July 22, 2025 • 36 mins
Death to the Beige Lobby Bar
Most hotel F&B programs feel like an afterthought—bland menus, zero community connection, and a dining room that might as well be in any city, anywhere. Kenneth Scharlatt is on a mission to change that.
In this episode, Kenneth shares how Savage Orchid Hospitality is helping independent hotels treat food and beverage like a cultural engine—not just a box to check. From frictionless payments to hyperlocal partnerships, this is a masterclass in turning underutilized spaces into high-revenue guest magnets.
We dig into:
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Why breakfast is still broken in most hotels
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How to drive revenue without killing your labor budget
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What F&B operators can learn from DJs and speakeasies
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A 4-tier beverage program that sells more by telling better stories
If you’re in the business of building memorable guest experiences—or ready to stop letting your restaurant be the worst part of your hotel—this one’s for you.
Connect with Kenneth Scharlatt
Email: kenneth.c.scharlatt@gmail.com
Website: https://www.savageorchid.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennethscharlatt/
Connect with Simon
Email: simon@culinarymechanic.com
Book a Call: https://calendly.com/culinarymechanic/discovery
Website: https://www.culinarymechanic.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You're listening toHeritage Radio Network.
I.
From kitchen chaos to well-oiled machines.
Get ready for newfangledtechnology and old school Know-how
(00:21):
stories and a good bit of fun.
I'm Simon, and this iscalled Area Mechanic.
Simon (00:31):
Joining me today is Kenneth Charlotte of Savage Orchid Hospitality.
Kenneth, welcome to the show, man.
Kenneth (00:37):
Thank you, chef.
I appreciate you having me all.
Simon (00:40):
Absolutely.
Uh, I'm excited to talk to you.
I think you and I met inVegas this year, and, um.
I just realized that we definitelyhave some things in common.
We both are pretty passionate aboutthe hospitality industry, and I
thought that, uh, we could havea fun little conversation here.
So
Kenneth (00:56):
I've been looking forward to, uh, having this chat
with you for, for a hot minute.
So I'm looking, I'm excited.
Nice.
Simon (01:02):
I appreciate that.
Um, all right.
It's going air mechanic.
So we say, step on the gas and go,how'd you get into this industry?
Kenneth (01:10):
You know, it's, I don't have the typical answer to that.
You know, everybody either startsin the dish pit or, you know,
works their way up from there.
Um, I actually really wasbrought in by a fr a friend that
was opening up a restaurant.
Um, I didn't have any restaurantexperience or anything like that, uh,
but I had customer service background,so he came to me and said, Hey,
(01:33):
I'm opening up a spot, uh, I want.
I, I want it to be a reallyguest focused experience.
Um, and we need to make sure thatour team is, is trained up on that.
So he brought me in essentially as aguest experience manager, uh, to help
train the team up and make sure thatwe were providing a, uh, a really
solid, you know, enjoyable experiencewhere it wasn't just transactional,
(01:57):
it was more let's give 'em a vibe.
Let's give 'em that, somethingthat they want to come back
for, uh, on top of the food.
Of course.
So, uh, yeah, so I didthat for a few years.
Uh, also ran and booked all oftheir entertainment and, you know,
did all the, the side work and allthat other type of stuff for that.
And then, yeah, just kind of havebeen drawn to the industry since,
(02:21):
um, it's, it's been, you know, youtalk to people and they say that.
They got into it and thenthey just can't get out of it.
They got sucked into this blackhole or, you know, whatever it is.
And I just don't feel that way.
Um, I feel like I found apassion and I found a calling.
I'm hungry about what I doand, uh, I really like sharing
(02:43):
that, that information on.
So,
Simon (02:45):
hey, that's a good black hole to be in, man.
You
Kenneth (02:49):
know what, if every block hole was like that, sign me up.
Simon (02:52):
Yep.
I, I totally agree.
I, I think that, you know, for me,I started off as a kid, you know?
Yeah.
I was probably 16 years old and,uh, by the time I was 19, I, there
was nothing I wanted more in theworld than to be in the kitchen.
You know, and so I, I totally get it.
Like it's, it, there's a,there's a passion to it.
(03:12):
There's some fun, there's, there's,I find there's a lot of curiosity and
intrigue if you're doing it well, right?
Like there's just stuff to learn,there's things to check out.
Um, nowadays, I think there's so manyaspects and facets of hospitality.
All right?
Oh yeah.
So you get in, you're customer, thecustomer experience manager, you are.
(03:33):
Clearly in love with what you're doing.
That's amazing.
How do we get from that guy to, how dowe get to, to like what you're doing
now with Savage, Savage or hospitality,and tell us a little bit about like
what that work is looking like.
Kenneth (03:50):
Yeah, so, uh.
My career is kind of two parts.
So everything pre COVID was moreon the independent restaurant,
nightlife and bar scene post COVID.
I've been in, uh, focusing strictly on, onthe hotel, food and beverage experience.
So pre COVID, I helped my friend openup that restaurant that, uh, that I
(04:12):
just mentioned, had somebody reachout to me, um, that was looking for,
actually, I also did some DJ work.
So I was, uh, a big DJ up in, in, uh,Northeastern Pennsylvania and in our off
season, uh, somebody that was runninga bar and nightlife en environment
called me up and said, Hey, we havesome, uh, you know, spots to fill,
(04:35):
you know, some fill work that we need,a DJ and an MC for, uh, sure I'll go
in in an off season and help him out.
So that progressed and got me tothe point where he reached out to me
while I was there one night and said.
Well, we're opening up a, uh, a day shiftand, uh, need somebody to come in and help
kind of transform that and take that over.
(04:57):
I said, okay.
So I went in and I helped'em out there and then about
not even two months later, I took overall of their direct, I took over as
their director of Food and Beverage, uh,took over all their marketing aspects as
well and was tasked with opening up a.
(05:17):
Members only speak easy stylerestaurant in the adjacent building.
That was part of our lease thatwas just not being utilized.
Uh, so we kinda, we kind of did a, afull, uh, culinary and restaurant and
bar and nightlife kind of experience.
(05:37):
And I was there for several yearsuntil the pandemic shut us down.
And, uh.
That was, like I said, up inNowheresville, Pennsylvania and knew if
I wanted to do anything on top of that,you know, which was a great experience
that I moved down to Tennessee, toNashville, and that's a foodie city.
Uh, a hugely growing,rapidly growing city.
(06:00):
And that's when I startedgetting into hotels.
And, uh, from there, hotelshave been my passion ever since.
I, I love the independent restaurant side.
Um.
I love the, you know, the nightlife scene.
I'm getting a little bit older now, somaybe not so much nightlife anymore.
Uh, but, uh, yeah, it's just, I, I've beenin hotels ever since and I, I know for
(06:26):
a fact that hotels I have found my call.
Nice.
So yeah.
So now we're with Savage Orchid.
We're a full service consultancy.
Uh, we focus on food andbeverage within the hotel space.
And from there we are tryingto really change the mindset
of hotel, food and beverage.
Um, a lot of our work is.
(06:47):
Primarily with the independentand boutique hotels.
So, you know, properties thatreally aren't afraid of going out
on the limb, um, but they just maynot have the execution or may not
have the, the know-how to do it.
Uh, so that's really where we come in and.
Basically help them build out their brandfor their restaurant and you know, do some
market research and see what's gonna work.
(07:09):
We want to bring the community intothe hotel f and b environment as well.
