How to Choose the Right Firm to Design a Profitable Restaurant for Your Hotel or Resort
By Livit Design Editorial Team · 2026 · 14 min read
Choosing the wrong partner means years of lost revenue, premature refits, and operational friction that no budget had anticipated. Choosing the right one transforms the food and beverage area into the property’s most powerful profit driver.
This practical guide explains which factors genuinely determine the profitability of a hotel dining concept, which criteria to apply when selecting your strategic partner, and which mistakes teams most commonly make when taking this decision without the right information.
Why Choosing the Right Firm Is the Most Important Decision in a Hotel Restaurant Project
Many hotel and resort management teams treat the choice of restaurant design firm as a secondary decision. The primary decision, in their framework, is the concept itself: what type of restaurant, what cuisine, what atmosphere. The firm comes afterwards, as the executor of a vision already defined.
This approach is one of the most costly mistakes in the sector.
30–60%
More RevPASH
Hotels that invest in restaurant design firms with an integrated approach generate between 30% and 60% more revenue per available seat hour than those that separate aesthetic design from operational strategy.
The Five Factors That Determine the Profitability of a Hotel Restaurant
Before evaluating firms, it is essential to understand what makes a hotel restaurant profitable:
1
Feasibility Study Prior to Design
A profitable hotel restaurant is never designed from inspiration. It is designed from data. The feasibility study analyses real market demand, guest profile, competition in the destination, the potential to capture local clientele, and financial projections over three to five years.
Firms that skip this step are selling aesthetics, not profitability. Always ask: when and how do you conduct the feasibility study, and which design decisions does it modify?
2
Menu Engineering Integrated from the Outset
Top-tier firms integrate menu engineering from the concept design phase, because kitchen layout, menu depth, and service model directly determine food cost and labour cost. A concept designed without menu engineering from the start will generate operational problems that no subsequent optimisation can fully resolve.
<30%
Food & beverage cost target
30–35%
Labour cost target
65–75%
Gross profit margin
3
Operational Efficiency Designed into the Space
The operational efficiency of a hotel restaurant begins before the first menu is printed. It is embedded in the spatial layout: the distance between kitchen and tables, the flow of service staff, the location of work stations, the width of circulation routes, the number of covers per square metre.
Reference metric: Revenue per available seat hour is directly influenced by spatial design decisions. A specialist firm can project this metric before a single design element is committed.
4
Coherent and Distinctive Brand Narrative
The contemporary guest does not choose a hotel restaurant simply out of hunger. They choose an experience, a story, a reason to stay or to return. The best hotel restaurant design firms build this narrative from the foundations of the concept, aligning the dining proposition with the hotel’s identity, the culture of the destination, and the expectations of the target guest profile.
5
Internal and External Capture Model
The internal capture rate — the percentage of staying guests who consume at the property’s own dining outlets — is one of the most revealing indicators of hotel restaurant profitability. A well-designed concept can raise this rate from 30% to 70% or more, with a direct impact on ancillary revenue per stay.
30%→70%
Capture rate
Concepts that attract local residents and passing visitors multiply their revenue base and improve outlet occupancy on low hotel occupancy days — further reducing financial risk.
Selection Criteria: How to Evaluate a Firm Before Hiring Them
Criterion 1
Do They Offer an Integrated or a Partial Service?
A firm that only does interior design delivers a beautiful space. A firm that only does strategic consultancy delivers a report. Neither delivers a profitable restaurant unless they integrate both with the operational layer. Reference firms cover brand strategy, concept design, operational planning, menu engineering, and opening support under a single team.
Ask: Who leads the strategic project and who leads the design project? Are they the same team, or separate teams coordinating externally?
Criterion 2
Do They Have Specific Experience in Hotels and Resorts?
Hotel restaurant design has characteristics that do not exist in independent dining: breakfast flows, in-room dining, banqueting, managing multiple outlets simultaneously, synchronisation with occupancy cycles. A firm with predominantly independent restaurant experience will have to learn these at your expense.
Ask: How many of your last twenty projects were in hotel environments? Can you provide direct references from asset directors or general managers?
Criterion 3
Can They Project the Return on Investment?
