Peter Bradley, Director of Food and Beverage at The Westin London City Hotel & Residences, sat down with our Content Writer, Meghna Kanwar, to share his insights on delivering exceptional hospitality. From embracing innovative technology to enhancing sustainability in F&B operations, he reveals how his team strikes the perfect balance between efficiency and guest-centric experiences.
MK – Can you share your journey in the hospitality industry and what led you to your current role at The Westin London City?
PB – I started off as an evening and weekend commis chef in my local hotel in Ireland, working after school (when I should have been doing my homework) and in all my spare time. Upon leaving school, I embarked on a two course in Culinary Arts (basically a chef course) in Athlone, Ireland. There, I got to learn all the basics and cooking skills needed to go into kitchens and got to undertake placements in five-star hotels around the country. By the time I finished, I had decided I would also like to study Hotel Management and was lucky enough to gain a place at Shannon College. However, before starting I also had the opportunity to go to the States on a full scholarship to study Advanced Culinary Arts for a semester at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Upon returning to Ireland, I worked as a pastry chef for 8 months before starting hotel school, which lasted four years and included a pretty fantastic year working for Mövenpick in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Peter Bradley, Director of Food and Beverage, The Westin London City Hotel & Residences
As my final college placement, I entered the Management Programme with Red Carnation Hotels in London, working across all departments in their properties in London, Dorset and South Africa. When that was finished, I joined their Rubens at the Palace Hotel as Assistant F&B Manager (which for a year didn’t actually have an F&B Manager so it was basically me) – that was a learning experience I tell you!. Following that, I was promoted to F&B Manager at the Montague on the Gardens Hotel, where we opened London’s first ever Winter Ski Lodge experience and we won two Hotel Catey Awards for F&B Manager and Hotel Restaurant Team of the Year. This led to another stint back at The Rubens Hotel, No. 41 and BBar as the multi-property Director of F&B for those three businesses; including a refurbishment of the Rubens and gaining of Forbes 5* award for No. 41. In 2017, the irresistible opportunity to join St. Pancras Renaissance as F&B Director and joint Operations Lead came along and I left Red Carnation for the world of Marriott. Whilst at St. Pancras, we’re-concepted the platform restaurant, refurbished the vast lobby area into a cocktail bar and afternoon tea venue and we also won the Hotel Catey award for C&B Team of the Year. Then in 2021, I had the even greater privilege of being offered my current role to be a part of the pre-opening team of the amazing Westin London City, starting on March 15th in the pre-opening office in Aldgate, moving on-site in May of that year and opening the hotel on November 1st, 2021.
MK – How do you ensure that your team consistently delivers high-quality service and maintains the hotel’s standards, especially with the integration of new technologies?
PB – Training, training and training – guest service is ultimately about interaction and I find it hard to see how the total experience could ever be totally taken over by AI or other technology. App platforms help to aid communication hotel-wide and amongst departments, the use of online menus, QR codes, GXP (guest experience platform) to capture guest requests and the usage of the Bonvoy app for Mobile chat and check-in all help to make the guest journey as swift or as interactive as they wish it to be. Training our teams on how to effectively understand and use these platforms is the crucial element to ensure they have maximum positive impact on the guest experience.
MK – Can you discuss any recent technological innovations or changes in the F&B department that have significantly improved guest satisfaction?
PB – The implementation of mobile dining has been a wonderful addition to the F&B experience. Guests have the ability to order in-room dining through the use of the Iris platform, which can be used via. the Marriott Bonvoy app or QR code. The guest has the ability to pick and choose items, upsell themselves, add notes and special requests with ease and at their own pace. They can also choose to order in advance at a future time and date. This has led to enhanced preparation times, delivery times and increased revenue.
MK – What role does sustainability play in your food and beverage operations, and how do you incorporate eco-friendly practices?
PB – Our sustainability journey at The Westin is one which we undertake alongside our colleagues at 4C Head Office whilst also having on property a sustainability team who passionately drive initiatives alongside their day to day jobs. We aim to reduce printing, increase mixed recycling and reduce food waste, whilst also being conscious of other areas such as water usage and of course, engaging with community partners. To this end, we have implemented a range of initiatives such as (to name just a few) the introduction of a Sustainable Meetings & Events package, paper usage and printing monitoring, recyclable in-room laundry bags, introduction of smart bins to monitor food waste, gaining Green Tourism accreditation and signing up to The Pledge on Food Waste. However, we also aim to involve guests on our journey and have information widely available on our initiatives too.
MK – How do you stay updated with the latest technological trends in the hospitality industry and integrate them into the hotel’s offerings?
PB – Attending shows and conferences, being part of organisations such as the Institute of Hospitality and St. Julian Scholars and general industry reading and networking.
MK – Any final thoughts?
PB – I think it is again important to reiterate that hospitality is a people business; crated by people, provided by people, experienced by people and driven by people. Technology, in whatever form, is a great tool to incorporate into our processes to create efficiencies and certainly essential to the global sustainability journey that we are all on. However, this should not create a desire to replace people with technology as that no longer remains hospitality, becoming instead a transactional vs. experiential business – and as research shows that guests increasingly want experiential vs. transactional. Everything has its place in business and life, and technology is no different.