So we're making sure that we're notjust focusing on people that are staying
at the property, but also openingup to, you know, local clientele,
building relationships with local,uh, suppliers and businesses and
whatever's going on in the community.
And then just really helping them.
(07:31):
Operate more along the lines of anindependent restaurant as opposed to an
amenity based feature that most hotels.
You know, have been focusingon for the last Totally,
Simon (07:43):
yeah.
Uh, amen.
I mean, I just, I think back to,well, I, I know that for, for me,
like going all the way back into thenineties, you know, I, I remember
working in some hotels where you.
You literally were just standingaround waiting for an order, you know?
Um, but then I, I got the opportunityto work for a place in, oh, where was I?
(08:07):
I was in Clearwater Beach, Florida, andwe, the chef had come, he'd come outta
Utah and he'd been in a resort there.
And so, like, he was accustomedto having people, like busy.
And so he just really pushedus to, to push our food.
And it's, it's fascinating whathappens when you start to like.
Break that seal of this isjust for the guests, right?
(08:30):
Yeah.
Like you get the people come walking inoff the street through the main lobby
into the, you know, there's just Yep.
There's just a different field.
It's, it's, it's pretty amazing.
Um, I also got to work for the, theVice Hotel, um, when they back and its
early days before it was the Vice HotelGroup and they were all over the world.
Mm-hmm.
There was like, what It wasin Santa Monica, California.
(08:54):
And those are the days where wehad, you know, back before Michelin
was in the, in the States, wehad three stars in the LA Times.
Right.
Like to do that was, was crazy becauseit was, it was a happening spot.
Right.
And it was busy, right?
Like we were turning 3 50, 400 coversa night on a Friday and Saturday,
(09:14):
and we return, like everythingwas about keeping the level up.
Kenneth (09:19):
Mm-hmm.
You know,
Simon (09:19):
so I absolutely applaud that.
I think that.
Anytime you got somebody who's progressiveenough to say, Hey, I don't want to just
be the amenity, um, it's a win, right?
Because.
I mean, they actually have withstarting from the amenity space, right?
Like they have money to invest.
For sure, for sure.
(09:40):
You know,
Kenneth (09:41):
and it, it's funny because, you know, we, we have the,
I say I work primarily a lot inindependent and boutique style hotels.
Um, you know, those are theexperiential kind of properties,
you know, travelers today.
(10:01):
Just focusing primarily onthe travelers for a second.
People want something that is localized.
They, they don't want to go intoan establishment or a hotel,
you know, restaurant that.
It's the same thing that you can get inNew York, and it's the same menu that you
can get in, uh, Podunk Idaho, you know, ina no name city kind of situation, right?
(10:25):
They want that local flare.
They want that local experience.
Branded hotels, for the most part, aren'twilling to really make those changes.
They, they still want thatbrand standard and consistency.
And I have no problem withhaving a brand standard.
I believe every brand, whetherit's an independent or a, you know,
(10:49):
multi-unit, you know, conglomeratekind of situation, you need to
have your set, your standards set.
No.
Nope.
I'm not arguing that.
But your standards should be setbased on your market and what your
market demands, and there needsto be some flexibility in there.
(11:10):
I think that's where a lot of the,the major brands, that's where
they lose it, and that's where theboutiques, the independence, the.
You know, the quoteunquote mom and pop, right?
Those style properties, again, they'renot afraid to go out on a limb.
(11:30):
They know they have to because they'recompeting with those brands, right?
But they're the ones that can deliverthat really unique experience that people
are craving, and that's why we're seeingthose kind of properties really start to
dominate in a lot of the market share.
There was an article that came out acouple weeks ago in the hotel space
(11:53):
that brands are starting to get worried,you know, and major brands, Marriotts
Hiltons, they are looking more intothe, what they call the soft brand,
where it's the one-off stop propertieswhere if you're looking at like a, a
Marriott, like an autograph collectionor a, a tapestry collection or something
along those lines where it's not.
(12:16):
A double tree or a, youknow, whatever it may be.
They're looking more into the softbrands just because it's still under
the brand umbrella, but it's not a.It gives it more flexibility to what
the actual individual property can do.
(12:37):
Um, I like that.
I can, I can see that, that startingto take over from the brand side of
things as we look into the industry,you know, three to five years down the
road, you're gonna see a lot more softbrands coming up from the Hiltons,
the Marriotts, things like that.
Let's pause for a second.
If you're serious about building a kitchenthat leads from the top runs on systems
(12:59):
and actually feels good to work in, makesure you're following culinary mechanic.
This show is all about helping youlead better, scale smarter, and
stop white knuckling your business.
And if you're ready to dig in deeper,you'll find a link in the show
notes to connect with me directly.
Simon (13:14):
I receive a, I think it's Marriott.
I received some sort of email from themand the number of little logos in the
last two years has like quadrupled.
I'm like, and it's, and it's really weird.
I, I thought about getting likeunsubscribing to it 'cause I
was like, ah, I don't care.
But now I'm like, every weekwhen I look at it, it's just
(13:37):
become like a weekly newsletter.
I'm like, yeah, this is actuallygetting more interesting.
You know, and that's just one.
So I can't, you know, um,just all those little things.
Uh, all I gotta say is death to the beigelobby bar in that could be anywhere.
UUSA, right?
Bye.
I mean, just the, the idea that there, I,I can't tell you how many I've walked into
(14:00):
over the last few years, and I walk in.
There's no windows and I could be in anycity, it doesn't matter because the liquor
selection is exactly the same, right?
Like I, I mean, just can I pleasehave like one or two B bourbons
that are not everywhere, just one.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe two.
And I'd be
Kenneth (14:19):
happy.
It's funny that you say that becausewe just did a, a, I just did, uh, got
done doing a project in DC and one ofthe things that I helped them do was
almost revitalize their beverage program.
Um, when I got there, itwas very standardized.
You know, you have your eight to10 whiskeys, your six to eight
(14:43):
vodkas, you know, all of that.
And it was all the same nationalbrands, and I don't care what market
you're in, there is localized productthat you can bring in, whether it be
beer, uh, local winery, distillery.
(15:05):
You can go anywhere across this countryand find a localized product now.
Yep.
Um, and I kind of help them,you know, bring in some of that,
that local and regional feel.
So what I try to do when I go inand I work on a beverage program is
I kind of set it up in four tiers.
Uh, the, the first tieris super hyperlocal.
(15:25):
Um, and then from there, thesecond tier, I'll go out to
more, a little bit more regional.
Right, the third tier.
Sure.
Now we can start looking at nationaland international, but at that point
I want national and internationalthat still have a story and
still have a uniqueness to 'em.
And the example that I always bringup is something like Jefferson's
(15:48):
Ocean for, uh, a bourbon.
Because that particular brand is, it'sdistilled, it's put in the barrels.
Those barrels are put on a ship.
Oh, that's right.
I've seen that.
And, and our foot.
And, and so the humidity, the, the,the shaking of the ship, the, all of
(16:10):
that creates a unique and complex.
No two barrels are the same.
So it, it's a really,really cool situation.
Stories like that, that's tier three.
And then up to the tier four,which is the, you know, the major
nationals that everybody knows of.
I try to limit it to two skews per item.
(16:34):
Okay?
Right.
So Tito's and gr goose, oryou know, whatever it may be.
Now, some things, you know, some typesof liquor you can't do that with.
