Get a room: Why restaurant and pub owners are falling in love with accommodation

With accommodation becoming an attractive extra for a growing number of restaurants and pubs, we explore the pros and cons of adding bedrooms and talk to operators who’ve already done it for their top tips.

‘Diversify’. It’s a word that’s regularly dished out to restaurants and pubs as the solution to survival.

For some, diversification has simply meant opening earlier to serve breakfast or coffee, or renting out a private dining space. For others, it has meant deviating from their core business of providing food and drink to guests, and offering them a room to sleep in too.

This was the case for Restaurant Interlude, the Michelin-starred restaurant near Horsham in West Sussex, which installed 10 bedrooms three years after the restaurant opened.

An attempt at hiring out the floor above the restaurant as meeting rooms hadn’t worked, so the business explored other options for the space in the 19th Century Italianate Leonardslee House, located within the Grade I listed Leonardslee Estate.

“We were seeing this sort of burning need for accommodation, so we felt that the next logical step was to offer it,” explains managing director Adam Streeter.

“We’re a bit of a destination. We’re not too far from London, but we’re far out enough for people to travel and make an evening of weekend of it. That’s when we started looking at rooms.”

It wasn’t a straightforward conversion of the space, however. Restaurant Interlude had rapidly gained a Michelin star under executive chef Jean Delport’s talented direction, so it was important that the bedrooms ‘matched the quality of the restaurant.’

Leonardslee enlisted Johnston Parke Interiors to design the 10 rooms and invested in high-end furniture, fixtures and fittings to achieve the desired finish.

The work – carried out during the pandemic - cost an estimated £700k, a figure that still gives Adam sleepless nights. However, it’s an investment he believes is worthwhile. About 40% of diners at the restaurant now stay overnight, spending upwards of £240 a night to do so and therefore spending more time – and money – in the business.

And the accolades have already come rolling in – last year it was named Best Restaurant with Rooms of the Year in England by the AA and won a Michelin Key.

“I think the experience people have when they go into those rooms pays for itself really,” adds Adam.  

“At end of it, what we got was something really special. We’re already in such a beautiful setting, with a destination restaurant on site, so having the rooms there is that final piece of the puzzle.”

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Return on investment

Adding bedrooms to a similar standard as those at Leonardslee House might seem like a financial stretch too far for many operators, but you don’t have to spend an extortionate amount.

North Yorkshire’s Michelin-starred restaurant Mýse opened in summer 2023 with three bedrooms above its dining room. Owners Josh and Vicky Overington spent £60k on the three bedrooms, which were renovated by Vicky with the help of two tradespeople.

The interiors for the rooms were deliberately stripped back, Josh explains, partly due to limited time and funds, but also because they ‘wanted to let the beautiful building [an old inn] do the talking’. The biggest investment was in the beds “or more specifically the mattress,” says Josh. “You need to spend quite a bit of money on that because like the dining room chairs, it’s going to be used a lot.”

We’re talking about the addition of bedrooms to a business, but it’s important to note that rooms were an integral part of the plan for Mýse, which sits in the small village of Hovingham. A further three bedrooms have been added since opening to satisfy demand.

“Our business wouldn’t work without them,” says Josh, clarifying that it’s due to the restaurant’s remote location and the village’s small population (just under 400 according to the last census), rather than the fact the restaurant is not draw enough. “I still think we have an amazing product, but it would be difficult to get people here otherwise. Staying over just enhances the experience.”

Wherever your business is located, bedrooms make good business sense if you are able to add them, says restaurant management platform Opentable.

“We’re seeing a growing interest in pubs, in particular, adding bedrooms, as operators look to diversify revenue and protect margins,” says Sasha Shaker, senior director, UK and Ireland.

“Where it’s feasible, it’s a smart move as overnight guests could be more likely to eat and drink on site, boosting food and drink spend, helping to smooth demand across the week and creating an additional revenue stream.”

Hospitable experience

Rooms have always been part of the plan for South West-based pub operator Chickpea Group which has 66 bedrooms across seven of its sites. In fact, as co-founder Ethan Davids, says, bedrooms are ‘critical’ to the business.

“Adding bedrooms is an excellent investment for us because the payback is relatively quick and it's my feeling that hosting overnight guests adds another dimension when it comes to pub atmosphere. Leisure guests are looking for a great time, we seem to only attract lovely people, and therefore the conviviality they bring is a massive bonus.”

Adam and Josh agree that bedrooms enable guests to relax and enjoy the experience more when they know their bed is only a few feet away from the dining room, a feeling that every hospitality business wants to achieve.  

Another point all operators – whether the core is a restaurant or a pub – stress is that adding rooms doesn’t turn your business into a hotel. 

“I’ve always been very strict on that,” says Josh. “We’re a restaurant with rooms, not a hotel. We don’t do turndowns, or room service and we don’t have TVs in the rooms. Some of those things are because it’s the experience we want to give but also, because we’re such a small team, we can’t offer those things.”

Ethan believes this is a reason why guests choose to stay in his pubs: “From a guests' perspective, staying in a pub as opposed to a hotel means a more personalised welcome, a more relaxed atmosphere, and crucially the ability to stay in parts of the world where there aren't any hotels.”

The downsides?

While there are many positives to adding bedrooms, there must be some downsides?

“For us, there really aren't any,” says Ethan.

“It adds some operational complexities I suppose, but if you have the right team in place this is purely a training issue, but training and development is a big focus for us.”

Finding staff willing to work at breakfast and as housekeepers was a challenge, says Josh, but only because he’d never had to consider these roles before. “There’s an added pressure, but it’s not impossible to navigate.”

Adam agrees: “It’s tricky when you start, because it’s another arm to your business and it’s a different way of running things, but when you get the right people in place and it’s all up and running, you won’t look back.”

Top tips to getting rooms right

Spend money on things that guests can touch

“A slightly nicer door handle makes a big difference when you're checking into a bedroom, for example,” says Ethan Davids of the Chickpea Group.

“They last longer too. I can't take the credit for this one, my good friend Charlie Luxton (Beckford Group) gave me this advice when I started and it's something I've stuck to since.”

Get reservations right

“The key is making sure your restaurant reservation platform integrates seamlessly with your property management system, so guest information flows smoothly between the two,” says Sasha Shaker of OpenTable.

“When everything is integrated, team members can see who’s staying when they arrive, and whether they’ve already booked a table or might need a friendly nudge to do so.”

Never market yourself as a hotel

“Don’t put yourself on booking.com as another bed and breakfast,” says Adam Streeter of Leonardslee Estate, “You want people to come and experience what you do – good food and wine – not use you as a place to stay because they’re in the area.”

(Written by Emma Eversham)