Dive Brief:
- Hotel restaurant dining by travelers is up 13% year over year, as food and beverage plays a bigger role in how travelers plan where to go and where to stay, according to a new survey from OpenTable.
- For travelers planning a trip this summer, 60% said they have booked a hotel specifically because of its restaurant, per the survey. Another 61% of survey respondents said they have previously selected a destination because of its food or restaurant scene.
- Restaurants are no longer “just an itinerary line item, they’re the anchor,” Matt Davis, head of North America hotels at OpenTable, said in a statement. As traveler behavior shifts around hotel food and beverage offerings, several trends highlighted in the OpenTable survey present significant opportunities for hotels.
Dive Insight:
Younger travelers, in particular, are planning their dining experiences before they arrive at their hotel or destination, the survey found. Some 88% of Gen Z travelers said they plan restaurant reservations ahead of their trip, with 46% thinking about reservations at the same time as booking their hotel.
Solo dining at hotel restaurants and bars is also on the upswing, with OpenTable data showing that parties of one by travelers are up 30% year over year. Meanwhile, 71% of survey respondents said they would consider dining solo at a hotel restaurant or bar in the future.
Hotel restaurants are also becoming a popular choice among locals, with 92% of respondents saying they have dined at a hotel restaurant when they were not staying at the hotel, according to the survey. Across all consumers, hotel restaurant dining is up 7% year over year, the survey detailed. This shifting behavior comes as consumers increasingly crave unique, immersive experiences.
“A great hotel restaurant immerses guests in the local culture, telling the story of a destination through its seasons, local ingredients and customs. Guests want to truly experience a city or a place through their stay,” said Kyle Connaughton, chef and owner of 3-Michelin-star restaurant SingleThread Restaurant & Inn in Healdsburg, California, which OpenTable named among the top 100 hotel restaurants in America in 2026.
Dozens more luxury concepts were featured on the list, published earlier this week, including across The Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Waldorf Astoria hotel brands. Wolf by Vanderpump at the newly opened Caesars Republic Lake Tahoe made the list, as did Auberge Resorts’ White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, Maine.
For luxury and lifestyle hotels to be profitable in this day and age, it’s vital for them to have quality restaurants and bars that deliver a great experience, Leanne Harwood, senior vice president and managing director of luxury, lifestyle and managed hotels at IHG Hotels & Resorts, said during a session at this year’s NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum.
Earlier this week, JD Power reported that hotel guest satisfaction was up across all segments, driven in part by higher-quality food and beverage offerings.