You know, scotch has to come fromScotland, you know, tequila has
to come from Helico in Mexico.
So you're limited on some ofthe different varietals and,
and different types of spirits.
(16:56):
Um, but yeah, I mean, I try to do thesame thing for the wine program and,
you know, try to work with differentlocal wineries and stuff like that.
Again, the way people travel now andpeople wanna experience, they want that
localized flavor and that localized vibe.
And then you build out partnershipswith those local suppliers
and those local distillers.
And I did a project, a consultingproject in Alabama where we, we, the
(17:22):
hotel had a preexisting partnershipwith the, uh, local distiller
that they weren't capitalizing on.
Oh my God.
So we, we set up and we startedimplementing and, and using
some of their product indifferent sauces in the kitchen.
Um, you know, we, our, I workedwith one of our sous chefs that
oversaw our restaurant and really.
(17:46):
Him and I and, and some of theirdevelopment team from the, uh, from the
distillery kind of worked on what canwe incorporate and for different flavor
profiles and different things like that.
And so, yeah, so we built out awhole, a whole program with them.
And then also at the same time,we built out a reciprocal.
So, you know, one day a week they sentone of their distillers down to us and did
(18:09):
a tasting with not only our staff, but.
Also with, we did a guest program as well.
Nice.
And then we did, because theirdistillery that they just opened
was a half hour away from the hotel.
So we just had one of ourvans, our shuttle vans, we did
a, you know, distillery tour.
Uh, nice.
You know, kind of situation.
(18:29):
So I'm, I'm huge on buildingthose local partnerships.
Um, I think it really.
Brings a unique, something that a lot ofproperties haven't really dove into yet.
Um, and I think it's somethingthat can set a property apart
when food and beverage, it,it's a cultural hub, you know?
(18:53):
It, it should be the, the focalpoint of a property, in my opinion.
Yeah.
And
Simon (18:58):
yeah, that's, that's awesome.
I, I, you know, I can't, I. I alwaysthink about like points of difference,
um, from, from food and beverage, youknow, uh, my wife and I, we don't travel
a ton, but when we do, the first thingwe do is start looking at places so that
we're not, like, we try to not be stayingin a, in a room where we could open our
(19:23):
eyes and go, oh, what city are we in?
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Like, we try to find those experiences.
So I think that doing the same thingwith food and beverages, obviously like.
Um, it's key.
It's just so funny to me that we're in2025 and it's still something 'cause
this has been a conversation for years.
Right.
For sure.
You know, but I think slowly, youknow, uh, someone that you and I
(19:45):
both know that he's, he's like ona crusade and that's Scott Turner.
He is on the, the crusader againstthe, like the, the standard, standard
breakfast, you know, in a hotel.
Go, man.
Go.
'cause God, that's awful.
Kenneth (19:59):
Yes, it is.
And he is doing some killerwork when it comes to that.
Yeah.
Um, I was just actually talking to himabout a project he was working on recently
and he, he is so gung-ho on like, how dowe, like, we need to differentiate this.
Yeah.
It's, it's the only meal.
(20:21):
So talking about breakfast.
The American Hotel and LodgingAssociation, which is one of our,
not Iffr, one of the largest,um, you know, groups and, and
across the country for hotels.
They came out with a, astatistic last year that said
(20:43):
only, well, there's two stats here thatI wanna drop less than 30% of people.
Um.
We'll visit a hotel restaurant forsomething other than breakfast.
Wow.
And less or 65% of people thattravel base where they go and
(21:08):
where they stay on what's goingon in the food and beverage scene.
Simon (21:13):
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Mm-hmm.
So it's about beverage, so it's aboutbreakfast and yet it, it's one of the
stat meals that, that exists in hotels.
Kenneth (21:22):
Correct.
And for the longest time, it'sthe only, it's o it's been the
only meal that hotels care about.
And the reason is, is because it'sthe only meal that traditionally,
especially in hotels, thatoffer it as a part of their room
package that ties into their room.
Simon (21:40):
Yeah.
Crazy.
Just.
I, I, I look forward to, to seeing whatthe things that you're doing with it,
the things that Scott's doing with it.
Look, just, just as things start tolike, continue to like push that flywheel
around so we start to see some momentum.
It's, it's fun.
Um.
(22:00):
One of the things that you,you've been pretty vocal about on
LinkedIn is, is the, this conceptof like frictionless payments.
Kenneth (22:09):
Mm-hmm.
Simon (22:09):
Um, so I'd love for you to like, climb up on that
soapbox and tell us a story, man.
'cause Yeah, this is something thatI think is pretty freaking cool.
Kenneth (22:18):
So when I say frictionless and it, it's not just tied specifically
to the payment, we want it tiedto the entire guest experience.
From pre-arrival all theway till post departure.
So when it comes to the f and b sideof that, it starts, it can start and
(22:42):
had a lot of discussions at an industryconference, high tech in Indianapolis
last week with a lot of people.
And this was a hotel tech conference.
So this was people that are thinkingalong the lines of technology and, and
the guest experience when incorporatedin that technology and all that.
Had a lot of great conversationswith people where from pre-arrival,
(23:08):
instead of just booking a room,
it's gonna start being aquote unquote cart style.
Um, you know, booking process whereyou're not just booking the room based
off of the dates that you're booking.
Would you like to reserve a spa time?
Would you like to reserve a dinnerreservation in our restaurant?
(23:31):
Put all of that into one.
This way it's, it's done like a onlineconcierge, preval con concierge almost.
Now, let's forward and push thatdirectly into food and beverage.
There are areas of the properties,especially, you know, mid to
high level properties that are
(23:54):
horribly underutilizing and notcapitalizing on food and beverage revenue.
And areas, public areas, pool decks,cabanas, um, spa centers, uh, if there's a
golf course on the, on the, the property.
If there's, uh, a lot of hotelsnow are moving away from quote
(24:15):
unquote business centers anddoing like individualized work.
Pods, heck, even the, justthe lobby seating area that's
not a f and b seating area.
Just a couple couches in the lobby.
How can we utilize those areas forf and b and monetize those areas?
A lot of it just comes down to beingwhere they're, where guests are, and
(24:40):
that's right here is on their phones.
I can't tell you how many times I'veseen and been on properties where I've
seen a DoorDash Uber Eats driver, youknow, come in and make a delivery.
When I have a restaurant that's sitting30 feet from the entrance of the front
door that's sitting three quarters empty.
(25:02):
Yep.
And it, it drives me alittle mentally insane.
Um, like that's revenue thatyou're losing, like Right.
You're just not capitalized.
So we've kind of put together,um, uh, a multi-step system
that is really focused on.
(25:24):
Minimizing the bringing in of outsideproduct essentially, and doing things and
keeping things internal to the property.
So the first thing that we do, that'spart of the step, uh, this process
is we geo-fence specific areas of thehotel, pool, decks, cabanas, spa areas,
(25:47):
all those areas I mentioned earlier,hotel guest rooms, uh, huge thing.
So all of these areas.
We put a geofence around and whathappens is you enter that geofence,
you got a push notification,Hey, welcome to the pool area.
You know, if you would like to place afood and beverage order, click the link.
(26:09):
Or, you know, however it may be.
Not only does it do that, it also willthen we've created, uh, targeted ads.
We help properties createtargeted ads for social media.
So if I am entering the pool area andI am sitting in my lounge chair and
scrolling Instagram now, oh my God, thatI'm seeing a Target ad that says it.
