With the weather beginning to turn, winter is now a distant memory with the hospitality industry looking ahead to the summer period. The coming months bring with them the hope of a staycation summer for UK inhabitants along with plenty of international tourists coming to visit the British Isles. We appreciate the past few months have not been great for businesses following February’s record levels of inflation and the energy crisis which has culminated in April’s increased price cap. However, a report undertaken in September 20211 found that 83% of domestic tourists hoped to enjoy a UK holiday in 2022, with 24% having already booked one.

In turn, it makes sense for hospitality businesses such as hotels, B&Bs, hostels and other such establishments to begin taking stock of what products may require replacing ahead of summer. Here, at Alliance Online we aim to highlight the various areas you may want to upgrade and what options are available to your business.

Minibars

There’s a good chance your guest rooms contain a minibar and if so, it may be equally safe to say these are nothing more than a background appliance which you may have gone blind to. If so, there is no shame in that, they are easy to overlook. When checking the condition of your minibars we’d recommend first checking the cleanliness of them. Naturally your cleaners should be ensuring they are cleaned regularly but sometimes they can become neglected. If so, we would suggest making a conscious effort to add it to your cleaning schedule.

Secondly, we would suggest inspecting the seals surrounding your minibars. They are notorious for breaking due to the high volume of wear they experience as a result of continued opening and shutting. You may ask why the seals are important, the short answer is a broken seal can lead to increased energy costs.

But how does this happen?

Broken seals create a gap between the cold cavity of the minibar and the external warmer room, the gap promotes thermal equalisation of the cavity to room temperature. The reason the minibars temperature doesn’t ever become the same as the room is because the internal sensor of the minibar recognises the rise in temperature and actively cools down it down to keep the pre-set temperature. As the seal is broken the minibar has to work harder to keep itself cool by using more electricity to maintain the internal climate. With the rising energy cap, it is within businesses best interest to check the state of minibars as they could end up costing you more.

You may simply want to replace the whole unit for newer, more efficient models. If so, we’d recommend either ISM’s or Tefcold’s options as both perform brilliantly and are manufactured by industry reputable companies.

Linens and Towels

The next area we would suggest looking at is your linen and towels. Whether you opt for crisp white sheets or a more vibrant tone, the colours need to be clean and full without a hint of wear to impress your guests. Naturally, these products are under constant review to ensure they are clean and not sallow following extended us and washing.

We are not delving into the realms of best washing practices as most hotels already employ a good cleaning strategy where their linens and towels are concerned. Instead, we would suggest keeping a closer eye on certain sheets opposed to others:

· The mattress sheet: This gets the most direct contact with your users, or more importantly their skin. Due to its thinness, it can quickly lose its colour and fade. If you are opting for white, then simply ensure staff monitor the condition of it. If possible, we’d recommend a darker colour as they tend to hold their shade better without fading as quickly.

· Pillow and duvet covers: Much like the mattress sheet these too are prone to a high volume of skin contact, albeit it normally on one side. Much like the mattress cover ensure these are regularly checked, specifically the side which is in contact with your guest.

· Throws and runners: These may be a part of the bed presentation but generally speaking they do not require replacement anywhere near as much as the previous linens. It is still best practice to review them but providing there is no permanent staining you will get much more wear out of them.

Moving onto towels, these have obviously been subject to national customer education regarding only requesting they be washed after a few uses opposed to after every use. This lack of washing should already be extending the general life of your towels, but you may be looking at them and thinking they may be past their best. If so, we would recommend opting for white towels as they appear the cleanest and freshest looking. There is also something aesthetically pleasing for customers to see fresh bright white towels on their bed upon checking into their room.

Bathroom Amenities

With the new year you may be trying a new colour scheme or possibly changing up your menu if you offer such services? One area often overlooked are bathroom amenities. How long have you had your current range and is it a scent you like or simply one that offers your customers a clean smelling option?

Why not review what options are available to give your bathroom a newer smell and your customers something different? You could go with well-known brands such as Dove or Lux or maybe go with some eco-options if your business has green goals. Two ranges which have fantastic environmental benefits include ECO from Green Culture and Geneva Green. Both offer products which deliver brilliantly regarding cleaning and smell whilst having great eco-credentials.

Beverage Sets

Whether you offer complimentary tea and coffee in your rooms or a full bedroom beverage service you’ll still want to check your options ahead of the summer period. Firstly, you may want to check what tea and instant coffee products are on the market and ultimately what tastes best. Your guests may have travelled for hours so having access to a good cuppa upon arrival in their room is a great way to start a holiday.

Equally, the cup they are served in is also important. You don’t want your visitors feeling short-changed by the size of the mugs or cups in their room. Don’t be afraid to replace your current cups with larger, more shapely options ranging from large, bowled cappuccino cups like the Royal GenWare range to tall mugs. Also check your in-room kettle can hold enough water to fill the two cups, you do not want your guests to have to boil the kettle twice just so they can enjoy a brew.

Breakfast Service

The last item on our list of aspects to review before summer is your breakfast service items. Naturally this includes a variety of different utensils and serveware, so we’ll keep it to key products:

· Crockery: Traditionally breakfast is served on whiteware, but you may be wanting to ditch the ordinary and opt for something more nouveau? Grey is on trend at present as is pastel blue, both of which lend themselves to morning serving. Both are great for highlighting the bolder colours of the traditional fry-up like the reds of the tomato and sunny aspect of eggs.

· Cutlery: We would always recommend sticking with stainless steel for breakfast but why not change your offering to a hammered range or possibly a sleeker option like the Linear range from Elia.

· Serveware: We appreciate this is a little broad but in this we would incorporate items such as salt and pepper shakers, table caddies, napkin holders, toaster racks and other tabletop products. Most of your customers may be blind to them but they add to the breakfast scenery your visitors experience. They need not be luxury, but they should be clean and pristine so if you have any which are stained, scratched or generally worse for wear then we’d recommend restocking.

· Glassware: The breakfast service glassware offering is normally limited to orange juice and water tumblers, but this doesn’t mean they need to be boring. Do away with the uninspired basic tumbler and inject a hint of personality with some crystal-style tumblers or opt for more unique options that will give your juice selection a touch of fun.

· Buffetware: Consider the presentation and effectiveness of your buffet serving items. If you have chafing dishes, do they still retain heat and keep food warm? Are your bread baskets frayed or worn, are they set out in an easy to follow and flowing manner for guests?

· Tablecloths & Runners: The final part we will discuss for breakfast is the table linens, namely the cloths and runners. Naturally white is an obvious choice, but you could look to incorporate your company colours into your breakfast service with a well-placed runner bearing a complimentary tone.

Ultimately, stock and quality assessment are activities which should be carried out year-round, but the spring period is a perfect opportunity for the hospitality industry to review ahead of summer. As the warmer months begin to materialise the UK hospitality market will be flooded with tourism trade of which much may be made up of domestic tourists.

Alliance Online provide a wide range of hospitality essentials for the industry. Our offering has been assembled over our 23 years of supplying the hospitality industry and public sector. For more information regarding hospitality essentials or how one of our local reps could help you, please contact us on 0844 844 4300 or email us at hello@allianceonline.co.uk

References

1. Travel Weekly – Staycation boom ‘to continue into 2022’: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/staycation-boom-to-continue-into-2022