Van hotelier tot restaurateur: F&B opnieuw gedefinieerd

the Future of HospitalityYou had a fifty year career where you walked away from, and you decided to to do something different. Can you maybe tell us a little bit about that journey? Like, how did you start and where did it go to? And and, for example, why did you do that?

Scot TurnerYeah. For sure. And I I grew up in hotels. Hotels was where I I learned my trade, and I worked for some of the best brands hotel brands in the world. And I got to hotel manager of the Intercontinental in London. We opened the the hotel, and after three years, I just realized that food and beverage was my passion. That's what drove me every day. That's what I love doing. And the further and further I was getting up the chain in hotels, I was getting further and further away from from doing what I loved, which was being in restaurants and bars with the teams, creating concepts, creating brands.

Scot TurnerAnd it was at that point where I decided to to leave hotels and go work in restaurants and bars full time, and moved to Dubai. Went to work in independent restaurants. Worked in independent restaurants for eight years. I've now opened over 40 restaurants, three hotels, worked in 14 different countries. I was the COO of an investment business. We were we were managing a $175,000,000 worth of annual revenue from 85 restaurants Wow. Across 16 brands. And I've realized that independent restaurateurs think a very different way to hotel food and beverage people and hoteliers. And, that's where Arden Hospitality was born. And, now I decided to kind of bring that restauranteur mindset back to hotels, which is very much where, I grew up and bring some of that mindset, some of that thinking to kind of, change the way that food and beverage is seen because we haven't really evolved the product in twenty five years. And it's time to kinda bring a different mindset because the the travelers are changing as a they want different things, and we have to start moving the product. So think more like a restaurant, less like a a hotelier

the Future of Hospitalityabout your food and beverage, and you'll get very different results. Yeah. Is it so big, the the difference, if you have the different mindset? It

Scot Turneris. Yeah. I think so. Because, you know, like, it's when I went to to restaurants, for example, I'll give one example of of what the difference was, is, I got the first ever belt on the restaurant that I was working in Dubai. Busy, busy venue called Reform Social and Grow. And, they had this line underneath, GOP, and it was rents, rates, utilities, business tax, and then there was net profit. And working in hotels all my career, I'd I'd never seen those lines on a plane. And I was questioning the finance guy about why these funny amounts were on BNL, and all of a sudden, the profit was, like, significantly less. And he just looked at me, he just went, welcome to restaurants, Sunshine. I was like, okay. There we go.

Scot TurnerWe have to think of it differently because we have to make this massive chunk extra on the bottom line every every month to cover all these things that have never done the hotel p and l before. So because of that, you have to innovate more. You have to tell your stories more because you don't have big brands that and to do that for you above the hotel door. You don't have hotel guests sitting above that can naturally flow into your into your venues. You don't have lots of meeting space and things like that that can bring big chunks of cash flow. You So have to think very differently about the business to to really keep people coming to get and again and again. And this is why I always talk about the message about how we should always focus on the local community and hotels because that's where we're gonna create a real foundation of our business. That's what restaurateurs do. They focus on the local community. How do they get people coming back again and again? And that's the innovation part. They're always building, recreating reasons for guests to come back. And then finally, no one's going to tell their story for them. They have to engage with that community, whether it's online, whether it's in the in the restaurant or the bar, and they have to tell their stories to keep back again and again and again as well. So when you think like a restauranteur, it's just a very different mindset than when you're relying on hotel by choose inside of them. So it's kind of like a a business in a business, and people see it as a just a small feature,

the Future of HospitalityBut it's like a business. You have a restaurant in your hotel, so you have to look at it as a restaurant on its own. And that, of course, can comprehend all the other stuff that the hotel does. Right?

Scot TurnerIt it it's true. And and, you know, I think a lot of the time, restaurants in hotels are seen as an amenity, and it's more around the function of that restaurant in a hotel that is treating it like a restaurant that is going to drive people in from outside. So, you know, throughout fifteen years of hotels, I was always told breakfast is such a part because it influences guest satisfaction surveys and the way guests think about the hotels. And, you know, meeting in events is really important. This is cash is, and and that that's the cash cow. And, actually, I was lucky because I worked in hotel brands that had very forward thinking food and beverage and very busy food and beverage. So I always grew up with a bit of that creativity anyway. We create concepts, not necessarily amenities and functions.

