Creating A Convenient Hotel Beverage Program That Delights Guests
Learn how a 24/7 hotel beverage program can help you boost guest bookings and satisfaction.
Rapid Recap
In a hurry? Here’s a quick Q&A that highlights key considerations for your hotel beverage program.
Q: Can my hotel beverage program help my business?
A: A strategic, 24/7 beverage offering can potentially help you outshine competitors and increase revenue.
Q: What are the most important factors in designing a hotel beverage program?
A: Convenient access to beverages throughout the day, plus quality, variety, and the ability to personalize beverages are all important for today’s hotel guests.
Q: What items should I offer in my hotel beverage program?
A: Traditional coffee, water, juice, soft drinks, and tea remain mainstays. But to stand out, consider more unique options like fresh-squeezed juices, specialty coffees, smoothies, and mocktails for guests abstaining from alcohol.
Hotel operators everywhere are seeking innovative ways to keep up with ever-evolving guest options and expectations while managing the bottom line. Whether it’s competing for guests with hotels and home-sharing platforms or maximizing on-site spending, an appealing 24/7 hotel beverage program can be a competitive differentiator and a potential driver of increased revenue.
Is your hotel beverage program up to the challenge? Let’s take a look at the factors you should consider when offering beverages day and night.
Convenience Comes First.
Did you know that 71% of hotel guests say they opt to eat and drink onsite because it’s convenient?1 So, it’s important to offer easy-to-access beverage services that meet guest needs throughout the day—in full-service restaurants and bars, as grab-and-go purchases, and in self-service beverage stations.
When considering self-service options, black coffee and bottled water alone aren’t going to cut it for today’s demanding consumers. Guests are impressed by choices such as hot and cold coffees as well as juices, teas, and flavored waters. For cold coffee in particular, the ability to customize is critical: 60% of cold coffee drinkers prefer to use both creamers and sweeteners, and nearly the same percentage prefer to add it themselves.2
Quality Creates Preference.
An incredible 78% of guests say the quality of food and beverage options is a top factor when choosing a high-end hotel or resort, and it’s still a key consideration for mid-range (62%) and boutique hotels (58%).1
Consistently delivering high-quality options is crucial in both your for-purchase and complimentary beverage offerings.
Remember, 43% of consumers say that on-site food and beverage is tooexpensive,1 so failing to deliver on quality may create an amplified sense of disappointment.
Meanwhile, for complimentary offerings such as coffee or juice bars, it may be surprising to learn that less than half of guests give those experiences high marks.1
Variety Drives Satisfaction.
Consumer beverage preferences continue to evolve and expand. Traditional coffee, water, juice, soft drinks, and tea are still popular choices.2 But guests appreciate—and remember—more unique variations such as fresh-squeezed juices, specialty coffees, and even smoothies, all of which represent potential growth areas for lodging foodservice.2
Beyond beverage choices, options to create variety through personalization are essential. Let’s take coffee as an example. Hot, iced, or cold brew? Dairy or plant-based creamer? And what about seasonal touches such as peppermint-flavored add-ins during the holidays?
Additionally, while alcohol sales have traditionally been a priority for many hotels, it’s important to consider guests who are abstaining from alcohol. It’s just smart business to provide these guests with a variety of satisfying choices—even more so when you learn that, for example, a mere 36% of Gen Z alcohol abstainers expect to find “diverse and interesting NA options” at hotels.3
Products from Nestlé Professional Solutions can be used to craft tasty mocktail options to delight these guests. Offering non-alcoholic options not only drives incremental revenue but differentiates your property from those who go the extra mile to serve the needs of alcohol abstainers.
The Takeaway:
The hospitality business is more competitive than ever before, and guest expectations are going nowhere but up. Designing a 24/7 hotel beverage program around the pillars of convenience, quality, and variety can be a powerful way to create memorable experiences, boost on-premise spending, and keep guests coming back for more.
Sources: 1. Datassential, Lodging SegmentGuide (2025); 2. Datassential BUZZ Annual Report: Beverage Landscape (2025);3. Datassential, Generational Drinking Habits: Gen Z (2025)