, avocado-mania is sweeping restaurants and they are going artsy with creative and simple avocado dishes, and there always endless inspiration on Pinterest for recipes. Another big trend is creating a food experience that innovates and is a point of attraction. According to HotelierMagazine.com, The Drake Hotel in Toronto is continuing to innovate its F&B offerings by adding a new 8,000-sq.-ft culinary space. Drake Commissary is designed as a destination for food enthusiasts and a space where the company tests out new menu items that eventually make it to its numerous properties. Local food sourcing has gained momentum and will continue to do so, being inspired by the local community gives guests a taste of the local cuisine. Bars are stocking regional crafted beer and local estate wines. Their menus are being built around home-grown and seasonal produce. Finally, what seems like the hottest trend in hotel restaurants is meeting the chef. For travelers who want a unique experience while dining, many hotels now are offering options to meet the chef. Guests can dine with executive chef and experience a behind the scenes look as the chef prepares a multi-course meal.

Today’s hotel and restaurant combination is maturing, and many have already improved their game in an attempt to attract guests with their unique offerings. The recipe; one-part technology and one-part creativity in your restaurant, or coffee/gift shop.

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InnQuest Software is a leading technology provider for the hospitality industry. For over 25 years, innQuest has combined hotelier experience with innovative technology to deliver an all-in-one solution that empowers hotels to attract guests, drive customer loyalty, and increase profits. Our flagship property management software, roomMaster, helps manage over 5,500 properties across 100 countries. InnQuest develops scalable solutions ranging from a Hotel PMS, Cloud PMS, Channel ManagerHotel CRM and helps properties enable guests to Book Direct. We believe that everyone deserves a great guest experience, whether they’re staying at a small B&B, a thousand-room resort, or anywhere in between.

Call us today at 1.813.288.4900, or email us at sales@innquest.com. We will be happy to walk you through innQuest’s solutions.