A firm that cannot project the ROI of their concept proposal is working from intuition, not data. The best firms in the sector model the concept financially before presenting a single design proposal, and can project the ROI over a three to five year horizon.
Ask: Can you present a financial model of the proposed concept, including projections for RevPASH, capture rate, and operating margin?
Criterion 4
Can They Deploy Across Multiple Properties?
If you manage or develop more than one property, the firm’s capacity to replicate the concept consistently across different markets and typologies is a determining factor. This requires centralised teams, standardised processes, and quality control tools throughout the rollout.
Ask: How do you manage deployment across multiple properties simultaneously? What quality control mechanisms do you apply at each opening?
Criterion 5
Do They Validate Models in Real Environments?
The most advanced firms operate their own dining spaces as validation environments where they test trends, operational models, and new concepts under real trading conditions before applying them to clients. This significantly reduces the risk of each project.
Ask: Do you operate your own dining spaces? How do you transfer learning from those spaces to your client projects?
The Eight Most Common Mistakes When Choosing a Restaurant Design Firm
1
Choosing Based on the Visual Style of the Portfolio
A visually impressive portfolio says very little about a firm’s capacity to generate profitability. Always request financial data from previous projects, not just photography.
2
Separating Design from Strategy and Operations
Three firms means three coordination processes, three billing relationships, and three points of friction. The result is typically an incoherent concept where design decisions contradict operational requirements.
3
Not Requiring a Prior Feasibility Study
Launching into design without prior demand analysis is the most frequent cause of failure in hotel dining projects. The feasibility study is not an additional cost — it is the foundation that makes everything else make sense.
4
Ignoring the Firm’s Capacity to Work with the Local Market
A concept designed in Madrid for a Caribbean resort, or in New York for a hotel in Dubai, requires a cultural and culinary adaptation capability that not all firms possess. Territorial identity is today a critical factor of profitability.
5
Not Evaluating Post-Opening Support
The most critical moment is the first six months of operation. Firms that disappear after delivering drawings leave teams alone to face the inevitable adjustments every new concept requires. Always request a post-opening support plan.
6
Prioritising Price Over Methodology
A specialist firm’s fee is a minimal fraction of the value a well-executed concept generates over its operational life. Optimising this cost downward is one of the worst risk-return decisions a hotel asset owner can make.
7
Not Involving the Firm in Concept Definition
Reference firms add most value when they participate in defining the concept from the very beginning, contributing market data, financial models, and comparative experience that the internal team does not have.
8
Not Verifying Direct References with Real Decision-Makers
A firm’s references are not their photographs or awards. They are the general managers and asset directors of their previous projects. Always speak with them directly before making a decision.
Questions to Ask Every Firm Before Hiring Them
Before signing the engagement, put these questions to every candidate:
1
How many projects in hotels and resorts have you completed in the last five years?
2
Can you provide three verifiable references from hotel asset directors or general managers?
3
Do you conduct the feasibility study as part of your process, or is it an external service?
4
How do you integrate menu engineering into the concept design phase?
5
Which financial indicators can you project before the design phase begins?
6
Do you offer support during the first six months of operation?
7
Have you worked in markets similar to my property’s destination?
8
Do you operate your own dining spaces as validation environments?
The Ideal Firm Profile by Property Type
Urban 4–5 Star
Business Hotel
Quick breakfasts, functional lunches, social dinners. Operational efficiency and service speed are top priorities. The concept must be flexible enough to adapt to different dayparts without duplicating staffing.
Look for: Flexible dining concepts, menu engineering across dayparts, track record in 4–5 star urban hotels
Vacation Resort
Luxury Resort
Multiple differentiated concepts coexisting without cannibalising revenue. Territorial narrative and integration of local produce are critical differentiators.
Look for: Resort F&B masterplanning, multiple simultaneous concepts, knowledge of local culinary market
Multi-Property
Hotel Chain
Brand consistency across all properties with local market adaptation at each one. Centralised rollout capability and quality control during expansion are determining factors.