(26:34):
It doesn't say welcome to thepool, but it's, it's specific to
the pool area or whatever areait may be, um, for the property.
And it's just, it's, it's, so now youclick either the push notification.
Or the targeted ad that you see onsocial media, and it comes up with a
screen that you can either scan a QR codethat nice, each chair or each location
(26:59):
has its own individualized QR code
or just tap, and it has NFCcapabilities, either one.
That's beautiful.
So now.
Again, going back to the wholefrictionless thought process because
it's tied to that specific chair orthat specific area or that specific
(27:20):
guest room or anything like that.
You don't have to put in any information.
We already know where you are, soyou're not looking for a chair number
to enter in or anything like that.
We know where you're at andit starts your order process.
So now you're goinginto the order process.
It is first off.
(27:42):
It's all inclusive pricing.
The only thing that you add on at the endis your tax, which is pretty much required
by law, but any kind of auxiliary fees,delivery fees, you know, any, any of those
kind of no nonsense BS kind of fees, um,that you typically see at the end that
(28:05):
take your $15 burger up to a $22 burger.
You go, holy shit, well that's gonna,that's gonna turn some people off.
Like, right, I thought Iwas ordering a $15 burger.
All of a sudden it's 22 bucks plus tax.
Like, I'm not gonna order, youknow, pay 25 bucks for a burger.
But people will do it.
It's, it's psychological, right?
(28:27):
They feel like they're getting nickeland dimmed and duped and all this
other stuff and it can turn people off.
So we just, we put everything up front.
Hey.
All of the fees are included.
This is what you'repaying plus tax, right?
Also, it's dynamic pricing.
So based off of, you know, what'sselling, what's not, if you wanna
(28:47):
run a, a flash sale or something likethat, um, all of that information,
what's the weather outside?
Hey, if it's over 90 degrees,let's focus on frozen drinks.
Um, all of that, you know, thosefactors get put into this back
end of the software and it.
It pushes different things andit adjusts pricing accordingly.
The fourth thing that is part,the fourth step is AI upsells.
(29:12):
So based off of what you're puttingin your cart, what other people have
purchased based off that same item.
It's smart learning.
It's so, it, it, it's starting to knowyou the more that you're there and
ordering and what other people are alsoordering to accompany that product.
(29:33):
So we're offering those upsells.
The fifth is frictionless payment.
Now, I've actually recently partneredwith a point of sale company called
ttab that allows people to keep a tabopen for the entire duration of a day.
Oh, wow.
And, and most people can, it canbe split between multiple people.
(29:55):
So if you are out on the golf courseand your wife is sitting poolside.
And you both wanna ordersomething, you wanna get something.
After you finish a ninth hole,grab a quick bite to eat.
You know, before you go to theback nine, and your wife is sitting
poolside and she wants to ordersomething, multiple people can place
orders and it goes onto the same tab.
(30:16):
There you go.
And then at the end of the day, thattab can be closed out automatically
by the hotel with an auto grat,or you can manually close it.
But the whole thing is, is beingable to put room charges and, you
know, all of those kind of things.
Digital wallets, make it so people can paypretty easily and not have to, you know,
(30:43):
split payments, you know, promo codes,all of this other stuff, making it easy
for people to implement all this stuff.
So that's really the, the thing thatwe're going, that we're pushing out
at a lot of properties right now.
It, we've done some work.
Not the full system as of yet.
We've implemented pieces of itand hotels are already starting to
(31:04):
see a dramatic, dramatic increasein the, uh, in the, the top line
revenue of I love it, all of that.
The best part of it is it alsohelps reduce labor cost because
especially in area with like apool deck or anything like that.
Depending on the size of theproperty, you have to have, you
know, sometimes up to eight to 10servers, you know, rolling around.
(31:28):
Now people can place phone ororders on their phone directly.
All you need is runners.
Maybe keep a small handful, youknow, two to four servers for people
that don't want to do the, youknow, and aren't comfortable with
the technology type of stuff yet.
But yeah, I mean it's, it's verymuch, it's reducing labor costs,
(31:50):
it's driving revenue like a madmanand hotels have that we've partnered
with and have worked on it.
Is it, they're seeing incrediblereturn on the investment.
Simon (32:04):
You know, right, right away.
The first thing I think of is whenyou start to create awareness around
something like that, it explodes.
Right?
Like it's just the, it's, I love that youcan, you're able to roll like different
pieces in different places and just haveit still grab, 'cause that's amazing.
You know, I, I say all the time to, to mychef clients, it's like, Hey, if you just,
(32:26):
if you pay attention to a number, right?
If you pay attention to like, what'shappening with any number, it will grow.
Sure.
Or it'll go on the rec, butyou gotta pay attention to it.
There's gotta be awareness.
You gotta, you gotta involve your team.
I feel like, you know, you, you startsomething like that and you get your
servers on board and they start to like,be able to, you know, especially if
(32:48):
there's fewer of them, they're like, wait.
Mm-hmm.
There's more, there's more to go around.
Okay.
Correct.
You know, and so, correct.
Uh, good stuff, man.
I, I just loved sittingin the future with you.
Kenneth (33:01):
You know, and, and it's the amazing thing because you talk
to, to hotel leaders and you explainto them how much money is, is being
left on the table and what kind ofexperience we can provide to the guests.
Right?
Right.
When you combine those twothings, that's when you start
(33:24):
to see some, some ears perk up.
Um, because, and for, and rightfully so.
The, the first and foremostpriority is making sure that we
take care of the guest, right?
That's the, the top priority.
But if we can do that while increasingthe level of the guest experience
(33:45):
and also drastically driving revenue,
you, you start to see people, the wheelsand people's heads start turning, right.
How the heck can we do that?
That's the thing, like especially in thehotel side, it's, it's something that
really hasn't been done for a long time.
Like Right.
(34:06):
You look at hotels, their f and bline on, uh, profit and loss report
is driven by events banquets.
Oh, wow.
Simon (34:17):
It's,
Kenneth (34:18):
I mean, for the longest time restaurants and, and outlets
and bars, they've been a loss leader.
So now we're, we're taking somethingthat has traditionally been
something that costs the propertymoney to operate, but is there just
because it's an amenity, right?
And now we're flipping it and we're,we're doing something that is driving
(34:44):
revenue, creating a, an experiencethat people wanna be a part of.
It's a win-win all the way around.
Awesome.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well,
Simon (34:56):
I, I've learned a couple things today.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
That's good stuff.
Um, and I think we've definitelycovered some ground, man.
I, I mean, you think about thefact that we came from customer
experience onto creating somenew experiences for hotel guests.
I, I think that's pretty phenomenal.
Um.
I'm gonna make sure that in the shownotes that we can find you at Savage,
(35:19):
Savage or hospitality and they can,I assume you're on, you know, I know
you're on LinkedIn, so, uh, we'll makesure that that's in there as well.
Appreciate it.
I just really wanna thank you for comingto play and hang out in my sandbox for a
little while and, and share what's goingon with you and, and what's uh, kind of
what's new in the world of hospitality.
'cause it's pretty exciting stuff, man.
Like, like I say, the futhe future, sitting in
Kenneth (35:41):
the future is kinda awesome.
The people that I have conversations with,both inside and outside of the industry,
I owe I I tell them constantly the nexttwo to three years for our industry in
the hotel space, it's, it's gonna be, it'san exciting time to be a part of this.
It really is.
