F&B experiences are a crucial part of overall hotel positioning
JW Marriott Pune is not only one of the most iconic hotels in the country but it is also known as the best food and beverage destination in Pune city.
It houses a wide array of F&B outlets including five award-winning restaurants: Tao-Fu, authentic Chinese restaurant; Paasha, rooftop bar and lounge offering North-West Frontier cuisine; Alto-Vino, Italian specialty restaurant; Spice Kitchen, multi-cuisine restaurant; and Pune Baking Company, your go-to Deli.
As we know, F&B operations have always been crucial for luxury hotels and it plays an important role at this behemoth, JW Marriott Pune, being a key revenue driver and contributing around 60 per cent to the overall revenue of the hotel.
I strongly believe that a well-planned and exclusively executed F&B outlet at a luxury hotel has the ability to develop its own character and stand as a representative of the respective hospitality brand.
Understanding trends from a wider viewpoint is an essential but occasionally overlooked tactical technique when developing F&B concepts.
Long-term trends that are suitable for the hotel’s F&B outlets need to be understood practically and that is exactly what we do at the JW Marriott Pune.
All exclusive F&B promotions are researched thoroughly prior to curating them for our patrons. A hotel’s food and beverage division has a big impact on how satisfied guests are with the experience as a whole.
The service an F&B department provides plays a significant role in how comfortable guests feel, just like the customer service in any other standalone restaurant.
F&B has increasingly become an important contributor to a hotel’s competitive position in the market. I strongly believe that F&B experiences are not just services offered at luxury hotels but a crucial part of the overall hotel positioning and brand value.
Consumers are not just looking for places to stay; they are also spending more money on food and beverage experiences, which help the business make more money. There are umpteen opportunities and scope to expand food and beverage in luxury hotels and contribute to added value.
A hotel’s primary business objective is to make profits, however, how can one be sure that all your guests can make use of your F&B offerings in the best possible way? By providing a range of prices across the hotel, one may efficiently serve each visitor because there are a variety of dining options including restaurants, bars, coffee shops and in-room dining services at various pricing points.
Depending on the business model, one can decide how to price a menu. A food cost calculator can help create successful menus and meals. It’s one of the most crucial aspects to concentrate on when setting up an F&B division.
As an iconic hotel, JW Marriott Pune has made a constant effort to grow and innovate to meet the changing needs of our guests without sacrificing our authenticity and charm as a legendary hotel that has withstood the test of time for more than a decade. Our catchphrases have been authenticity and innovation in the crucial field of menu engineering.
Meeting and conference rooms together with ballrooms, which come under the banquets and conference section, are also major contributors. They are a great source of revenue in the F&B department, especially in business hotels like the JW Marriott Pune for various corporate events including weddings, which is a dynamic section in F&B and is more physically demanding and creatively oriented, keeping in mind the hotel houses one of the largest convention centres in Western India.
To suggest that F&B outlets are the star attraction for any hospitality brand is not an exaggeration. At JW Marriott Pune there is an emphasis on providing exceptional ambience, tasteful cuisine, attractive décor and intuitive guest service.
Along with the in-house guests, a sizeable portion of the F&B revenue comes from walk-in guests at the restaurants. I frequently hear from guests that one of the highlights of staying at our luxurious hotel is the dining experiences and F&B offerings across the hotel.
Our talented and expert team of chefs who curate gastronomic experiences for us, nourish us, satisfy our palates and bring a smile on our faces throughout the year is something I am really proud of.
The author is GM, JW Marriott Pune