Scot TurnerBut when I go into hotels a lot now, we they're they're just focusing too much on on that breakfast and that functional

the Future of Hospitalityamenities side of the business. Less about how do we create fun and exciting venues where people just want to come and they want to visit and they want to come back two or three times a week. Exactly. But but why is it do you think, like, why do general managers think like this? Like, why is that gap so big of seeing it as an amenity instead of looking at it as a restaurateur? Like, why is that gap so big?

Scot TurnerI think do do you know what? Hotels were always the place where people went, and that was before probably before COVID, before social media, before deskless working. Hotels were the place to meet. They were the places to do business deals. When you wanted to celebrate, you went to hotels because they were seen as high end and all the rest of it. And I think we had it too easy. If I look back at my time in in in hotels, I left in 2015. We we had it really easy because we were the place people went. But what we haven't done in hotels is evolved with how the modern traveler is evolving.

Scot TurnerSo, you know, when you go into lounges hubs and the tables are really difficult to work from, they don't have plugs next to them so people can plug the laptops You know, when music is too loud and tea and coffee is twice the price of what it costs to sit in the local coffee shop. That's why hotel lounges aren't busy anymore because they haven't evolved with what the guest now wants with their experience. So I think it's becoming much more prominent in terms of how hotels just haven't moved with the times, and it's starting to come out now because hotels are relying much more on food and beverage to to make money because TrevPar has become the new metric that everyone's being benchmarked against. So now all of a sudden, it's not on that RevPAR. It's on the TrevPar. Important now to bring people in from outside and really get your food and beverage outlets alive with people from the local community that come through. And also, you know, traditionally, GMs have come up through the route side as well. Yeah. So I think sometimes it's it's knowledge, it's experience, and it's what do we do next, which is where we as Oddin try and come in and help give the mindset and the thinking and our experience of of being on both sides of the camp to go we understand what it takes to make a great breakfast and to run room service and to do the banquet, but we also know how to set up restaurants with independent thinking that can bring people from outside. And it's very much the thought process when we create concepts for people is we always focus on the locals because we know that if we fill the venue with local people, with community, with the neighborhood around, the hotel guests will naturally want to come there anyway because they're gonna wanna know where it's busy. They're gonna wanna know why their hotel's so busy. And Exactly. People now are looking for local authentic experience.

Scot TurnerSo if you're if the locals are hanging out in your view, naturally, they're gonna go there because that's where they want to that's why they're coming to to the local area anyway. So Yeah. There's a few reasons why, but

the Future of HospitalityThat's a good point. Yeah. There's a huge opportunity. Yeah. I like that point. It's kind of the when you go to a new place that you don't know, you want to go to the places that the locals go. And, of course, you want that social proof that if you go to a restaurant and nobody's there, even though the hotel says TripAdvisor says it's a great place, you still think, yeah, great place, but not really because nobody's here. So and me, myself, I always look for, like, a like, food is one of my top sounds kind of like a hungry guy, but food is my top priority when I go to a hotel or place. The food is to be in our experience, it has to be amazing.

Scot TurnerYep. Yeah. I agree with that. And I think I saw a statistic that I shared on a keynote that that I did in San Antonio, and it was now 65% of people in hotel bedrooms are making the decision based on food and beverage. And that's not necessarily the food and beverage in the hotel, but it's they they go TripAdvisor. They go on YouTube. They go on TikTok, and they look at where the best place is to eat and drink are and experience that local authenticity, and they're booking hotels around that area. So if you can create amazing F and B, you're going to naturally get those people in your hotel restaurants and bars because that's why they're coming to book your hotel. So it's just a huge opportunity now to really look at that modern traveler, really appeal to what they want from their state.