Yeah.
(36:01):
Awesome.
Simon (36:03):
Well, uh, once again, thank you so much for coming to play
and, uh, to all you out there.
I'm gonna catch you on the flip side.
We'll see you next time.
Kenneth (36:11):
Thank you, chef.
You've been listeningto Culinary Mechanic.
This show exists to help you leadwith more clarity, build systems
that actually work and create akitchen culture worth showing up for.
If this episode helped you moveeven one step in that direction, do
me a favor, leave a quick review.
It helps more chefs and operators stop thechaos and start leading with intention.
You're listening toHeritage Radio Network.
I.
From kitchen chaos to well-oiled machines.
Get ready for newfangledtechnology and old school Know-how
(00:21):
stories and a good bit of fun.
I'm Simon, and this iscalled Area Mechanic.
Simon (00:31):
Joining me today is Kenneth Charlotte of Savage Orchid Hospitality.
Kenneth, welcome to the show, man.
Kenneth (00:37):
Thank you, chef.
I appreciate you having me all.
Simon (00:40):
Absolutely.
Uh, I'm excited to talk to you.
I think you and I met inVegas this year, and, um.
I just realized that we definitelyhave some things in common.
We both are pretty passionate aboutthe hospitality industry, and I
thought that, uh, we could havea fun little conversation here.
So
Kenneth (00:56):
I've been looking forward to, uh, having this chat
with you for, for a hot minute.
So I'm looking, I'm excited.
Nice.
Simon (01:02):
I appreciate that.
Um, all right.
It's going air mechanic.
So we say, step on the gas and go,how'd you get into this industry?
Kenneth (01:10):
You know, it's, I don't have the typical answer to that.
You know, everybody either startsin the dish pit or, you know,
works their way up from there.
Um, I actually really wasbrought in by a fr a friend that
was opening up a restaurant.
Um, I didn't have any restaurantexperience or anything like that, uh,
but I had customer service background,so he came to me and said, Hey,
(01:33):
I'm opening up a spot, uh, I want.
I, I want it to be a reallyguest focused experience.
Um, and we need to make sure thatour team is, is trained up on that.
So he brought me in essentially as aguest experience manager, uh, to help
train the team up and make sure thatwe were providing a, uh, a really
solid, you know, enjoyable experiencewhere it wasn't just transactional,
(01:57):
it was more let's give 'em a vibe.
Let's give 'em that, somethingthat they want to come back
for, uh, on top of the food.
Of course.
So, uh, yeah, so I didthat for a few years.
Uh, also ran and booked all oftheir entertainment and, you know,
did all the, the side work and allthat other type of stuff for that.
And then, yeah, just kind of havebeen drawn to the industry since,
(02:21):
um, it's, it's been, you know, youtalk to people and they say that.
They got into it and thenthey just can't get out of it.
They got sucked into this blackhole or, you know, whatever it is.
And I just don't feel that way.
Um, I feel like I found apassion and I found a calling.
I'm hungry about what I doand, uh, I really like sharing
(02:43):
that, that information on.
So,
Simon (02:45):
hey, that's a good black hole to be in, man.
You
Kenneth (02:49):
know what, if every block hole was like that, sign me up.
Simon (02:52):
Yep.
I, I totally agree.
I, I think that, you know, for me,I started off as a kid, you know?
Yeah.
I was probably 16 years old and,uh, by the time I was 19, I, there
was nothing I wanted more in theworld than to be in the kitchen.
You know, and so I, I totally get it.
Like it's, it, there's a,there's a passion to it.
(03:12):
There's some fun, there's, there's,I find there's a lot of curiosity and
intrigue if you're doing it well, right?
Like there's just stuff to learn,there's things to check out.
Um, nowadays, I think there's so manyaspects and facets of hospitality.
All right?
Oh yeah.
So you get in, you're customer, thecustomer experience manager, you are.
(03:33):
Clearly in love with what you're doing.
That's amazing.
How do we get from that guy to, how dowe get to, to like what you're doing
now with Savage, Savage or hospitality,and tell us a little bit about like
what that work is looking like.
Kenneth (03:50):
Yeah, so, uh.
My career is kind of two parts.
So everything pre COVID was moreon the independent restaurant,
nightlife and bar scene post COVID.
I've been in, uh, focusing strictly on, onthe hotel, food and beverage experience.
So pre COVID, I helped my friend openup that restaurant that, uh, that I
(04:12):
just mentioned, had somebody reachout to me, um, that was looking for,
actually, I also did some DJ work.
So I was, uh, a big DJ up in, in, uh,Northeastern Pennsylvania and in our off
season, uh, somebody that was runninga bar and nightlife en environment
called me up and said, Hey, we havesome, uh, you know, spots to fill,
(04:35):
you know, some fill work that we need,a DJ and an MC for, uh, sure I'll go
in in an off season and help him out.
So that progressed and got me tothe point where he reached out to me
while I was there one night and said.
Well, we're opening up a, uh, a day shiftand, uh, need somebody to come in and help
kind of transform that and take that over.
(04:57):
I said, okay.
So I went in and I helped'em out there and then about
not even two months later, I took overall of their direct, I took over as
their director of Food and Beverage, uh,took over all their marketing aspects as
well and was tasked with opening up a.
(05:17):
Members only speak easy stylerestaurant in the adjacent building.
That was part of our lease thatwas just not being utilized.
Uh, so we kinda, we kind of did a, afull, uh, culinary and restaurant and
bar and nightlife kind of experience.
(05:37):
And I was there for several yearsuntil the pandemic shut us down.
And, uh.
That was, like I said, up inNowheresville, Pennsylvania and knew if
I wanted to do anything on top of that,you know, which was a great experience
that I moved down to Tennessee, toNashville, and that's a foodie city.
Uh, a hugely growing,rapidly growing city.
(06:00):
And that's when I startedgetting into hotels.
And, uh, from there, hotelshave been my passion ever since.
I, I love the independent restaurant side.
Um.
I love the, you know, the nightlife scene.
I'm getting a little bit older now, somaybe not so much nightlife anymore.
Uh, but, uh, yeah, it's just, I, I've beenin hotels ever since and I, I know for
(06:26):
a fact that hotels I have found my call.
Nice.
So yeah.
So now we're with Savage Orchid.
We're a full service consultancy.
Uh, we focus on food andbeverage within the hotel space.
And from there we are tryingto really change the mindset
of hotel, food and beverage.
Um, a lot of our work is.
(06:47):
Primarily with the independentand boutique hotels.
So, you know, properties thatreally aren't afraid of going out
on the limb, um, but they just maynot have the execution or may not
have the, the know-how to do it.
Uh, so that's really where we come in and.
Basically help them build out their brandfor their restaurant and you know, do some
market research and see what's gonna work.
(07:09):
We want to bring the community intothe hotel f and b environment as well.
So we're making sure that we're notjust focusing on people that are staying
at the property, but also openingup to, you know, local clientele,
building relationships with local,uh, suppliers and businesses and
whatever's going on in the community.
And then just really helping them.
(07:31):
Operate more along the lines of anindependent restaurant as opposed to an
amenity based feature that most hotels.
You know, have been focusingon for the last Totally,
Simon (07:43):
yeah.
Uh, amen.
I mean, I just, I think back to,well, I, I know that for, for me,
like going all the way back into thenineties, you know, I, I remember
working in some hotels where you.
You literally were just standingaround waiting for an order, you know?
