Michelin Guide Feature: Hotels Up Their Game In Food And Beverage Offerings
Title: MICHELIN Guide Digital (Sep 2, 2019)
About: An industry trend report on how dining establishments in hotels in Singapore are upgrading their menus and interiors to stand out from the tight competition in the hospitality sector.
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Hotel restaurants used to be prosaic but dependable options for dining out. Well, not anymore. A growing number of hotels in Singapore are stirring up excitement with their in-house restaurants and bars by partnering celebrity chefs, having extensive revamps of their interiors, introducing well-thought-out food concepts and organising marquee dining events. Over the past year, there has been a flurry of developments in the dining sphere in the hotel industry. The most noteworthy development comes from Raffles Hotel Singapore, which reopened last month after an extensive two-year restoration process. Out of the 10 F&B establishments by the 132-year-old heritage hotel, four of them are new-to-market. Of these four, three of the restaurants are set up in partnership with prolific chefs. They include BBR By Alain Ducasse, a Mediterranean tapas concept by the eponymous French chef. Ducasse runs two three-MICHELIN-starred restaurants: Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in Paris and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London. BBR By Alain Ducasse is slated to open on 13 September.
More hotels are realising that luxurious interiors, plush furnishings and amenities do not cut it for increasingly discerning guests. With growing appetites, hotels are seeing the potential and value of positioning themselves as dining destinations for both in-house and walk-in guests. Hotels say that raising the bar in their F&B offerings allows them to stand out in Singapore’s competitive hospitality industry. This competition is buoyed by a robust growth in tourist arrivals. Last year, 18.5 million people visited Singapore, which marks a 6.2% year-on-year increase, according to figures by CBRE Research. The slew of hotel openings this year hasn’t tapered off too. Newcomers to the hotel industry this year include Six Senses Maxwell, The Outpost Hotel, The Barracks Hotel and Village Hotel Sentosa — the latter three are run by Far East Hospitality Group.
