Hotel Restaurant Design Guide

Hotel Restaurant Design – Creating an Environment that Entices Guests to Dine

In towns and cities across the world, there are literally thousands upon thousands of dining options – each one serving up its own dishes and each one competing to win the attentions of scores of holidaymakers.

However, in a laid-back and relaxed mood, people also enjoy convenience – often they don’t want to stray too far away from their hotel facilities. The idea of being a short lift ride away from fine dining in fantastic surroundings is one that appeals to many tourists.

This presents a great opportunity for hotels that already have restaurants or the space to accommodate dining facilities. But it’s not enough to simply just have a restaurant – people need to be provided with a reason to visit or book a reservation.

The combination of a delicious menu and an eye-catching design are likely to make that choice considerably easier, however.

With restaurant design, there are a couple key elements that can contribute towards a memorable experience.

Much like a hotel, its restaurant needs to have a clear identity. Implementing this isn’t always easy, though.

If the hotel has a strong theme you may wish to continue it into the restaurant – to maintain coordination. Alternatively, you may want to veer off in a completely different direction, choosing to create a decor that doesn’t bear any relation to the interior of your hotel (for example, if it reflects the culture of its featured menu).

There’s nothing wrong with this, and when done well it can work very effectively.

But it’s something you need to experiment and put great consideration into during the planning process. Having two strong themes or concepts within such close proximity can be quite overpowering – resulting in neither really having the maximum desired effect.

Colours and lighting also contribute towards the ambiance. Calmer, relaxed restaurant decors rely on lighter shades of blue, white or mint greens complemented by subtler lighting. For a grander and more dramatic environment, its design could incorporate burgundies, oranges and feature lighting.

Space planning is also vital – both in terms of dining comfort for guests, and logistical practicality for hotel restaurant staff.

The last thing you want on a busy night’s service is staff tip-toeing their way round tables or guests becoming impatient as they wait for the nearby foot traffic to pass – especially on an intimate dinner date. In the ideal restaurant environment there should be between 60 and 90cm of space between each table.

One of the ways to deal with this problem is to create a number of smaller dining areas or use any alcoves to develop a more intimate setting.

A similarly well thought out level of planning should be taken with the kitchen too – staff need to be have easy access to everything they need at the most hectic of times. If the kitchen staff can’t operate effectively in their workspace, it has a knock-on effect, noticeably impacting the whole evening’s service.

It’s essentially all about striking a balance – between creating a space that doesn’t feel entirely disassociated from your hotel but has its own strong identity; leaving a diners with the best impression – the kind that will have them returning throughout their stay; and, finally, making it practical for those responsible for serving up that memorable dining experience.

Now Read – A Client’s Guide to a Successful Hotel Refurbishment.