Construction Slowdown: What a Shrinking Hotel Pipeline Means for Restaurants
TL;DR: Fewer hotels being built = fewer brand-new restaurant spaces opening = fewer new catering/room-service partnerships to chase. Translation: the opportunity isn’t in chasing “new” – it’s in owning the hotels already here.
Why This Matters
Hotels aren’t just about travelers – they create predictable food-and-beverage demand: Corporate travelers w/ expense accounts, group bookings & events, catering & room-service partnerships, staff meals and tourist spillover to nearby restaurants. When hotel development slows down, all that demand doesn’t disappear – it just concentrates into existing hotel properties.
Good news for scrappy operators: You don’t need to chase shiny, new developments – you can focus on relationships with current GMs, concierges, and sales teams. If you’re asking “focus on what now?” – then we’re about to show you how to start.
How to Win More Hotel Business Right Now
1. Build Relationships With Existing Hotel Staff
This is a hand-to-hand outreach play.
Your Target:
- General Managers
- Concierge teams
- Sales + group booking managers
- Corporate travel coordinators (big one)
- Event directors
Script to walk in with:
“Hey there – we know guests ask where to eat. We’re right down the street, we move fast, and we’ll take great care of your travelers.
Can I leave you some menu cards + a concierge free-meal voucher so you can taste for yourself?”
Hotels recommend restaurants they trust and know personally.
2. Create a Hotel-Specific Package
Make it easy for them to say yes. You want to offer both the staff and the hotel guests focused menus and generous offers to create loyalty and trust.
A concierge menu is a condensed, hotel-facing version of your menu designed to help hotel staff confidently recommend items. A Corporate Traveler menu is a curated menu designed specifically for business travelers who typically expense their meals to their company. Unlike your regular menu or even the concierge menu, this menu focuses on items that balance quality, efficiency, and moderate pricing – so it feels premium without looking extravagant or overly cheap. Yes, it’s an extra menu, but it’s a strategic tool that targets a lucrative, repeatable segment you want to win over. It shows corporate travelers you get their needs and are ready to serve them efficiently.
Things to offer:
- Concierge menu (QR code, priority seating)
- Hotel guest discount code
- Late-night delivery flyer for staff/guests
- Corporate traveler “expense account special” menu
- Hotel staff meal pricing
If you have brunch? Offer a “hotel guest mimosa add-on.”
If you stay open late? Advertise “late-night room-service partner.”
3. Partner With Hotel Sales Teams
Hotels need solutions for meetings, retreats, group travel. Reaching out to them directly either in person or via email (or linkedin) to let them know you’re not just selling food – you’re becoming part of their event solutions. This builds steady, predictable business and often leads to repeat contracts.
Offer things like:
- Boxed corporate lunches
- Welcome cocktail kits
- VIP guest dinners
- Group prix-fixe menus
- Catering for lobby events & mixers
Sales managers love plug-and-play packages.
4. Incentivize Referrals
Hotels can’t take “kickbacks” outright – but you can invite concierge team members to a complimentary meal or tasting event at your restaurant. This is not a freebie for random guests, but a deliberate relationship-building gesture. It shows appreciation and helps concierges become familiar with your food, service, and atmosphere. The more confident and happy they are, the more likely they are to recommend your restaurant enthusiastically to guests.
Things to Offer:
- Concierge loyalty meals
- Staff appreciation catering
- Invite concierges to secret-menu tastings
If they feel like VIPs, they’ll send VIPs your way.
5. DM Travelers Before They Arrive
Okay hear us out… this is a weird one for us. We found this idea on sproutsocial and traced it back to an article from Revfine.com. As far as effort vs efficacy – it’s a hard nut to crack. Basically it means researching who’s tagging their hotel and your city as a destination and you sliding into those DMs like a true creep. It could completely turn off one person and land you a lifelong customer in the next.
There are ways to pay for and automate this on the Meta Platform and using SproutSocials “listening” feature. We’ve tried versions of both to mixed success. Here’s how the plan breaks down:
Find guests via:
- Hotel Instagram tags
- Travel hashtags (#visitingPDX, #AustinEats, #NYCHotels, #DenverTravel)
- LinkedIn corporate travel posts
- Convention hashtags
Simple DM format:
“Visiting [city]? We’re 5 minutes from your hotel – locals love us.
Want me to reserve you a table and send a few house picks?”
One thing to remember is with a marketing budget on Meta, you could simply bid on these hashtags and show ads en masse to those that use these tags. So if time is a greater factor than a few hundred dollars a month: I’d suggest a campaign with a daily budget first.
(let us know if you’d like us to cover creating marketing campaigns like this: email social@poachedjobs.com)
Tools & Scripts
Materials to Bring to Hotels
- A 1-Page menu sheet – to make ordering easy
- QR menu card – slip this into the lobby/business center
- Concierge tasting invite – earn their trust
- Staff meal offer – get them hooked
- Business cards – for the white-glove treatment
Email/DM Template for Hotel Sales Teams
Subject: Food partner for business travelers?
Hi [Name],
We’re a local restaurant right near [Hotel]. We already serve many travelers and corporate guests, and we’d love to support your team.
We can offer:
- Priority seating for your guests
- Corporate group menus
- Boxed lunches & welcome kits
- Staff appreciation discounts
Would you be open to a quick 10-minute intro call or tasting?
Warmly,
[Name]
[Cell]
Action Plan for This Week
Because I love them, I have to make one for you:
- Mon – Make a list of 10 nearby hotels
- Tue – Walk in + introduce yourself to 5
- Wed – Print concierge cards + QR menus
- Thu – DM 10 travelers/event attendees
- Fri – Deliver staff meal sampler to 1 hotel
If you do even some of these tactics right you’ll be able to measure success by tracking concierge referrals, weekly corporate orders and group bookings. One intro to a hotel GM can be worth 30-200 covers per month! Good luck!