Getting F&B right can be difficult, there’s no question about that. And while some treat it as simply an add-on, in luxury and branded residences, it is an integral part of the experience and can serve as a critical cornerstone of the guest and resident experience.
Not just about buzz
While the playbook for many in the luxury space leans heavily on destination dining complete with Michelin star celebrity chefs and big-name partnerships designed to create buzz, a focus on daily relevance is also important. So says Camilo Lopez, CEO of Black Salmon and the developer behind HQ Residences Miami.
“We’re about five minutes away from around six Michelin star restaurants. We don’t need another one and people who live there won’t take advantage of that everyday. It’s about solving on a daily basis the breakfast, lunch and dinner needs of the unit owners.”
He adds: “You need to understand the neighbourhood and build an F&B concept that’s sustainable in your building but at the same time complements what’s happening in the neighbourhood. The most important thing is how you can complement the concepts that you're bringing into the product with the people who want to live there in a way that creates daily value for them.”
At HQ, that translates into a curated mix: a high-quality neighbourhood coffee shop and a casual, health-led dining concept, both open to the public and both deeply embedded in local demand.
That hyperlocal thinking is the new global standard, with developers and operators now paying close attention to hyper-local context-driven programming with the aim of catering to the needs of both residents and visitors.
Hannah Davies, senior director, brand – food & drink development at Hilton echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of context, data and customization.
“In most respects, we're thinking about what is going on in terms of the context in the market. What is the guest looking for? We’re thinking really carefully in detail about those day part transitions. We start with a very deep process of data analysis and also those more emotional questions.”
That means understanding not just who the customer is but how they move through a space across the day - from morning coffee to late-night drinks - and designing F&B around that rhythm. By designing F&B spaces that align with the local culture and demand, developers can ensure their offerings stay relevant and sustainable.
From day 1
Despite the growing sophistication in relation to F&B, planning and timing is where many fall foul as they treat F&B as a final layer, something to plug in once the project is already designed.
Chris Miller, founder & CEO of White Rabbit Projects, a hospitality incubator that helps hospitality concepts to scale explains: “Where many go wrong is for example, first getting an F&B consultant who produces beautiful plans as soon as the work starts, a high-end chef who’s there primarily to further their own brand, or they get a franchising and the franchisee only really cares about getting a percentage of turnover. Ultimately, restaurant operators need to be brought in at an early stage to be a big part of creating what goes into that building, rather than trying to shoehorn them in last minute.”
By partnering with experienced F&B operators from the outset, stakeholders can ensure every part of the project is aligned. When this part of the process is treated as an afterthought, there’s often a disconnect between the design of the space and the functionality required by the operators, leading to operational inefficiencies and missed opportunities for both the developers and the guests.
Balancing experience with economics
Of course, designing the perfect concept is only half the challenge. The other half is making it work financially. And this is where many complexities lay when figuring out the reality of F&B, particularly in luxury. Costs are rising. Margins can be thin. But these challenges aren’t insurmountable. The secret lies in striking the right balance between cost-effective operations and the high-end guest experience.
This is where alignment with experienced partners is crucial, Lopez says. The alignment spans everything: concept, location, target customer, pricing strategy, operational model, long-term commercial expectations. The right partners can help developers make smart, data-driven decisions about menu design, pricing strategy and operational efficiency without compromising the quality of the experience. When this is done effectively, F&B becomes a profit-generating engine rather than an expensive amenity.
“If you don't have alignment from day one with your partners about the vision, it's a no go. You have to understand from day 1 who your clientele is and exactly how you want to serve them. Get partners who are extremely knowledgeable about your niche,” Lopez stresses.
As luxury and branded residences continue to evolve, new partnership models are emerging with some of the most innovative ideas coming from flexible models.
Davies points to increasingly creative partnership structures including off-site production models that reduce operational burden while maintaining quality. She notes that that some of their most successful projects have involved external partnerships where the hotel benefited from the expertise of renowned chefs or local operators without the need for an on-site kitchen.
She explains: “Everything's made for us but not on site so we're not crossing operations. We’re getting the impact without the operation.”
Reiterating Millers point, Davies adds: “With partnerships, the most successful ones that I have seen in action are the ones that extremely carefully planned in the contracting stage, particularly with contracting hotel services such as breakfast. Be extremely clear on commercials, because that is where a year in disappointments will start to erode that trust. And once the trust is gone, it's very hard to build back again.”
At its core, the evolution of F&B in luxury hospitality and branded residential much bigger than food and is really about creating real, sustainable value in a world where experience is no longer optional. For residents, it’s about convenience and community and for guests, it’s about differentiation.
Lopez sums it up perfectly. “It’s about really figuring out not just what your building wants but what the community wants … and offering something truly differentiated.”