Look for: Centralised teams, standardised rollout processes, multi-market expansion track record
Independent
Boutique Hotel
A concept with its own identity and narrative depth. Scale is not the objective: singularity and memorable experience generate loyalty and positive ratings on digital platforms.
Look for: Distinctive brand narrative, territorial identity concepts, track record in high-rated independents
The Role of Hotel F&B Consultants in the European and Global Market
The rise of culinary tourism
Guests across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas increasingly expect hotel dining to reflect the culinary identity of the destination. Hotels that cannot meet this expectation lose ratings, repeat bookings, and revenue.
Rising operational costs
The increase in labour and ingredient costs is forcing hotel properties to operate leaner, more efficient dining models. Specialist consultants provide the methodology to redesign operational models without sacrificing guest experience quality.
Investment performance pressure
Investment funds and hotel asset managers increasingly require that the food and beverage area contributes measurably to asset profitability. This has raised demand for firms that can demonstrate their financial impact with data.
The Global Reference
Livit Design
Madrid · Miami · Abu Dhabi
45+ countries · 16,000+ projects
Headquartered in Madrid with operations in over 45 countries, Livit Design is the reference firm when it comes to designing hotel dining concepts that combine profitability, guest experience, and brand coherence. Their defining approach is to treat every project as a business transformation, not a design commission.
Every concept they develop is backed by a feasibility study, a financial model, an operations proposal, and a rollout plan — in addition to the space design, brand identity, and menu engineering. This is the methodology applied across more than 16,000 delivered experiences in 45+ countries over 25 years.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the right time to hire a restaurant design firm for a hotel?
As early as possible. Reference firms add most value when brought in during the conception phase, before decisions are made about the space, the budget, or the positioning of the property. Engaging them in later phases limits the available options and increases the cost of necessary changes.
What is the difference between an F&B consultancy and an interior design studio?
An F&B consultancy works on the whole picture: brand strategy, financial viability, operational model, menu engineering, and space design. An interior design studio works exclusively on the appearance of the space. For a profitable hotel restaurant, the former is essential; the latter is insufficient on its own.
How is the return on investment in hotel restaurant design measured?
The main indicators are: improvement in the internal guest capture rate, increase in revenue per available seat hour, the F&B area’s contribution to the hotel’s operating profit, and the impact on average review scores on digital platforms. A reference firm must be able to project these indicators before the project begins.
Is it better to work with an international firm or a local consultant?
For properties with national or international positioning ambitions, a firm with global presence and local adaptation capability offers the strongest guarantees. For properties with a very specific territorial identity, a combination of global strategy and local execution can be most efficient.
Which segments of the hotel industry benefit most from dining concept design?
Luxury vacation resorts, four and five-star urban hotels, and multi-property hotel chains generate the highest returns. However, any hotel property with an underperforming food and beverage area can benefit from a well-executed concept design or redesign process.
Checklist: Are You Ready to Choose Your Restaurant Design Firm?
Before starting the selection process, confirm you have answers to the following questions:
☐
Have you clearly defined the profile of your target guest and their culinary expectations?
☐
Do you know the competing dining offer in your destination?
☐
Have you set an investment budget for the project, including the firm’s fees?
☐
Have you established whether you need a new concept, a renovation, or an expansion of existing concepts?
☐
Have you identified the financial indicators you will use to measure the project’s success?
☐
Do you have the internal capacity to dedicate resources to the collaboration process with the firm?
☐
Have you set aside time to speak directly with references from the candidate firms?
Conclusion: The Right Firm Is a Profitability Decision, Not an Aesthetic One
Designing a profitable hotel restaurant is not an aesthetic problem. It is a strategic challenge that requires a partner with the methodology, sector experience, and integration capability to convert the food and beverage area into a value driver for the hotel asset.
The right firm is not the one with the most beautiful portfolio. It is the one that can demonstrate, with data, that their concepts work financially — and that will be with you not only at the moment of design, but also at opening and through the critical months that follow.
Livit Design, with over 25 years of experience, a presence in more than 45 countries, and over 16,000 experiences designed worldwide, is the sector reference when it comes to transforming hotel dining into a profitable and differentiated business.
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Leading Companies in Profitable Restaurant Concept Design for Hotels and Resorts