#hospitality

#hospitality

Our critic enjoys the warm hospitality and some good food, but the wine list needs a revamp Dún Laoghaire is a town of two halves. The folk who flock here at weekends to walk the piers, eat from market stalls and drink coffee on the terrace of Happy Out, located in the old baths, are envious of those who live here.

As a traveler, I've been privileged. Not due to family wealth or a secret benefactor, but the fortune of falling into a travel writing career that has included 10,000 hours, and then some, at hotels and resorts around the world. These stays - sometimes comped, sometimes not; sometimes incognito, sometimes not - are turned into reviews, guides, listings, features, profiles, round-ups for print and online publications. Topics run the gamut, too, from service, amenities and facilities to design, architecture and technology.

The startup's software automates tip pooling, compliance, and payments, giving employers transparency while helping staff receive earnings faster and more fairly. The founders' inspiration came from their experience in the United States, where structured tip management proved to boost morale and retention. In the UK, they saw operators "drowning in admin" - using sprawling Excel sheets to manage tronc systems while facing rising National Insurance costs and new legal obligations.

One sip here and you might think you've stumbled into a Parisian salon from another era, not a cocktail bar tucked into the heart of Brooklyn. Bar Rêve opened earlier this month at the corner of Smith and Butler Streets in Cobble Hill, bringing a cosmopolitan flair to its craft with a curated selection of specialty cocktails. Guests receive the cocktail menu in a bound book, which can also be purchased, and is refreshed every 12 to 18 months.

The steep rise in hospitality wages to a record high will come as a big concern to the sector, particularly following a prolonged period of subdued sales. This puts more pressure on margins, with every £1 increase in wages also leading to additional employers' NIC, resulting in a double whammy on operators' costs.

"I've been camping and hiking my whole life, I moved to San Francisco and I saw the pace of life among my friends and people that I met. They said they were too stressed and I realized that they needed the nature experience that I grew up having, but they didn't know how to do it. They don't have the gear or the time and they don't know where to go...so my business partner and I realized that we should start a glamping business that made it easier for people to get outdoors, but it had to be comfortable, easy, and also fun,"

In her speech at the conference, the home secretary said that if someone wanted to stay in the UK permanently, they would have to contribute. She said: "I will be proposing a series of new tests, such as being in work, making National Insurance contributions, not taking a penny in benefits, learning English to a high standard, having no criminal record and that you have truly given back to your community, such as by volunteering your time to a local cause."

Some people truly shine when it comes to being a house guest. Whether they're stopping by for dinner or staying the whole week, there's a list of spoken and unspoken etiquette rules to follow, and they nail it every time. While it's obviously the host's job to make their guest feel comfy, there are plenty of things the guest can do in return to be just as thoughtful. Things like taking their shoes off at the door, cleaning up after dinner, or making the bed every morning of their stay.

For those willing to pay, booking a VIP package for highly-anticipated concerts, such as Taylor Swift's Eras tour, is an increasingly attractive prospect. For one, it makes it much more likely that you'll bag a ticket in the first instance, as they tend to sell out more slowly than general admission, which are often long gone before most people are even graced with the chance to buy (we haven't forgotten the 2025 Oasis tour debate).

The hospitality industry continues to evolve, and strategic leadership appointments are crucial for maintaining competitive advantage in today's dynamic food and beverage landscape. The historic Amway Grand Plaza in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has just made three pivotal moves that signal a new era of culinary excellence and operational innovation. AHC Hospitality, the Grand Rapids-headquartered management company overseeing more than 15 hotels and 30 restaurants, has announced a comprehensive restructuring of the Amway Grand Plaza's food and beverage leadership team.

You may know your paratha from your roti. You may have even mastered how to pronounce the trickier dishes on the menu, such as paneer lababdar. The modern gourmand knows that they have to steer clear of the major mistakes that people commonly make at Indian restaurants. But beyond the finer nuances of the menu, there is a world of unspoken rules of dining etiquette that govern every Indian meal.

"I have a rule: I never accept an invitation if I don't want to invite somebody back," Garten told Esquire. According to Garten, you should never invite anyone because you feel obliged, and she is right! Fewer things are more uncomfortable than extending an invitation to someone whose company you don't enjoy, and on the flip side, no one wants to go to a dinner party if the invitation wasn't genuine.

Tillingham is essentially a natural biodynamic wine production business working over 70 acres of gently rolling countryside, near Rye and the Romney Marshes in East Sussex. If only their main trouble was making bottles of chardonnay and pinot blanc, or selling pretty Tillingham tea towels at 36 a pop. But no, Tillingham has (quite literally) many other plates to juggle: it has a fancy restaurant and a vast barn from which they serve pizza, too.

With a customer base that's spending less in the face of a cost-of-living crisis and rising operational costs (including higher rents and energy prices, a VAT rate of 20%, and increases in National Living Wage and National Insurance contributions), restaurant owners are watching profit margins get thinner and thinner. Richard H. Turner of Bodean's broke it down like this: "25 years ago, you would be trying to hit a 20% net profit.

"At her last Budget, the Chancellor chose to increase further the duty burden on an industry already weighed down by excessive tax and regulation," Kent said. "Despite that decision, tax receipts have not gone up; and more UK pubs and restaurants have been forced to close. Everyone connected with hospitality knows that pubs, restaurants and other venues cannot survive on beer alone - all rely on spirits for profits."

Managed pubs outperformed restaurants throughout the first half of the year, and they again achieved the best growth of the Tracker's segments in July, at 0.6%. They were boosted by periods of warm weather in many parts of Britain, but comparisons were held down by the Euro 2024 football tournament, which brought millions of people out to watch games in pubs last July.

Just over half (53%) of leaders say revenue increased year-on-year over the second quarter-nearly double the 28% who say it dropped. However, increases are largely the result of higher menu prices and new openings, and the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker has indicated broadly flat spending on a like-for-like basis in the first half of 2025. Meanwhile, higher costs-including higher minimum pay levels and National Insurance contributions from April, as well as sustained inflation in food and drink-have hurt the margins of many operators.

Golden Avenue, designed by J.AR OFFICE, has opened as a new hospitality destination for the heart of Brisbane's CBD neighborhood. The multi-level restaurant and bar precinct is conceived as a lush courtyard for the city, combining architecture, interiors, and landscape to create an urban sanctuary within a dense commercial district. The project is operated by the hospitality group Anyday, which calls for the venue to introduces a spatial typology that emphasizes openness, greenery, and climate-responsive design rather than enclosed dining environments typical of the CBD.