Ghost Kitchens Find a Home in Empty Hotels

“If you are trying to make your business survive, you need to find a partner to help you do that right now,” she said. Among her clients, she said, are buyers who are looking for a full kitchen for delivery and carryout but don’t want to pay for more than 1,000 square feet. (Restaurants tend to run 1,200 to 10,000 square feet, including the kitchen and dining room.)

“From a real estate perspective, it is nearly impossible to find a thousand square feet with a full kitchen,” Ms. Stein said.

Hyatt, which has more than 900 properties, sees another benefit to installing ghost kitchens in several of its hotels: a support system for small businesses.

In November, the company started Hyatt Loves Local, a partnership program that offers resources — including kitchen space — to local businesses that have struggled during the pandemic. Sixty Hyatt hotels have participated so far.

Hyatt is offering its spaces to small business for free. The program adds to the hotels’ appeal by expanding their food options and supporting the neighborhood, said Amy Weinberg, a Hyatt senior vice president.

“Our hotels are part of the community in which they operate,” she said. “If the neighborhood is struggling, that’s not good for anyone.”

Through the program, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta gave a kitchen to Anna Bell’s Mac; a Hyatt Regency in Dubai offered both a kitchen and a storefront to Fables UAE, a confectionary; and after foot traffic at the Hana Farmers Market in Hawaii slowed considerably, it moved to the Hyatt Hana-Maui Resort, which provides kitchen and refrigerator space to vendors for food prep.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/business/ghost-kitchens-hotels-coronavirus.html