Scot TurnerAnd if you can deliver on it, it's a huge opportunity that that probably we haven't had before.

the Future of HospitalityYeah. That's it sounds like a real great opportunity because from what I'm thinking at the moment right now is that, let's say, you have a nice room in the hotel. Of course, you can promote it. You can take a picture, video. But eventually, after a few pictures, the room is done and you can't do it anymore Yeah. Because it's quite the same. But with food, you can always trigger people, and especially on social media, it always triggers people to, ah, this looks nice, looks you know, the experience, the the environment, to the way more to to, you know, trigger people into wanting to to look at your hotel or come to your hotel. So I really like that the point. And if I can ask, like, what is, like okay. Of course, you can do it, like, perfect. Let's say I'm a I'm a GM at the hotel. I understand that there's always better and better and better. But what are the first, like, easy steps I can do as a general manager to improve my, you know, food and beverage mindset, Laura. Like, do some practical things that can improve it. Yep.

Scot TurnerYeah. For sure. So I'll tell you through some of the process that we do when when we first go in venues with Arjun is the first thing we do is we go and ask as many different people who work in the hotel what the food and beverage venue, one sentence. So one line, what is the hotel? How do you describe it to guests? And we find quite a bit that that story changed depending on who we would talk to, the front office, the waiter, the salesperson, the finance guy. What that tells us is this isn't clear. So we that's where we always start is what is the venue, what is it trying to be, who is the target market, and how do we tell people it says what it is, and it's amazing how much difference that can change on people's beliefs.

Scot TurnerOnce we've done that, we then go in and look at what the core principles are of the brand, and and that's really down to the DNA. And we create four words that explain what that venue or that concept is. And what that why that's important is that then becomes like your no staff for the for the concept. So when you then go and see a menu, when your marketing team present a marketing plan to you, when your f and b guy will change the cocktail list, you go back to those four words and use them as the benchmark. So let's say, for example, we're working on one at the minute. It's Western India for a hotel, and we've got a vibrant, fun, traditional, and modern.

Scot TurnerSo we go back. So every time we create something in terms of the concept development, we go back and we go, okay. Does it hit those parameters? Yeah. Has it got tradition as the essence of what it's about, but we put modern touch onto it? Is it fun? That might be tone of voice. It might be the way we've worded the menu or description, and is it vibrant? So have we got lots of colors popping, or is there an opportunity where it can, like, bring vibrancy? That might be the music. It might be the menu. It might be it could be whatever it is. If whatever's being presented to us doesn't hit those four things, we know it's not on on concept, on brand. So we can we can then people back and we can use that as a reference point. It's very clear and there's no ambiguity.

Scot TurnerSo I think that that's the other place. Make your concept super clear and then put these parameters around it where everyone understands what the brand looks like so that then everything that's created for the brand fits within that. So that that kind of clears the concept and the story element out of it. The next thing I would say to people is get a real innovation plan going for the year. So create a calendar, look at when you're gonna change the menu, look at when you need to do special LTOs for for the for the for the concepts, whatever that might be. Look at when you're gonna continually evolve what you're doing because you need to give reasons for people to come back again and in. And quite often in hotels, because there's such a long processing, new menu items are putting things on tills because purchasing needs to see and financing,

the Future of Hospitalityetcetera. It

Scot Turnerslows down innovation, but this is what the restaurateurs do really, really well. They don't let process get in the way of it. So they're constantly bringing new dishes. They're constantly evolving. They're constantly doing new things. Nice. And to, you know, to sort of we're with a hotel probably about six months ago now, And we had a chat with the chef, and we're like, okay. Like, how let's come up with some specials. And he's like, okay. I'll I'll come up with five, and then we can rotate them. We said, well, why would you do five and rotate them? And he said, well, because we've gotta put cost the dish out. We've gotta put it in the purchasing system. You know, finance have to put the button on the tail. Yeah. And it takes so long to do it. We can't just put dishes on menus. And I was like, we need to get rid of that process because the whole idea of doing specials is, you know, bringing people back. You're surprising them if they've been two or three times. There's always something different. If they come back so if you have five, they once, and they don't come back for five weeks, They've got the same special against it. It's not special anymore. It's a menu item. So I think it it really look at that innovation and how you can how you can develop it out. And then finally, you have to tell people about what you're doing because there's no point in having a really interesting story.

