eeling a little impulsive? A little demanding? Well, the revolution is over, and the “me generation” won. They want what they want, when, how, and where they want it. And they’re not embarrassed to demand it on the comment card. What’s a food and beverage director to do?

The American palate has grown up, and after a long stretch of denial, hotels are finally catching up with their chain and independent restaurant competitors. Food and beverage professionals have celebrated the triumphant return of the hotel restaurant to culinary prominence. Hotel foodservice is further evolving as guests have kitchens at home that are even more tricked out, along with having a split personality of health concerns and gourmet cravings at all hours.

The good news: Hotel brands are on top of the trends, and lobby foodservice is on the move. From convenience stores to front desk short order cooks, food and beverage is cozying in, ready to please. The early adapters to this trend appear to be extended stay and trendy lifestyle properties straddling a limited-service/full-service definition. As their suites and lofts become more residential, public space is being redefined. Kris Beck, director of brand operations support at Embassy Suites and instrumental in the brand’s Flying Spoons lobby concept (HOTEL F&B, May/June 2008), says it well: “Travel really hits home in the lobby of the hotel.” Here are some other chains entering the market with new lobby food and beverage concepts:

NYLO HOTELS
Target Customer: Business travelers looking for value pampering.

Lobby Concept:The Loft, an energized common area with restaurant, bar, and lounge. The front desk associate takes the guest’s order and makes a sandwich after hours.

The Lowdown: Tired of sacrificing urban chic for a room close to the airport? NYLO is counting on it. This new brand of loft hotels is ready for business with its first property, which opened last December in Plano, Texas. “We’re targeting secondary and tertiary markets with a lot of office space,” says Patrick O’Neil, senior VP of operations for NYLO and GM of the new Plano property.

The Loft is designed to compete as a local food and beverage attraction with urban chic outside the city. “Earlier in the day, we focus on healthful, made-to-order options: salads and panini at 10 to 12 bucks, tops. I’m looking at where people are eating. We’re not trying to complicate it; we’re trying to adapt to it.” The menu turns to small plates in the afternoon for social grazing: “Bison sliders, shrimp, small fun things—you can order three or four and a drink.” Signature items in their spa category hold down fat, carbs, and calories.

Once the party in the lobby dies down for the night? “The front desk associate is trained to ask people if they’re hungry when they check in,” says O’Neil. “Get a menu, set your bags down in the Loft, and the front desk chef will have the order waiting in a grab-and-go pack. Items are prepped as the kitchen closes, so they’re fresh. Select from panini, sandwiches, a hot plate, maybe a fish dish.” This aggressive service relies on a finisher from RATIONAL Cooking Systems. “It’s a neat machine. Program it with a USB card with menus and temperature things should cook at, put the plate in, and it’s finished.”

The lobby also features a trendy boutique with NYLO’s clothing line, CDs of undiscovered bands, local artwork, and designer sundries. “We don’t want to compromise the brand with the same three columns of Snickers bars just because it’s easy. We’re choosing items to fit the design element of the boutique and hotel.” So trail mix replaces candy bars, chips are baked, and everything has a sassy twist.

STAYBRIDGE SUITES
Target Customer: Upscale extended stay for the bigger-fish business traveler.

Lobby Concept: BridgeMart lobby convenience store across from the front desk pulls out all the merchandising stops.

The Lowdown: BridgeMart is a lobby convenience store with easy access from the front desk and lobby through a Dutch door. There’s a pad and pencil for guests to place an order; they can pay on the spot or charge it to their bill. With in-suite kitchens, it’s a handy amenity, with shelf items as well as refrigerator and freezer choices.

Staybridge has three vendors (fridge, freezer, and shelf) for online order and delivery to the property. “We say, ‘this ingredient, this price range,’ but don’t specify brand, and the store sets the price,” says Robert Radomski, VP of brand management for InterContinental Hotels Group’s Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. "We revamped a couple of years ago and added more meal-type items, frozen food items, frozen pizzas, refrigerated burritos, along with individually packaged cookies and chips, trail mix, nuts, high-protein/ low-carb items, soups and pastas, pasta sauces, and meal-in-a-box items. People really do move toward the health items: Lean Cuisine meals, Healthy Choice entrées, and energy bars go well. Fresh fruit, yogurt, string cheese all sell. If they have already adapted to it from the local supermarket, it transfers well.”

The art and science of merchandising pays off for Staybridge Suites. “It has definitely increased sales, especially the way shelf items are laid out.” Peg hooks between refrigerator and freezer encourage guests to grab a snack while grabbing a drink. “And we’ve gone to larger sizes. We do the 21-ounce bottles of soda, the can of Pringles, a $3.49 larger package of trail mix to replace the smaller $0.99 snack. The guest takes it back to the room and has more than one serving. It’s having less individual serving sizes and more profit.”

CANDLEWOOD SUITES
Target Customer: A little younger, a little better off, guys (80 percent) at this mid-scale extended stay don’t want to pay for more staff and services. “They’re not above opening a can of soup and eating it in the room.”

Lobby Concept: Candlewood Cupboard, stocked with convenience foods for heating up in the suite. And it’s all on the honor system.

The Lowdown: “With small staffing, we don’t have people to look over every amenity,” says Radomski. “Like at home, guests are trusted.” That’s the foundation of the Candlewood Cupboard. It’s a break-even/small-profit model designed as a popular amenity for the business traveler settling in for a 12-night average stay.

The cupboard is 12 to 15 feet in length along a wall in a combined laundry and workout facility. Like its Staybridge cousin, it includes freezer, refrigerator, and shelf items. Guests find convenience foods, canned food, pastas, sauces, soups, and sundries. Item prices are rounded for easy adding. “Fill out a slip, drop it in a box, and it gets added to the folio.

“Comments are that there’s too much on the snack food side. They want to see more healthy items and meals. We’re identifying more options: croissant sandwiches, pot pies, and microwave pizzas. We have soups, but we’re looking at just-add-meat box meals.”

Candlewood is working on a relationship with a membership warehouse company where items will be stocked and staff can quickly shop and stock. They are also looking at a modular shelving unit, modeled after the success of the Staybridge model. “We learned a lot from BridgeMart. The company we worked with was very familiar with C-store design and concept: pairing items, charging more for larger quantities—it’s good for both sides. Chips and drinks. Milk and cookies. Previously we didn’t have milk, but when serving cookies, you can sell milk and keep the customer happy at the same time.”

John Paul Boukis is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.