Oh, those lonely afternoons, the unloved hours after lunch when so many hotels are deserted. If only happy hour started sooner...at maybe two ‘o clock?

So two it is, declared Allan Hant, director of operations for the 217-room Hotel Phillips in Kansas City.

“The longest and best happy hour in town is the goal,” Hant says. So from 2 to 7 p.m., the hotel runs Escape, a promotion with a tapas-focused, small plate menu and drink specials at 12 Baltimore, the hotel’s three-meal, fullservice restaurant. Hant started the program last November to increase foot traffic during slow afternoons, and the “tapas and ‘tinis” are priced to impress and wake up a sleepy lobby with happy noshers.

“A couple of wine bars in town have tapas, but I wanted to focus on spectacular visual presentation,” Hant explains. “The small plate gives you eye appeal. It’s a little different for Kansas City.”

Executive Chef Jason Bowers delivers a variety of showy miniatures. Guests can sample the black pepper-seared tuna with crostini and pickled ginger for just $4. Cheeses change weekly on the domestic and imported cheese plates ($6 and $8).

“Wasabi tempura shrimp is very popular,” Hant says. “It is served in batter over potato straws with wasabi cream dipping sauce.” Another top seller is the fried oyster tapas, which is two Blue Point oysters in ponzu dressing, served with preserved cucumbers and a brioche crisp. “We strive for a variety of textures,” Hant adds.

Though price is a factor, Hant says, “it’s more about the elegance and style of the smaller portion.” But with price points from $3 to $10, value cannot be overlooked. The best values are arguably at the bar, where imported beer bottles sell for $4 and domestics for $3; spirits are $4, including brands such as Bacardi and Johnny Walker.

A deep-discount wine promotion offers half off any bottle on 12 Baltimore’s list priced at $90 or more. Thanks to deft training, the discount works for sales and extends more value to the guest. “We train the team to be knowledgeable about the wines on the list. We’ll cover three to five bottles per training session,” Hant says. “Now, instead of a customer having a $40 to $60 bottle, we can suggest a more expensive bottle at the same price. If they want a white, a $56 Alsace from France on the list is now $27. It becomes very comparable to the pricing of a regular house bottle.”

The program is aimed at local professionals, and it is a clear success in terms of generating activity. “Especially from 2 to 5 p.m., no one was here,” Hant explains. “It took a little time to get started, but it really caught on. When we first started, there were just a few people, but they’d come back and bring a friend. We have a group that started with four, and they now come with 22 people. And they are here two to three times a week.

“Today, they’re looking for added value. Competition is fierce. They are looking for the right quality of food and quantity of beverage at the right price point. We’re much discounted, so revenue is not what it was, but it’s about the business, not the revenue number. It creates a buzz. We started with zero to four people per afternoon and grew it to as many as 70 now. Our average is around 28 to 34 covers, mostly from 2 to 5 p.m. It’s quality product with added value that is making this successful.”

Hant sees Escape as a robust part of the property’s overall marketing. For example, for the local rollout of The Phantom of the Opera, the hotel hosted an “Escape to the Phantom” evening. And the hotel is utilizing the Escape menu in banquet menus across the property.

But is it a hard-times strategy ready to shift back when the winds change? “No, it’s here to stay,” Hant says, explaining that Escape draws more than nearby professionals, making it an integral cog in the hotel machine. “We’ve tied it in closely within the hotel. We do internal advertising. Check-in is at 3 p.m., so it’s mentioned when guests are first arriving. We market in-room through televisions and collateral. Later, the guests come down to unwind, relax, and escape. We absolutely see in-house capture.”

John Paul Boukis helped develop the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s publishing division and is a founding editor of HOTEL F&B. He is based in Tampa.