Scot TurnerConstantly coming up with new ideas and new dishes And hiding it. Not telling anyone. So the last one then is tell people, and every hotel now should have a content creator in their business. Someone who can go around and capture content at Dingle Bear so that you're constantly activating your socials. The days of outsourced agencies where you post three times a week and you might do some just to as if you if they kind of look okay, that is gone. It's gone. Independence around every single day. They've got InstaStar going all day. They've got TikTok. They're active there, YouTube, and things like that. So you have to be able to do it. So get content people into your head, get them capturing the amazing things that are going on in your business, and then tell the world about it through different forums. You know, I I shared a couple of examples in in the keynote again, which was, you know, Fellow, Trinity in Clapham, Cali BBQ Media in in the area. Great examples of people using TikTok and YouTube Yeah. To drive bookings into their business. And, you know, Trinity in Clapham, which is in UK, is now seeing a real trend of bookings driving through YouTube into the restaurant because of what they're doing every single day. They've got a full time content creator in their business. And it's really, really, really important.

Scot TurnerYou know, I I just sat the other day from someone at Google, and 24 to 30 year olds are now using YouTube as a search engine more than using Google. Yeah. So it's really important that you're starting to look at how the future traveler or the traveler you want in your business is is is finding out about your restaurant and bar, and it's really activating it. And I think, you know, a lot of the time, marketing teams, it's the same team with pods as as they do food and beverage, but it's a very different skill. Exactly. So really look at really look at how you can tell your stories and tell them, you know, that restaurateurs would and not hoteliers because it it it is two very different two very different things. So that's kind of the four like, the the the the four things that we're really focusing on at the minute with some of our some of our guests, which is which is all around that that story.

Scot TurnerWhat's the clarity and and the and the the foundations of the story? Well, how do you innovate the product, and then how do you tell everyone about the the great work that you're doing and Yeah. And get through some Yeah. I love it. Real tangible things at start. I really love it. Yeah. I most love loved the four points, but I love the assessment that you do in the beginning about the culture and the DNA because

the Future of HospitalityI think that when you have to put out the menu and you have to put out dishes, etcetera, you have to really think about your DNA and cultures. If you're, of course, at the front desk, you also have to know about the four points. It can always make a difference. But at the menu, it's really, like, concrete. Like, this is what we do, and this is, like, visual. This is, you can see it, and you can taste it, etcetera. So there, it's like really makes a difference to have those four points, like the framework and how we do things and how we how we think and etcetera.

the Future of HospitalityReally like that one. So, yeah, good good points. In regards to because I think, okay. Let's say I'm a hotel general manager. I have, like, a hotel. I have some very hard competition, you know, great restaurants beside me, and our menu is okay at the moment. But I think, like, can I really compete with those guys next to me? It's like is it really like because what you said is also you are or one of the top, or you're not kind of, yeah, competing with anybody. So it's like you have to be like, or eight plus, or it doesn't really matter. That's how I see what what you told me. So how do you handle such an objection when a general manager says that, like, okay. We we can do better, but we won't be like, you know, the top place to go to for the local community. Like, how can you handle this objection?

the Future of HospitalityNot sure if you get that to any chance, but that's what I would think if

Scot TurnerI I you know, I I think if you don't change what you've always done, you don't ever evolve. And, you know, when we when we have conversations and we're we're having conversations at the minute with the with the golf resort, and, you know, the the concept that we're doing is bold for the business that it is, and and we're really pushing them to do something different. They have, you know, they have thousands of members that have used this one particular venue, and we're just kind of looking at it to go, let's create them an identity to to attach to. And some of the ideas are old. Some of the design that we put forward is is bold, is different.

