{"id":29387,"date":"2023-06-19T15:35:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T15:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/?p=29387"},"modified":"2023-06-20T15:39:49","modified_gmt":"2023-06-20T15:39:49","slug":"hotel-business-keeping-it-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/?p=29387","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Business: Keeping it local"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With the popularity of TV shows that explore the culinary traditions of cities across the globe on The Food Network, The Cooking Channel, PBS and other outlets, travelers have expanded their palates and are often on the hunt for authentic food experiences when they are on the road. Essentially, guests want to eat like a local.<\/p>\n

A great way to do that is to have the locals eating at your F&B locations, and hotels are stepping up their food and beverage game to keep the locals and guests coming back for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to compete not against other hotel restaurants; we want to compete against other top restaurants in the city,\u201d said John Wise, VP, food and beverage, Marcus Hotels & Resorts. \u201cIf the locals are coming to your restaurants and your bars, then you know that you\u2019re doing your job, and it\u2019s a high-quality thing, not just for out-of-town guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wise said that having the locals dine at a hotel restaurant is a benchmark that you are doing things right\u2014and can provide a source of information for potential hotel guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are traveling to Milwaukee for example, you might ask local friends where you should stay,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ll say \u2018Go to The Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, it\u2019s our favorite place. We have brunch there. We have dinner there.\u2019 The locals are recommending that to their friends and their relatives. Then, you have business that is bringing in people from out of town. They are also promoting places that succeed well with locals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Being a go-to place makes the hotel and it\u2019s F&B outlet part of the community. \u201cThe locals have their events here,\u201d he said. \u201cThey celebrate here. They might gather in a bar or have dinner before they go to a concert or sporting event. We are definitely part of the community, and locals play a big part.\u201d<\/p>\n

When guests and locals come to hotels operated by Marcus Hotels & Resorts across the country, they can get authentic local dishes with authentic local ingredients. Referring to the Miller Time Pub at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, Wise said the bar & grill had the best cheese curds he had ever had in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you want top Midwestern Beef, you go to the Milwaukee ChopHouse [also at the Hilton]or Mason Street Grill at The Pfister,\u201d said Wise. \u201cThe chef at Mason Street is working with top cheesemakers, and not just for cheese curds, but really high-level cheeses that are available.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not just local food that guests are looking for. \u201cLet\u2019s say you\u2019re a \u2018coffee head\u2019 and you try all the local coffee shops in your hometown,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you come to another city, aren\u2019t you going to want to check out the coffee culture in that city?\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to seeking out coffee spots, travelers are often looking for local craft beers. \u201cPeople are all into the local breweries and the local beers,\u201d said Wise. \u201cThey don\u2019t want to drink the same beer they can get at home. They want to taste the new beer that\u2019s in this market they\u2019re coming to for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wise said that because the company manages hotels across the U.S., it allows each one to do their own thing when it comes to selecting their F&B offerings. \u201cThere are different local traditions,\u201d he said. \u201cWe give them a fair amount of latitude to embrace what it is. Most of them were born and raised in those towns, and they are very proud of the F&B culture that they have and want to show it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guests are better educated about culinary than they have ever been, whether that is watching travel shows or doing their own research before their trips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s now been decades of Food Network on TV,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s a little foodie. Everybody\u2019s taking selfies of what they eat. We want to have those beautiful dishes that they can take pictures of and post on their Instagram and Facebook pages.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the popularity of TV shows that explore the culinary traditions of cities across the globe on The Food Network, The Cooking Channel, PBS and other outlets, travelers have expanded their palates and are often on the hunt for authentic food experiences when they are on the road. Essentially, guests want to eat like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-coverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.marcushotels.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}