Um, but then I, I got the opportunityto work for a place in, oh, where was I?
(08:07):
I was in Clearwater Beach, Florida, andwe, the chef had come, he'd come outta
Utah and he'd been in a resort there.
And so, like, he was accustomedto having people, like busy.
And so he just really pushedus to, to push our food.
And it's, it's fascinating whathappens when you start to like.
Break that seal of this isjust for the guests, right?
(08:30):
Yeah.
Like you get the people come walking inoff the street through the main lobby
into the, you know, there's just Yep.
There's just a different field.
It's, it's, it's pretty amazing.
Um, I also got to work for the, theVice Hotel, um, when they back and its
early days before it was the Vice HotelGroup and they were all over the world.
Mm-hmm.
There was like, what It wasin Santa Monica, California.
(08:54):
And those are the days where wehad, you know, back before Michelin
was in the, in the States, wehad three stars in the LA Times.
Right.
Like to do that was, was crazy becauseit was, it was a happening spot.
Right.
And it was busy, right?
Like we were turning 3 50, 400 coversa night on a Friday and Saturday,
(09:14):
and we return, like everythingwas about keeping the level up.
Kenneth (09:19):
Mm-hmm.
You know,
Simon (09:19):
so I absolutely applaud that.
I think that.
Anytime you got somebody who's progressiveenough to say, Hey, I don't want to just
be the amenity, um, it's a win, right?
Because.
I mean, they actually have withstarting from the amenity space, right?
Like they have money to invest.
For sure, for sure.
(09:40):
You know,
Kenneth (09:41):
and it, it's funny because, you know, we, we have the,
I say I work primarily a lot inindependent and boutique style hotels.
Um, you know, those are theexperiential kind of properties,
you know, travelers today.
(10:01):
Just focusing primarily onthe travelers for a second.
People want something that is localized.
They, they don't want to go intoan establishment or a hotel,
you know, restaurant that.
It's the same thing that you can get inNew York, and it's the same menu that you
can get in, uh, Podunk Idaho, you know, ina no name city kind of situation, right?
(10:25):
They want that local flare.
They want that local experience.
Branded hotels, for the most part, aren'twilling to really make those changes.
They, they still want thatbrand standard and consistency.
And I have no problem withhaving a brand standard.
I believe every brand, whetherit's an independent or a, you know,
(10:49):
multi-unit, you know, conglomeratekind of situation, you need to
have your set, your standards set.
No.
Nope.
I'm not arguing that.
But your standards should be setbased on your market and what your
market demands, and there needsto be some flexibility in there.
(11:10):
I think that's where a lot of the,the major brands, that's where
they lose it, and that's where theboutiques, the independence, the.
You know, the quoteunquote mom and pop, right?
Those style properties, again, they'renot afraid to go out on a limb.
(11:30):
They know they have to because they'recompeting with those brands, right?
But they're the ones that can deliverthat really unique experience that people
are craving, and that's why we're seeingthose kind of properties really start to
dominate in a lot of the market share.
There was an article that came out acouple weeks ago in the hotel space
(11:53):
that brands are starting to get worried,you know, and major brands, Marriotts
Hiltons, they are looking more intothe, what they call the soft brand,
where it's the one-off stop propertieswhere if you're looking at like a, a
Marriott, like an autograph collectionor a, a tapestry collection or something
along those lines where it's not.
(12:16):
A double tree or a, youknow, whatever it may be.
They're looking more into the softbrands just because it's still under
the brand umbrella, but it's not a.It gives it more flexibility to what
the actual individual property can do.
(12:37):
Um, I like that.
I can, I can see that, that startingto take over from the brand side of
things as we look into the industry,you know, three to five years down the
road, you're gonna see a lot more softbrands coming up from the Hiltons,
the Marriotts, things like that.
Let's pause for a second.
If you're serious about building a kitchenthat leads from the top runs on systems
(12:59):
and actually feels good to work in, makesure you're following culinary mechanic.
This show is all about helping youlead better, scale smarter, and
stop white knuckling your business.
And if you're ready to dig in deeper,you'll find a link in the show
notes to connect with me directly.
Simon (13:14):
I receive a, I think it's Marriott.
I received some sort of email from themand the number of little logos in the
last two years has like quadrupled.
I'm like, and it's, and it's really weird.
I, I thought about getting likeunsubscribing to it 'cause I
was like, ah, I don't care.
But now I'm like, every weekwhen I look at it, it's just
(13:37):
become like a weekly newsletter.
I'm like, yeah, this is actuallygetting more interesting.
You know, and that's just one.
So I can't, you know, um,just all those little things.
Uh, all I gotta say is death to the beigelobby bar in that could be anywhere.
UUSA, right?
Bye.
I mean, just the, the idea that there, I,I can't tell you how many I've walked into
(14:00):
over the last few years, and I walk in.
There's no windows and I could be in anycity, it doesn't matter because the liquor
selection is exactly the same, right?
Like I, I mean, just can I pleasehave like one or two B bourbons
that are not everywhere, just one.
Mm-hmm.
Maybe two.
And I'd be
Kenneth (14:19):
happy.
It's funny that you say that becausewe just did a, a, I just did, uh, got
done doing a project in DC and one ofthe things that I helped them do was
almost revitalize their beverage program.
Um, when I got there, itwas very standardized.
You know, you have your eight to10 whiskeys, your six to eight
(14:43):
vodkas, you know, all of that.
And it was all the same nationalbrands, and I don't care what market
you're in, there is localized productthat you can bring in, whether it be
beer, uh, local winery, distillery.
(15:05):
You can go anywhere across this countryand find a localized product now.
Yep.
Um, and I kind of help them,you know, bring in some of that,
that local and regional feel.
So what I try to do when I go inand I work on a beverage program is
I kind of set it up in four tiers.
Uh, the, the first tieris super hyperlocal.
(15:25):
Um, and then from there, thesecond tier, I'll go out to
more, a little bit more regional.
Right, the third tier.
Sure.
Now we can start looking at nationaland international, but at that point
I want national and internationalthat still have a story and
still have a uniqueness to 'em.
And the example that I always bringup is something like Jefferson's
(15:48):
Ocean for, uh, a bourbon.
Because that particular brand is, it'sdistilled, it's put in the barrels.
Those barrels are put on a ship.
Oh, that's right.
I've seen that.
And, and our foot.
And, and so the humidity, the, the,the shaking of the ship, the, all of
(16:10):
that creates a unique and complex.
No two barrels are the same.
So it, it's a really,really cool situation.
Stories like that, that's tier three.
And then up to the tier four,which is the, you know, the major
nationals that everybody knows of.
I try to limit it to two skews per item.
(16:34):
Okay?
Right.
So Tito's and gr goose, oryou know, whatever it may be.
Now, some things, you know, some typesof liquor you can't do that with.
You know, scotch has to come fromScotland, you know, tequila has
to come from Helico in Mexico.
So you're limited on some ofthe different varietals and,
and different types of spirits.
(16:56):
Um, but yeah, I mean, I try to do thesame thing for the wine program and,
you know, try to work with differentlocal wineries and stuff like that.
Again, the way people travel now andpeople wanna experience, they want that
localized flavor and that localized vibe.
And then you build out partnershipswith those local suppliers
and those local distillers.
And I did a project, a consultingproject in Alabama where we, we, the
(17:22):
hotel had a preexisting partnershipwith the, uh, local distiller
that they weren't capitalizing on.
