Luxury Hoteliers Magazine 1st Quarter 2019 | Page 56

Dream Downtown New York HOW IMPORTANT IS F&B IN SHAPING YOUR BRAND IDENTITY AND DRIVING REVENUE? At Dream Hotels, we pride ourselves on the success of our F&B outlets, which has become synonymous with our brand identity and generates a significant portion of the property’s overall revenue. When people hear our name, they automatically associate us with fun dining and nightlife venues filled with a great crowd and energy. For example, we are one of the first hotels in the industry to launch a rooftop bar concept, which has done incredibly well. At one of the roof venues in Manhattan, we do approximately $20 million dollars a year, with 90% of that from drink sales where the margins are significantly more profitable than food. Another way our F&B drives revenue is to analyze the market and program the spaces when there is less competition. By catering to the clientele when their options are more limited, such as Monday nights where 56 ILHA we have created a very lively weekly party at one of our restaurants, we subsequently become the go-to destination then. This also translates into the guests coming back during the traditionally busier times when they have many more places to choose from because they love the consistency of experience and service levels we provide. When these venues perform well, it positively impacts our hotel revenue too. Creating a place where the locals hang out is extremely appealing to out-of-town guests who don’t want to be crowded with other tourists and get to feel like a part of the local community. So not only are we capturing their F&B dollars, but also the premium in ADR these hotel guests are willing to pay for the convenience of staying where they will be in their free time anyway. This incremental revenue incurs no additional expenses for ownership and flows directly to the bottom line, so a strong F&B program with a great social vibe is a key component of driving revenue overall.