the Six Senses Douro Valley , Portugal . “ We have a very curated selection of cocktails with a story behind them ,” he says .
The hotel ’ s bars also feature zero-waste cocktails . “ Zero waste cocktails and homemade , fermented beverages are two of the current trends , but it is a way of life for us ,” he says . “ Shrubs , kefir , kombucha , fermented lemon , cured lemon … the list goes on and on .”
In London , people wanted to escape , but they couldn ’ t travel to the beach so the hotel brought the beach to them . “ All the food would be what they might eat in Ibiza ,” Macher says . “ We used escapist inspiration .”
Another time they did “ picnic in the clouds ” afternoon tea in the lobby lounge , and this spring , they ’ re doing an afternoon tea in the park . “ People can pick up their afternoon tea in a picnic basket , and they can take a bike and have afternoon tea in a London park ,” Macher says . “ We ’ ve been focusing on what our clients want and adjusting our offerings to the market .”
The afternoon tea in the park continues because people are craving to be outside , Macher says . The Shangri-La in London has also launched an outdoor , Aperol Terrazza , in partnership with Aperol . “ It ’ s colorful , with Italian music and pizza , and we bring the Amalfi Coast to London ,” Macher says .
In winter , the Shangri-La had a popup of a ski chalet , which also partnered with Beluga vodka . “ If you partner with a sponsor , they also have a lot of reach for marketing , and that helps make it successful for them and for us ,” Macher says .
“ To whatever degree there ’ s a silver lining from this experience in that it has forced us to be creative and to think outside of the box and adopt new strategies and technologies faster than we would have otherwise ,” Langan says . “ I think we ’ ll be better off in the long run from doing that .”
Bar and coffee bars have a lot of parallels , he says , in terms of tools and structure . “ If you add an espresso machine , a coffee maker and some ingredients , you can create this coffee program without any or little infrastructure and no big investment ,” he says . “ And now , you can generate revenue in a time period that you couldn ’ t do before . It ’ s hard to sell cocktails at 10 a . m .; it ’ s easier to sell coffee .”
Langan says it ’ s also important for hotels to develop uniquely local coffee programs - something they can ’ t find anywhere else . “ Historically , there ’ s been this very small list of market behemoths that dominate the hospitality coffee industry ,” he says . “ The reason for this is they have the scale to both sell you products at a low price and to provide you with equipment at no cost . The downside for this is it makes it harder for hotels to work with great local roasters in their own communities .”
Hotel Revival in Baltimore , Maryland , is debuting a new partnership with a local coffee purveyor , Black Acres Roastery , which will be served at the hotel ’ s re-imagined coffee shop , Dashery , as well as in rooms in a unique , single serve , steepable coffee bags .
“ As a part of our continued efforts to amplify and engage with local and Black-owned businesses , we are excited to bring Black Acres Roastery ’ s uniquely crafted coffee experience directly to our guests ,” says Donte Johnson , Revival general manager . “ We hope to take this partnership to another level with the introduction of a unique , inroom pour over coffee experience and the development of a custom Revival blend for our guests .”
Pour over coffee is a rising trend in the artisanal coffee industry , Johnson says , and Hotel Revival is one few hotels in the United States to offer this type of coffee experience .
Working with local roasters , however , is much more possible if you use a bit of creativity . Langan suggests working with local coffee purveyors to come up with a solution . “ Maybe it ’ s a case of sharing the burden in purchasing the equipment or that the sales from the partnership will pay for the equipment ,” Langan says . “ This will take a couple of conversations , but it ’ s worth it .”
Besides offering a local and can ’ t-find-anywhere-else experience , these partners also are there for you if problems arise . “ You know if you ’ re working with the local roaster down the street that if you have problems with your machine , they ’ re just going to come down and fix it ,” Langan says . “ They also know 100 % about oat milk , they know about nitro , and they know what kind of equipment you need , how to take care of it and the right way to build a menu that ’ s going to be successful .”
Langan says local and regional roasters make great partners . “ We ’ re wise to learn from them because they ’ re experts in that industry ,” he says .
May / June 2021 hotelsmag . com 79