The Connaught, Argo and Aussie venues talk hotel bar revival

Internationally acclaimed hotel bars, The Connaught and Argo, spoke to Bars and Clubs about the Renaissance of hotel hospitality, while their Australian counterparts lent a home-grown perspective.

Take a look at worldwide bar rankings, and there’s a good chance that The Connaught and Argo will be close to the top. The Connaught, located in London’s hotel of the same name, has topped the World’s 50 Best Bars list for two years in a row, while Argo, found in the Hong Kong Four Seasons, was deemed the third best bar in Asia, and the highest-ranking new entry.

The past decade has seen a recovery of the reputation of hotel bars. No longer the locations for bleary-eyed businessmen to take the edge off their jetlag, hotel bars are now destinations in of themselves – often proving to be centres of innovation in bartending and hospitality. It is telling that one of Sydney’s most successful independent bars is Maybe Sammy – often deemed a hotel bar without the hotel.

Tradition meets modernity

Lorenzo Antinori, Beverage Manager for the Four Seasons Hong Kong (home of Argo), believes this shift is part of a deliberate strategy by operators to elevate their offering.

“The trend now is to create spaces with a concept, strong identity and well-defined beverage program which appeals to the guests. For hotels, it is no longer enough to have just a ‘lounge bar’, but instead [they must] create a destination that can compete with stand-alone venues.”

This sentiment is shared by Adam Lau, Lorenzo’s international colleague and the Bar Manager at Grain, located in Sydney’s Four Seasons hotel. For Adam, the current strength of hotel bars is less a resurgence, more of a return to form, as he explains: “Hotel bars have always been successful since before. A lot of classic cocktails were born and invented in hotel bars.”

“It all comes back to the high expectations from our guests – the cocktails need to be intriguing and delicious; service needs to be seamless and memorable. Always look for ways to push the boundaries of creativity.”

And Agostino Perrone, Director of Mixology at the Connaught believes that the shift in the quality of hotel hospitality is in direct response to consumer demand.

“Today, people are looking for more unique experiences in comparison to ten years ago, when hotel bars were still synonymous with tradition and classicism.”

Nevertheless, like Adam, Agostino tips his hat to the storied tradition of hotel bartending.  

“When we opened the Connaught Bar in 2008, we wanted to offer something completely different, yet still pay homage to the long-standing heritage of the hotel and maintaining the elegant five-star service.”

“We reimagined what a luxury hotel bar offering could be, by injecting innovation into the creative mixology process and elevating the guest experience.”

Hospitality excellence recognised

The Connaught’s approach has been richly rewarded, not only picking up top spots in the World’s 50 Best Bars but also winning ‘World’s Best Cocktail Bar’ and ‘Best International Hotel Bar’ at the 10^th Annual Spirited Awards. Success, Agostino explains, is something the Connaught continues to strive for.

“We never took it for granted,” Agostino says.

“It was an was an incredible recognition that rewarded a journey that we started in 2008 and a lot of hard work. We have a remarkable team who are immensely passionate and always maintain our essence and the highest standards of service, but we also keep on researching to innovate our offering and to continue surprising guests, giving them a reason to come back and discover something new.”

Lorenzo says the same is true of the Argo team.

“We definitely do not take this recognition for granted and aim to keep working hard to create great experiences for our guests and friends.”

Yet, conversely to Agostino, Lorenzo believes it is the breaking of tradition that has allowed Argo to transcend hotel bar stereotypes.

“We felt the need of breaking from the tradition, creating a space that could be both refined, but accessible.”

Australian venues take up the mantle

This commitment to quality is not limited to overseas venues, with modern additions to the Australian hotel industry looking to carve out their own spots in the sector. One such example is the lobby bar at the Langham Gold Coast, which opened in late June of this year. Nick Clarke, Director of Sales and Marketing at the Langham Gold Coast commented on the shift in perception of these venues.

“There are some amazing venues now in the heartland of luxury hotels. Perhaps going to a hotel bar 10 years ago wasn’t perceived to be necessarily bucket list, but these days it’s all about people – and meeting people in a trusted environment with total integrity, which brands globally can offer.”

“The business that we’re in is creating great memories, and that’s pretty much the Langham philosophy. If we can do that through our bars, I think we’re halfway there,” Nick continued.

Naturally, it should be noted that hotels, particularly those belonging to large international groups, enjoy certain benefits that the local hole-in-the-wall does not.  

Aaron Howard, Bars (there are five) Manager at the new Langham Hotel spoke to Bars and Clubs about why he thought these venues were able to consistently hit such heights.

“Hotels have an advantage: the fact they get a lot of people from all walks of life, from all over the world, so they get a lot of exposure. Not only that, but they have really in-depth training systems. So staff are really well trained in top shelf products, the best wineries and what they need to know to excel.”

With Grain, holistic approach to guest experience begins at the very start of creating the team, as Adam illustrates.

“We start to shape our guests experience from the hiring stage. We hire people that love what they do and hospitality.”

“Skills we can teach but we can’t teach someone attitude and natural hospitality. Then look after them, they will then look after the guests. Hospitality is not tangible, you can’t measure it, it’s a feeling and it needs to be genuine.

“Sometimes when people leave the bar, they probably won’t remember exactly what cocktail they had, but they will definitely remember how we make them feel,” Adam says.

Moreover, groups like the Four Seasons have the advantage of an international intelligence exchange, with different venues in different markets able to share what does and doesn’t work, as Adam explains: “We are all very connected in the Four Seasons family, everyone is just a phone call away, we always do activations together and virtual meetings to exchange ideas and concepts.”

Of course, any bar is only as good as its drinks, and high-quality drinks require high quality products. Thankfully, this excellence can be found right here in Australia, as the Langham’s menu demonstrates.

“We have a short menu of bespoke cocktails, all using ingredients or spirits procured from the local area – being Southeast Queensland. We have a great climate and really rich farmland, so we produce really great products in this area, and it would be silly for us not to use it,” Aaron says.

The Connaught conclusion

So ultimately, what is the secret of the global success of these venues?

This question is perhaps best answered by the industry’s current reigning champ, The Connaught.

For Agostini, it’s all down to harnessing the twin drivers of history and innovation, as he explains: “The fact [is] that we have never stopped challenging ourselves, continuing to innovate every single year, looking forward to the future whilst still respecting our history and its traditions.”

And maybe, these are the fundamentals of hospitality that every bar can consider when seeking to emulate those at the top of the tree.