Restaurants and rooms

Dishoom’s foray into overnight accommodation with Permit Room Lodgings (Notting Hill, London) isn’t the first time we’ve seen popular F&B brands step into the lodging space – BrewDog’s craft beer hotels being a notable example. It’s a gentle entry for Dishoom; Permit Room Lodgings offers two en-suite bedrooms, and is only available for a minimum two-night stay with seven nights maximum. It does however show that strong F&B brands with loyal, even cult-like followings serve as a viable springboard for diversifying into accommodation.  

This model, again, isn’t entirely all new – The PIG has been a pioneer of the restaurant-with-rooms concept, and KSL’s majority stake in the brand is a case in point to its long lasting appeal. The introduction of Greene King’s Everly Hotel Collection and the wider boom in pubs with rooms also reflects a similar dynamic. The addition of overnight rooms above dining floors helps to bring the guest journey full circle, allowing brands to squeeze more revenue from customers through deeper engagement and immersion. It also highlights the untapped real estate potential of optimising the square-footage of buildings. 

There is increased appetite from brands outside the industry moving into hotels and the wider travel market. Fashion brand Zara has recently launched a delivery-to-hotel and destination exploration feature in its app, for instance. The F&B and retail sectors have been hard hit with rising operational costs and changing consumer behaviours – the diversification into hospitality and hotels offers a way to capture more stable revenue streams while deepening loyalty. The ability to own where a guest eats, sleeps, and how they explore, creates new tangible opportunities for brands to grow and underscores how hospitality and travel is becoming a new frontier for brand extension. 

Editorial commentary first published on Boutique Hotel News.