The ADD format, with its large footprint and continuous meal service, remains a fixture in most hotels. Outside of breakfast, however, traffic can be thin. Lunch is often driven by in-house meetings, while dinner, is typically a matter of necessity rather than guest preference. While buffets may fill seats during peak periods, they often struggle to fulfill margin expectations. High guest volume can make hotel buffets profitable, but mediocre food quality and limited variety make it difficult to consistently attract diners.

Today’s diners are much more discerning. They seek culinary discovery. Travellers increasingly rely on social media and digital recommendations to explore the local dining scene while residents are likely to favour independent venues with clear culinary identities. According to JLL’s Hotel Operators Sentiment Survey 2025/2026[1], 59% of hotels in Asia Pacific have reported a declining covers trend, and 51% of them have observed a generally declining average check size.

In this environment, hotel restaurants must earn their place at the table. Yet many international brands continue to enforce rigid F&B frameworks that limit local responsiveness. Global standards around menu design, supplier sourcing, and concept uniformity may be well-intentioned but they leave little room for adaptation. Even operators who want to innovate often find themselves constrained by what their brand permits, rather than what their market desires.

Meanwhile, owners are paying closer attention. Underutilised outlets, growing operating costs and softening top-line performance are driving a reassessment of the role and returns of F&B in the broader asset strategy. Focusing on upselling and/or incremental revenues becomes then a priority for 31% of hotels in Asia Pacific that are experiencing F&B margin compression according to JLL’s Hotel Operators’ Sentiment Survey 2025/2026, followed by optimising labour efficiency for 29% of them.

Too many hotel restaurants still operate in ‘coping’ mode: reducing service hours, cutting menus, and running lean teams just to get by. While these measures may contain losses in the short term, they are rarely a long-term solution.

Others, however, are choosing to compete, intentionally and creatively. They are investing in distinctive concept that appeal to guests and locals alike. They are rethinking operations, embracing flexibility, and treating F&B not as a sideline, but as a brand signature.

The future likely belongs to this second group.

Hotels that regard F&B as a strategic differentiator — one that shapes guest perception, drives local engagement, and strengthens the asset narrative — will be better positioned to compete, and win, in today’s fast-changing landscape.

JLL’s Hotel Operators Sentiment Survey 2025/2026 report will be available online in September 2025.