Oh my God.
So we, we set up and we startedimplementing and, and using
some of their product indifferent sauces in the kitchen.
Um, you know, we, our, I workedwith one of our sous chefs that
oversaw our restaurant and really.
(17:46):
Him and I and, and some of theirdevelopment team from the, uh, from the
distillery kind of worked on what canwe incorporate and for different flavor
profiles and different things like that.
And so, yeah, so we built out awhole, a whole program with them.
And then also at the same time,we built out a reciprocal.
So, you know, one day a week they sentone of their distillers down to us and did
(18:09):
a tasting with not only our staff, but.
Also with, we did a guest program as well.
Nice.
And then we did, because theirdistillery that they just opened
was a half hour away from the hotel.
So we just had one of ourvans, our shuttle vans, we did
a, you know, distillery tour.
Uh, nice.
You know, kind of situation.
(18:29):
So I'm, I'm huge on buildingthose local partnerships.
Um, I think it really.
Brings a unique, something that a lot ofproperties haven't really dove into yet.
Um, and I think it's somethingthat can set a property apart
when food and beverage, it,it's a cultural hub, you know?
(18:53):
It, it should be the, the focalpoint of a property, in my opinion.
Yeah.
And
Simon (18:58):
yeah, that's, that's awesome.
I, I, you know, I can't, I. I alwaysthink about like points of difference,
um, from, from food and beverage, youknow, uh, my wife and I, we don't travel
a ton, but when we do, the first thingwe do is start looking at places so that
we're not, like, we try to not be stayingin a, in a room where we could open our
(19:23):
eyes and go, oh, what city are we in?
Right?
Mm-hmm.
Like, we try to find those experiences.
So I think that doing the same thingwith food and beverages, obviously like.
Um, it's key.
It's just so funny to me that we're in2025 and it's still something 'cause
this has been a conversation for years.
Right.
For sure.
You know, but I think slowly, youknow, uh, someone that you and I
(19:45):
both know that he's, he's like ona crusade and that's Scott Turner.
He is on the, the crusader againstthe, like the, the standard, standard
breakfast, you know, in a hotel.
Go, man.
Go.
'cause God, that's awful.
Kenneth (19:59):
Yes, it is.
And he is doing some killerwork when it comes to that.
Yeah.
Um, I was just actually talking to himabout a project he was working on recently
and he, he is so gung-ho on like, how dowe, like, we need to differentiate this.
Yeah.
It's, it's the only meal.
(20:21):
So talking about breakfast.
The American Hotel and LodgingAssociation, which is one of our,
not Iffr, one of the largest,um, you know, groups and, and
across the country for hotels.
They came out with a, astatistic last year that said
(20:43):
only, well, there's two stats here thatI wanna drop less than 30% of people.
Um.
We'll visit a hotel restaurant forsomething other than breakfast.
Wow.
And less or 65% of people thattravel base where they go and
(21:08):
where they stay on what's goingon in the food and beverage scene.
Simon (21:13):
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Mm-hmm.
So it's about beverage, so it's aboutbreakfast and yet it, it's one of the
stat meals that, that exists in hotels.
Kenneth (21:22):
Correct.
And for the longest time, it'sthe only, it's o it's been the
only meal that hotels care about.
And the reason is, is because it'sthe only meal that traditionally,
especially in hotels, thatoffer it as a part of their room
package that ties into their room.
Simon (21:40):
Yeah.
Crazy.
Just.
I, I, I look forward to, to seeing whatthe things that you're doing with it,
the things that Scott's doing with it.
Look, just, just as things start tolike, continue to like push that flywheel
around so we start to see some momentum.
It's, it's fun.
Um.
(22:00):
One of the things that you,you've been pretty vocal about on
LinkedIn is, is the, this conceptof like frictionless payments.
Kenneth (22:09):
Mm-hmm.
Simon (22:09):
Um, so I'd love for you to like, climb up on that
soapbox and tell us a story, man.
'cause Yeah, this is something thatI think is pretty freaking cool.
Kenneth (22:18):
So when I say frictionless and it, it's not just tied specifically
to the payment, we want it tiedto the entire guest experience.
From pre-arrival all theway till post departure.
So when it comes to the f and b sideof that, it starts, it can start and
(22:42):
had a lot of discussions at an industryconference, high tech in Indianapolis
last week with a lot of people.
And this was a hotel tech conference.
So this was people that are thinkingalong the lines of technology and, and
the guest experience when incorporatedin that technology and all that.
Had a lot of great conversationswith people where from pre-arrival,
(23:08):
instead of just booking a room,
it's gonna start being aquote unquote cart style.
Um, you know, booking process whereyou're not just booking the room based
off of the dates that you're booking.
Would you like to reserve a spa time?
Would you like to reserve a dinnerreservation in our restaurant?
(23:31):
Put all of that into one.
This way it's, it's done like a onlineconcierge, preval con concierge almost.
Now, let's forward and push thatdirectly into food and beverage.
There are areas of the properties,especially, you know, mid to
high level properties that are
(23:54):
horribly underutilizing and notcapitalizing on food and beverage revenue.
And areas, public areas, pool decks,cabanas, um, spa centers, uh, if there's a
golf course on the, on the, the property.
If there's, uh, a lot of hotelsnow are moving away from quote
(24:15):
unquote business centers anddoing like individualized work.
Pods, heck, even the, justthe lobby seating area that's
not a f and b seating area.
Just a couple couches in the lobby.
How can we utilize those areas forf and b and monetize those areas?
A lot of it just comes down to beingwhere they're, where guests are, and
(24:40):
that's right here is on their phones.
I can't tell you how many times I'veseen and been on properties where I've
seen a DoorDash Uber Eats driver, youknow, come in and make a delivery.
When I have a restaurant that's sitting30 feet from the entrance of the front
door that's sitting three quarters empty.
(25:02):
Yep.
And it, it drives me alittle mentally insane.
Um, like that's revenue thatyou're losing, like Right.
You're just not capitalized.
So we've kind of put together,um, uh, a multi-step system
that is really focused on.
(25:24):
Minimizing the bringing in of outsideproduct essentially, and doing things and
keeping things internal to the property.
So the first thing that we do, that'spart of the step, uh, this process
is we geo-fence specific areas of thehotel, pool, decks, cabanas, spa areas,
(25:47):
all those areas I mentioned earlier,hotel guest rooms, uh, huge thing.
So all of these areas.
We put a geofence around and whathappens is you enter that geofence,
you got a push notification,Hey, welcome to the pool area.
You know, if you would like to place afood and beverage order, click the link.
(26:09):
Or, you know, however it may be.
Not only does it do that, it also willthen we've created, uh, targeted ads.
We help properties createtargeted ads for social media.
So if I am entering the pool area andI am sitting in my lounge chair and
scrolling Instagram now, oh my God, thatI'm seeing a Target ad that says it.
(26:34):
It doesn't say welcome to thepool, but it's, it's specific to
the pool area or whatever areait may be, um, for the property.
And it's just, it's, it's, so now youclick either the push notification.
Or the targeted ad that you see onsocial media, and it comes up with a
screen that you can either scan a QR codethat nice, each chair or each location
(26:59):
has its own individualized QR code
or just tap, and it has NFCcapabilities, either one.
That's beautiful.
So now.
Again, going back to the wholefrictionless thought process because
it's tied to that specific chair orthat specific area or that specific
(27:20):
guest room or anything like that.