Scot TurnerAnd and we're going through this process with them now where it's it's really about we work with our we call them guests. It's not clients, but we call them guests because growing up through through hospitality, everyone who come to a hotel is guests. So it really feels wrong to call people who work with clients. So we work with our guests, and and it's the way we partner with them, and it's the way we put words the concept is the way we talk them through it. And, you know, I had a conversation with the owner saying, we we don't do these things lightly. We take them seriously, and we feel the responsibility on our shoulders as someone who's helping you and advising you and bringing a different mindset to you and help through the journey to make sure that it's executed as you would want. So the reason I believe people work with us is because we bring that restaurant minds to bring a different way of thinking to normal hotel food and beverage. So it's really about us building that trust, building that confidence, and then we aren't the type of agency that just kind of does the nice fancy manuals, the nice concepts, and then hands it over and says, go up, like, yourself out. I hope it ends up like what we've said. We we have creative people. We have operators, and we go with people through the journey. And then we stick around afterwards for a period of time to help them be brand guardians. So we help them with their future menus. We help them with their marketing plans. We challenge when things are being done, particularly on brand.

Scot TurnerAnd we really want to be part of that journey because we love opening restaurants. We love creating concepts. And, you know, our testament of a great restaurant is one that stands the test of time. So it's one that's in five year time still looks like the original. People love it. It's almost like you need to refresh the restaurant, not involve the rest. So we want to help people be on that journey, and that's why we wanna take them through, hold their hands all the way Nice. Show them that it's gonna be okay, and then help them execute it after so that then once they get into the into the rhythm, once they understand the brand, once they they get into it, then at that point, we we know we can let our kids go off the world and and that type of thing. Yeah. Yeah. So we we do get it a bit, especially when you bring a different mindset. People can get a little bit anxious, a little bit scared.

Scot TurnerBut I think that's that's just down to how we can help people feel confident in some of the ideas that we that we bring. I get it. Good point.

the Future of HospitalityAnd if you can give me, like, a because that's what interests me, like, a real example of how it changed, like, the revenue of hotel and how long did it take before something like that happened.

Scot TurnerYeah. We worked on a cafe concept for a golf resort in Surrey. And these guys are six covers in the in the in the winter, but it goes up to 300 in the summer. And we were talking to their memes and and the people who use the venue, the team, which is always really important to speak to the guys on the floor. Yeah. They'll tell you the truth. Yeah. Use the data to back it up, but they'll they'll they'll they'll point you in the right direction. Exactly. What we're finding is is the kitchen design was just a help of workflow. It was really inefficient, which meant people were queuing for a long time.

Scot TurnerYou know, the food was being rushed because they were getting it backed up and things like that. And and the concept wasn't particularly clear as we as we spoke to people about what it was. So we really looked at the at the concept. We looked at the foundation. It was named the concept was named after the owner's grandmother. She was from Australia. We created an Aussie cafe, an Aussie brunch venue, and we really looked at the workflow of the of the kitchen. We moved some of the kitchen out into the front so that a lot of it was being done in front of the guest. It's quite unusual, which was quite nice, but it but the main reason for doing it was more about helping the efficiency of of the the kitchen and how the kitchen works. And then we we really looked at how we could implement kind of digital ordering and tech to help make the whole ordering process more efficient.

Scot TurnerSo some of it was concept, some of it was operational. Look up to how we could develop again. We have a a French toast of the month. So the first one was lemon rind pie. We've done a tiramisu. We've done rhubarb and custard. We have a different one every month, and that's our way of bringing people back because it's a venue where it has lots of people coming in more or five times a week. So it's really like, how do we keep evolving it? We put a a pastry case in there. We collaborate with a local baker. So, again, we get lots of different cakes and things like that from them. So it's just that real kind of everything changes all the time vibe. There's some dishes that just can't come off the menu now. And, you know, it it took it it was building up. We opened in March, the peak season's obviously summer.

Scot TurnerWhen we went into August year on year, it was it was around 20% increase. It was the most revenue the venue had ever done. Right. And, you know, again, we we've kind of missed every check. We've raised visit frequency of of that venue as well, and it's been really successful in terms of what we've done. Because of that, we've moved on to do a couple of other projects within within the hotel environment. We're doing a full refurb now of the of the main restaurant and bar space as well because of because of what happened on the first one. But, yeah, it was very much back to those principles of of what we said earlier is, you know, like, clarify the story, make life easy for the staff to do what to do. You know, really focus on consistency.

