Hotel Pop-Ups, Smoothie Cubes, and SoBe Wine & Food Festival - FEBRUARY 2023

We’re at the height of event season here in my hometown of South Florida, and in this month’s edition, we’re talking about a trending way for hotels to put themselves at the heart of events, plus a major annual culinary event I’m inspired by.

We also have some exciting news about what’s next for The Hospitality Mentor, and we’re sharing not one, but two, exclusive discounts for our community! Keep reading to find out what’s in store this February.

Were you forwarded this email? If you want to receive my next newsletter, sign up here to join my growing community of 4,300+ subscribers.

☕️ This issue is brought to you by Biscayne Coffee, delicious coffee roasted in Miami with the mission of saving Biscayne Bay. Use promo code MENTOR for 10% off your order at checkout. Don’t forget – we always donate 10% of your purchase to Biscayne Bay Foundation to help preserve the bay. ☕️

🛎 What's Hot in Hospitality

A trending way to travel, pop-up hotels let you put your hospitality brand at the center of a major event (like when Marriott hosted luxury tents at Coachella) or, better yet, stand out from the crowd with a location in the middle of nowhere. Whether you want to open a pop-up hotel as a remote retreat in a rainforest, a glamping tent at a music festival, or in a shipping container for a short stint, startups and established luxury brands alike can benefit from debuting pop-up experiences.

Pop ups are essentially a testing ground for exploring creative new ideas, allowing you to get feedback on refining the concept before investing in a permanent location. As we’re in the midst of event season, hotels can pop up as part of an event and put their brand in front of the eyes of potential new guests – or a pop-up hotel can even house its own major events like concerts and conferences.

Meanwhile, travelers continue to want to seek out unique experiences and are willing to pay for it. Luxury guests love the exclusivity of a limited-time experience or the idea of accessing a destination that’s not available to everyone. That’s why Blink by Black Tomato creates pop-up luxury accommodations in the middle of untouched landscapes like Bolivia’s salt flats and the Patagonian Desert for adventurous travelers who want to go where no one has gone before. As you explore your own pop-up hotel concepts, think about how you can generate extra revenue while creating once-in-a-lifetime experiences for your guests.

🍷 What I'm Sipping

This month, we’re sipping on smoothies you can whip up in under a minute. Live Pure’s superfood smoothie cubes are perfectly pre-measured, made with organic ingredients, and take only 30 seconds to blend. When I met Live Pure co-founder Tiffany Tatom last year, I knew she was onto something big, and that hotels would benefit from it. Having a smoothie program in your hotel can be a challenge. It requires having lots of ingredients on hand, like fresh produce, which can result in food waste. Plus, it takes a lot of time to blend each smoothie just right, which can lead to long lines at your grab-and-go market or coffee shop.

With Live Pure Smoothie Cubes’s nutritious smoothie cubes, you can mix and match smoothie flavors to create infinite drink combinations for your guests, and they can even be used poolside to make refreshing fruity treats. I’ve been recommending these smoothie cubes to my clients to enhance their beverage offerings, generate more revenue, and avoid food waste. If you’re interested in bringing Live Pure’s smoothie cubes to your property, send me a message and I’ll introduce you to the founders.

To try Live Pure smoothie cubes yourself, use promo code MENTOR at checkout for 20% off your order + FREE shipping. LEARN MORE

📝 What I'm Working On

We’ve been hard at work creating a dedicated website for The Hospitality Mentor, where you can find our podcast episodes, videos, and monthly editions of this newsletter all in one place – and it’s coming very soon! Set to launch this March, the website will be a platform for discovering the people and places that make hospitality truly magical.

With three unique sections, visitors will be able to explore the world of hospitality through multiple mediums. The podcast category will showcase audio interviews with industry leaders and innovators as they discuss their career journeys; the newsletter will keep visitors up-to-date on the latest hospitality trends and happenings; and our video series will bring the magic of hospitality to life with visually rich content like property tours and behind-the-scenes footage.

A year into launching The Hospitality Mentor, I’m beyond excited to bring together all these projects through one centralized platform and share it with the world. Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to the launch date, and get ready to discover more of the people and places that make hospitality magical!

If you or someone you know is interested in being featured on The Hospitality Mentor website, reach out to me – I’d love to hear from you!

💭 What I'm Inspired By

It’s festival season in Miami, and this month brings one of my favorites – South Beach Wine & Food Festival, an annual star-studded culinary celebration headlined by celebrity chefs alongside South Florida’s local chefs, as they raise funds for Florida International University’s hospitality school and future hospitality leaders-in-training. These events are hosted at hotels and restaurants across Miami, and every year, I’m inspired as chefs and hoteliers come together to showcase the best of their craft and create memories for guests. It’s truly an opportunity to show off the best of what they can do, as everyone flocks to South Florida and gathers to enjoy a delicious weekend of wining and dining.

A great example of this is the annual Tribute Dinner hosted at Loews Miami Beach Hotel, where I used to lead the Food & Beverage department and oversee the event. The gala dinner honors some of the world’s best chefs – think Jose Andres, Marcus Samuelsson or Bobby Flay, and this year, it’s Alex Guarnaschelli – with a multi-course menu developed by the honoree’s fellow chef friends. Our Culinary and Banquet team would have to plate and serve 600 guests a 5-course dinner, each course served flawlessly within an 8-minute window. It’s magical to watch the team pull it off – celebrity chefs working side by side with the hotel’s local culinary department. And in the end, they create a memorable evening for everyone.

🎙 Listen: The Podcast

Coming up on the Hospitality Mentor Podcast, we have a diverse lineup of guests spanning the hospitality industry, from cruising to hotels and technology. Out this week, listen to my conversation with Richard Garcia, Senior Vice President of F&B for Remington Hotels, and then over the next few weeks, you’ll meet Jeremy Gall, founder and CEO of Breezeway, Ken Muskat , Managing Director of Scenic - Luxury Cruises & Tours ; and Steven Minor, Corporate Beverage Director at SH Hotels & Resorts

🎥 Watch: On YouTube

Have you subscribed to The Hospitality Mentor YouTube Channel yet? Check out our latest episode, taking you on a tour of the Nobu Hotel in Miami Beach. The luxurious hotel-within-a-hotel at the historic Eden Roc Miami Beach merges the property’s iconic Art Deco design with legendary Chef Nobu’s sleek zen style. Follow along as I give you an insider’s look at the resort, from the oceanfront views and all four pools to the signature Nobu restaurant, during a recent visit with family.

Watch the latest episode and subscribe to my YouTube channel below.

😁 If you’ve read this far,leave me a comment and let me know what you enjoyed most from this newsletter. See you again in March! 

If you found this edition helpful, feel free to repost it or leave a comment to help spread the word about The Hospitality Mentor. It only takes a few seconds and makes a huge difference. I am grateful to have you in my community,

Cheers,

Steve Turk, Founder and Host

The Hospitality Mentor