Hotel restaurants’ challenges and critical success factors in Klang Valley, Malaysia: the inseparable roles of support centers and revenue streams

Abstract

Hotel restaurants are of great importance in hotels, and the factors for this have so far been considerably understudied. This study investigated the challenges and critical success factors (CSFs) of restaurants owned and operated by five-star luxury hotels in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Four exemplar hotels were studied and 10 respondents responsible for hotel restaurants' planning and operations were sampled in this multiple case study approach. A total of 13 challenges were identified, and thematic analysis found 10 common CSFs crucial to hotel restaurants. Among the 10 CSFs, 2 distinctive CSFs were identified playing exceptional roles, including: (1) the inseparable linkage between hotel restaurants and support centers, as well as (2) the inseparable linkage between hotel restaurants and revenue streams. Moreover, this study broadened the retrospective understanding of the term "inseparability" in service organizations, and also contributed several implications for hotel restaurant managers to incorporate into their businesses

Importance of F&B operation in luxury hotels: the case of Asia versus the US

“…This study examined four dependent variables, namely, occupancy (log of revenue per available room [LogRevPAR], ADR (log of revenue per available room [LogRevPAR], revenue per available room (LogRevPAR = log [total rooms revenue/the number of total available rooms]) and GOPPAR (LogGOPPAR = log [total revenue – total expense/the number of total available rooms]) (Lee et al , 2019). The natural log was used for all dependent variables to enhance the normality of distribution.…”

“…These phenomena are prevalent in several hotels that partner with nearby local restaurants or contracted with famous chain restaurants (Millili, 2019). They are reflected in the studies on hotels that focused on rooms rather than restaurants (Lee et al , 2019). Thus, the literature lacks the study on the role and significance of F&B services in the overall hotel performance (Gordin et al , 2016; Kapera, 2015; Mun et al , 2019).…”

“…Along with the trend of gastronomic tourism (i.e. luxury consumptions), certain hospitality studies have investigated consumer behaviors in luxury hotel restaurants (Chen et al , 2015; Han and Hyun, 2017; Han et al , 2019; Han and Seo, 2016; Lee et al , 2019).…”

“…Moreover, dining in hotel restaurants is common for local customers in Asia that many hotels serve local food and aggressively advertise their restaurants to attract more local customers (e.g. Malaysia) (Lee et al , 2019). These findings may characterize the culinary culture in Asia, where “to the people foodstuff is all important” (Tsai et al , 2011, p. 262).…”

“…On the other hand, the independent restaurants and bars have continuously evolved and competed with the hotels’ F&B services in terms of food quality and menu price. Unlike the hotels’ F&B operations, independent restaurants and bars quickly embrace the needs of the market with high creativity, vibrancy and locally inspired concepts (Gordin et al , 2016; Lee et al , 2019). Hence, the position of F&B services in the hotel market has faced severe internal and external challenges over the past few decades, particularly due to the fast growth of new luxury restaurants (O’Fallon and Rutherford, 2011; Hwang and Hyun, 2013; Han and Hyun, 2017).…”