Scot TurnerThat was the one. We you know, our ops director has a background of working in QSR. So he works for McDonald's Subway Shake for for many, many years. And and what I really love about having him in the team is he brings a very different way of thinking again into the operation. So Yeah. When looking at at set up and recipes, we don't look at them in the same way as a lot of hotels do. We really look at, you know, with colored scoops to to make life easier. So, you know, it's one scoop of one blue, one red, three green to to to build dishes.

Scot TurnerYeah. It really helps with consistency. That's how these guys deliver it on a daily basis, exactly the same worldwide. So we look at implementing some of those procedures as well Nice. To really help improve the way things are being done every day. And, you know, if you have a consistent product that constantly evolves, that's delivered at equity, you're 60% there of having a venue that people are gonna come back to again and again. So, yeah, it it it was a really nice one to work on. Nice story. Yeah. See the see the success.

the Future of HospitalityAnd I also think if I can add something that it's kind of also a snowball effect, that if somebody has a great experience in the restaurant, he's going to spend more in the hotel, He's happier guests. He leaves a better review. Yeah. It's always a snowball effect. So and food is one of those first snowball pushes most of the time. Yep. So

Scot TurnerYeah. I I think momentum is a huge thing in in restaurants and bars. You know, once you have once you have momentum, it can it can really supercharge performance Nice. Around equity. You know? When we worked in when I worked in in the investment business, our our our there as as the investors was we went into incubator brands that maybe had one or two locations, and we helped put in systems, procedures, give them the CapEx, the platform to grow and scale. And it was amazing how many times you got a a brand that just seemed to get a little bit of momentum, opening two or three. And then before you know it, it had been ten, fifteen, 20. And I'm a I'm a massive believer in if you can create momentum and get people really low, you can you can really do big things with with what you wanna do, and there's a huge opportunity in hotels to do that.

Scot TurnerYeah.

the Future of HospitalitySo it's the potential is there. Yeah. It sounds like a huge gap from what you tell me now and for what I see in hotels. Not every hotel applies what you say. So there's a lot of things to do for sure. Yeah.

Scot TurnerYeah. For sure. That's that's why we're here. Exactly.

the Future of HospitalityAnd my last question, probably one of the last, like, how do you see the the future of food and beverage? Like, how do you see, like okay. Let's say, in five, ten years, what is the what is making a difference then?

Scot TurnerI let's I really believe that in years to come, you're not going to walk into hotels and see restaurant bars and lounges on repeat in every hotel that you go in. I think rep hotels are gonna start being more innovative about their food and beverage offers. Yes. We'll probably always have a restaurant. Yes. We'll probably always have a bar. I think the the lounge space is probably going to evolve into being much more ish. You know, maybe just a great coffee shop concession on the side could could could do what it needs to do. I think, you know, banqueting is going to evolve using underutilized spaces for maybe little grab and go venues or, you know, undermask, great example of of how you can you can use some some empty space to help unlock, some some revenue. I think meeting and events is is going to massively evolve in terms of, you know, what people want now from meetings versus versus maybe five, ten years ago. Nice. So I think it'd the of of what food and beverage looks like, you know, honestly. I think there's there's lots of detail you can go into in in all of that, but I I I just don't think you're gonna be the same hotel every single location you go to, which, you know, probably when we book a hotel today, we kind of expect the restaurant, expect the breakfast buffet. We expect a bit of a bar, maybe a a lounge space.

the Future of HospitalityI think that's gonna change. I think the ones who do it quicker will be the ones where people are gonna wanna go stay because it it is so different. Yeah. So that's what I get from your from this conversation that one of the most important things that the hotel owners need to do is they need to adapt faster to new things. Because if you stay doing the same thing and especially with the new generation, they want things fast. They want to change fast. If you do the same thing twice or three times, you're out. So I think that adapt adapting fast, that's like one of the key things to do in general, but especially in regards to food and beverage.

