Every time you walk through the room, your heart sinks a little; the place looks dreadful. Colour has all but drained from the walls and the 1970s have been on the phone; they want their furniture back.
Let’s face it – your hotel restaurant is tired. It needs a proper refresh. And not just a lick of paint, either – the entire layout, ambiance and flow for staff needs to be re-thought from the ground up.
<groan>
Before burying your head in the sand and pretending the problem doesn’t exist, we’d like to help you with some brilliant tips on renovating tired hotel restaurants. It needn’t be the tiresome, frustrating job you assume; with just a bit of proactive effort on your part, you can come up with a new design that will wow diners and have more covers than ever passing through your doors each day.
Without further ado, here’s how to renovate your restaurant and finally get rid of those god-awful chairs.
1. Talk to staff
Before picking colours or deciding on a new room layout, speak to the people who matter the most – your staff. They’re the ones who have to navigate the current restaurant setup and they’ll almost definitely jump at the chance to explain how it could be improved.
Tell them to start with a blank canvas. What would they do? Where should the tables be placed? What colour scheme would work? What about the lighting? They’ll offer priceless input.
2. Talk to customers
Ok, so your customers are just as important to you as the staff, but that’s why you should involve them in the renovation, too.
Draw a deep breath, and ask for honest feedback when diners have finished their meal. Tell them you’ll be renovating (it’ll help spread word) and say you’d love to know what they’d like to see improved. Some of the answers you receive might be rather hard to bear, but just like the feedback offered by staff, they’ll be absolutely priceless.
3. Outline a budget
The worst thing you can do with a restaurant renovation is neglect the importance of a budget. Without one, costs will quickly spiral out of control.
Calculate the maximum you can spend and work backwards from there. Give yourself headroom for the unexpected costs that will inevitably arrive during the renovation.
4. Be ultra-careful with dates
Depending on the scale of the renovation, you’ll have to shut up shop while it’s being undertaken. It’s therefore vital that you take as small a hit as possible during that time.
Assess your diary and, based on past experience, schedule the renovation during what has traditionally been a quiet period for the restaurant. Doing so will minimise the impact on revenue and ensure you don’t miss out on opportunities to maximise covers during busy times.
5. Watch those bookings…
Now you’ve got a convenient date sorted, ensure that everyone within the business knows when it is and remind them all not taking bookings for that period. If anyone does, you’ll have some rather awkward conversations ahead with diners who think they’ve secured a table.
6. Tell the world!
Once the restaurant has been renovated, you’ll certainly feel better about your business, but you’re not doing it for just yourself; a restaurant renovation represents an awesome marketing opportunity.
So, tell the world what you’ve done. Take loads of photos of the finished room and share them on social media. Shout loud and proud about your sparkling new restaurant and create a buzz around your shiny new home.
That’s it!
Not quite as daunting as you thought, is it?
The tips in this post will help you build a modern, attractive hotel restaurant that maximises space and delights both diners and staff.
Have fun renovating!
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