Taking stock: Food & Beverage in the hotel world – steady, but ready for a leap

The newly released Food & Beverage Report 2025 from Auden Hospitality makes one thing clear: F&B in hotels continues to be a reliable corner of revenue, yet the margin and momentum story is far from facile. In both the UK and US markets, F&B remains roughly one-fifth of total hotel revenue.

In the UK, food is edging ahead while beverage is softening – a sign that guests are becoming more selective in their spend, favouring quality or experience over quantity. Meanwhile in the US: stronger gains. An uplift in F&B revenue per occupied room, up ~17% year-on-year, highlights that guest spend is rising, albeit from a base still behind 2019 profitability levels.

1. Margins are under pressure – labour costs dominate
   The report highlights that labour is now the “single largest factor limiting profitability”. For us working in PR, marketing and communications, this means the storylines around F&B shouldn’t only be about the cuisine or décor – operators need to communicate how they’re innovating operations, investing in teams, using tech, or re-thinking labour models. That makes for richer storytelling.
2. Beverage programmes need re-thinking
   As the report notes, while food is holding up, beverage in hotel F&B is softening. For restaurant groups and hotel F&B teams, this says: don’t rely on the old “bar pull” model. Perhaps consider focused beverage narratives, elevated mixology, smaller batch spirits, guest-experience moments. For PR, that’s a chance to craft fresh angle pieces: not just “new menu launch” but “how we’re turning our bar from cost centre into guest magnet”.
3. Space, design and guest behaviour are evolving
   The data shows that in the UK, F&B revenue per occupied room is largely flat (stable but stagnant), whereas in the US the surge indicates that concentrating guest spend in fewer outlets can drive the result. This means for hospitality brands and hotel groups: think about how you zone your F&B space, how you market the guest experience, how you encourage spend. From a comms vantage: this opens up strategy talk for us—how to build narrative around “destination F&B” rather than “addon to stay”.

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For restaurant groups and hotel F&B businesses we work with (and I know many of our contacts in London’s hotel world will resonate): the fundamentals are solid. F&B is still a revenue centre. But you can’t just rely on “same old” anymore. The story you tell matters: how you operate, how you innovate, how you make the guest feel this is a compelling reason to come in (or stay) rather than just another meal.

For us at Palm, that means we’ll lean into messaging around operational excellence, guest-behaviour insight, and differentiated F&B experiences – not just the menu, but the mindset. If you’re in hotel F&B, in a London-based luxury property or restaurant-group, let’s talk about how you’re going to use the data from the report to craft your next campaign.