Scot TurnerI agree. And and, you know, the modern traveler, we I did a lot of study on this for for the key of the I did change in the mindset. You know, they aren't brand loyal anymore. So the Hilton honors, the Marriott Bonvoy's of the world, they're nice to have. Exactly. The decision maker like like maybe what they used to be. They're now driven by experience. And if they can get the points, then it's great, but it it's not what drives them. So it really look at that modern traveler, what they want. They want an experience. They want convenience. You know, if they can't on the phones or order room service on the phone, book a meeting room on the phone, that type of thing, you know, they're gonna go elsewhere because that's that's what they want. They want experience and convenience, but they want the experience when they want it, and then when they don't want it because it's maybe more functional. So let's take a meeting, for example, a group service.

Scot TurnerThat's when they want the convenience. So they don't wanna wait. They don't wanna talk to people. They just wanna get on the phone, talk to them, and they want it now. The things that they wanna experience your restaurant and bars is the bit that they'll engage with, and they'll judge their stays on Exactly. More than ever before. So you you're absolutely right. What you say is it's it's now let's look at how you can deliver that experience and deliver the functionality part very, very well because that's that's going to drive people into your restaurants. And, you know, back to that stat '65 Yeah. Booking hotels is because of food and beverage. Yeah. There's a huge number of people coming to your hotel that won't be hit by what you have in your hotel. Otherwise, we'll go outside.

the Future of HospitalityThat's a massive opportunity It's a massive there to be taken. Yeah. Yeah. Totally agree. I think also what you said, the the review is really depending on it. And I I live in The Middle East in Israel, and I think that here, 100% of the people choose hotel because of the food, because it's really, part of the culture. So, yeah, it really makes the difference.

Scot TurnerYeah. 100%.

the Future of HospitalityDo we have anything else to add, Scott? Because we can talk for hours because it's really interesting. But do we have anything else that you want to tell, I don't know, general managers or something that you have to say?

Scot TurnerNo. I you know, I I think we've we've we've covered quite a bit there. My my last message on this is, you know, it's back to that thing. Keep doing what you've done. You're not going to get different results. The modern guest is changing. What people want from food and beverage is changing, but there's a huge opportunity in front of us with hotels. You know, look at some of the places closing on the high street, and it's becoming much more difficult to be an independent hotel now because of the the especially, you know, things they hear in The UK in terms of the the pressure from tax and government and things like that. Yeah. But I think that's a huge opportunity for hotels that do have that safety net of bedrooms and Exactly. And and different bench structures and and what have you to better capitalize on maybe where some people fall away from the high street and start getting people back into hotels.

Scot TurnerIt needs a need people to change how they're doing it, but the opportunity is is really high if you can do it. So just look what those guys are doing, see how you can bring it into your hotel and and watch it fly.

the Future of HospitalityI totally agree. Amen, I would say. I I would even say if I can add a little tweak into that one. It's like you said, if you do the same thing that you do at the moment, you're getting the same results. I think it will even mean that if you do the same thing that you do at the moment, you'll get worse results because the gap is widening because of the modern traveler. It isn't like like ten years ago, like, there are there was also a change in generations, but now it's so it's going to grow so big that you really have to do what they they expect because, otherwise, the gap what you do now won't be even relevant, they won't even come and even have a coffee. It's, like, not relevant for them anymore.

Scot TurnerNo. 100%. I think you're absolutely I think you're absolutely right. And, yeah, it's funny. I was I was in where was it now? I was in a hotel two weeks ago, and I had four cups of tea. I'm English. Right? I had four cups of tea. I was with guy called Richard who helps us with all our brand strategies. And, yeah, four four pots of tea, it cost £8 each. So I think my total bill with service charge was looking at around 30 odd pounds. If I had gone to a coffee shop, I'd have probably paid half, if not more than that. So it's more than just the product. It's more than but, you know, like, aren't using hotels for much more than just, you know Yeah. Just the concept and and what it is. I think it needs a real big change. I think we really need to start using the benchmark because you're right. You know, people

the Future of Hospitalityit it will stay the same. It will go back. I think I think that's a that's a really good point. Cool, man. I really want to thank you for your time and for your great insights. My pleasure. It was nice to to have you here, and that's it, man. Really looking forward to what you're coming to going to do. I'm following your LinkedIn post, so for sure, hope to see a lot of nice stuff.