You don't have to put in any information.
We already know where you are, soyou're not looking for a chair number
to enter in or anything like that.
We know where you're at andit starts your order process.
So now you're goinginto the order process.
It is first off.
(27:42):
It's all inclusive pricing.
The only thing that you add on at the endis your tax, which is pretty much required
by law, but any kind of auxiliary fees,delivery fees, you know, any, any of those
kind of no nonsense BS kind of fees, um,that you typically see at the end that
(28:05):
take your $15 burger up to a $22 burger.
You go, holy shit, well that's gonna,that's gonna turn some people off.
Like, right, I thought Iwas ordering a $15 burger.
All of a sudden it's 22 bucks plus tax.
Like, I'm not gonna order, youknow, pay 25 bucks for a burger.
But people will do it.
It's, it's psychological, right?
(28:27):
They feel like they're getting nickeland dimmed and duped and all this
other stuff and it can turn people off.
So we just, we put everything up front.
Hey.
All of the fees are included.
This is what you'repaying plus tax, right?
Also, it's dynamic pricing.
So based off of, you know, what'sselling, what's not, if you wanna
(28:47):
run a, a flash sale or something likethat, um, all of that information,
what's the weather outside?
Hey, if it's over 90 degrees,let's focus on frozen drinks.
Um, all of that, you know, thosefactors get put into this back
end of the software and it.
It pushes different things andit adjusts pricing accordingly.
The fourth thing that is part,the fourth step is AI upsells.
(29:12):
So based off of what you're puttingin your cart, what other people have
purchased based off that same item.
It's smart learning.
It's so, it, it, it's starting to knowyou the more that you're there and
ordering and what other people are alsoordering to accompany that product.
(29:33):
So we're offering those upsells.
The fifth is frictionless payment.
Now, I've actually recently partneredwith a point of sale company called
ttab that allows people to keep a tabopen for the entire duration of a day.
Oh, wow.
And, and most people can, it canbe split between multiple people.
(29:55):
So if you are out on the golf courseand your wife is sitting poolside.
And you both wanna ordersomething, you wanna get something.
After you finish a ninth hole,grab a quick bite to eat.
You know, before you go to theback nine, and your wife is sitting
poolside and she wants to ordersomething, multiple people can place
orders and it goes onto the same tab.
(30:16):
There you go.
And then at the end of the day, thattab can be closed out automatically
by the hotel with an auto grat,or you can manually close it.
But the whole thing is, is beingable to put room charges and, you
know, all of those kind of things.
Digital wallets, make it so people can paypretty easily and not have to, you know,
(30:43):
split payments, you know, promo codes,all of this other stuff, making it easy
for people to implement all this stuff.
So that's really the, the thing thatwe're going, that we're pushing out
at a lot of properties right now.
It, we've done some work.
Not the full system as of yet.
We've implemented pieces of itand hotels are already starting to
(31:04):
see a dramatic, dramatic increasein the, uh, in the, the top line
revenue of I love it, all of that.
The best part of it is it alsohelps reduce labor cost because
especially in area with like apool deck or anything like that.
Depending on the size of theproperty, you have to have, you
know, sometimes up to eight to 10servers, you know, rolling around.
(31:28):
Now people can place phone ororders on their phone directly.
All you need is runners.
Maybe keep a small handful, youknow, two to four servers for people
that don't want to do the, youknow, and aren't comfortable with
the technology type of stuff yet.
But yeah, I mean it's, it's verymuch, it's reducing labor costs,
(31:50):
it's driving revenue like a madmanand hotels have that we've partnered
with and have worked on it.
Is it, they're seeing incrediblereturn on the investment.
Simon (32:04):
You know, right, right away.
The first thing I think of is whenyou start to create awareness around
something like that, it explodes.
Right?
Like it's just the, it's, I love that youcan, you're able to roll like different
pieces in different places and just haveit still grab, 'cause that's amazing.
You know, I, I say all the time to, to mychef clients, it's like, Hey, if you just,
(32:26):
if you pay attention to a number, right?
If you pay attention to like, what'shappening with any number, it will grow.
Sure.
Or it'll go on the rec, butyou gotta pay attention to it.
There's gotta be awareness.
You gotta, you gotta involve your team.
I feel like, you know, you, you startsomething like that and you get your
servers on board and they start to like,be able to, you know, especially if
(32:48):
there's fewer of them, they're like, wait.
Mm-hmm.
There's more, there's more to go around.
Okay.
Correct.
You know, and so, correct.
Uh, good stuff, man.
I, I just loved sittingin the future with you.
Kenneth (33:01):
You know, and, and it's the amazing thing because you talk
to, to hotel leaders and you explainto them how much money is, is being
left on the table and what kind ofexperience we can provide to the guests.
Right?
Right.
When you combine those twothings, that's when you start
(33:24):
to see some, some ears perk up.
Um, because, and for, and rightfully so.
The, the first and foremostpriority is making sure that we
take care of the guest, right?
That's the, the top priority.
But if we can do that while increasingthe level of the guest experience
(33:45):
and also drastically driving revenue,
you, you start to see people, the wheelsand people's heads start turning, right.
How the heck can we do that?
That's the thing, like especially in thehotel side, it's, it's something that
really hasn't been done for a long time.
Like Right.
(34:06):
You look at hotels, their f and bline on, uh, profit and loss report
is driven by events banquets.
Oh, wow.
Simon (34:17):
It's,
Kenneth (34:18):
I mean, for the longest time restaurants and, and outlets
and bars, they've been a loss leader.
So now we're, we're taking somethingthat has traditionally been
something that costs the propertymoney to operate, but is there just
because it's an amenity, right?
And now we're flipping it and we're,we're doing something that is driving
(34:44):
revenue, creating a, an experiencethat people wanna be a part of.
It's a win-win all the way around.
Awesome.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Well,
Simon (34:56):
I, I've learned a couple things today.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
That's good stuff.
Um, and I think we've definitelycovered some ground, man.
I, I mean, you think about thefact that we came from customer
experience onto creating somenew experiences for hotel guests.
I, I think that's pretty phenomenal.
Um.
I'm gonna make sure that in the shownotes that we can find you at Savage,
(35:19):
Savage or hospitality and they can,I assume you're on, you know, I know
you're on LinkedIn, so, uh, we'll makesure that that's in there as well.
Appreciate it.
I just really wanna thank you for comingto play and hang out in my sandbox for a
little while and, and share what's goingon with you and, and what's uh, kind of
what's new in the world of hospitality.
'cause it's pretty exciting stuff, man.
Like, like I say, the futhe future, sitting in
Kenneth (35:41):
the future is kinda awesome.
The people that I have conversations with,both inside and outside of the industry,
I owe I I tell them constantly the nexttwo to three years for our industry in
the hotel space, it's, it's gonna be, it'san exciting time to be a part of this.
It really is.
Yeah.
(36:01):
Awesome.
Simon (36:03):
Well, uh, once again, thank you so much for coming to play
and, uh, to all you out there.
I'm gonna catch you on the flip side.
We'll see you next time.
Kenneth (36:11):
Thank you, chef.
You've been listeningto Culinary Mechanic.
This show exists to help you leadwith more clarity, build systems
that actually work and create akitchen culture worth showing up for.
If this episode helped you moveeven one step in that direction, do
me a favor, leave a quick review.
It helps more chefs and operators stop thechaos and start leading with intention.
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