Client: Hilton
Objectives:
The global hotel group originally approached us to create a high-end culinary experience that could entice visitors from outside the UK to come and stay the weekend at their 5 * Conrad St James property in central London.
Following the success of the initial events, we were asked to develop a wider program for Hilton to showcase important properties across key European cities – thus the Savour the City series was born.
Results:
Gastronomous hosted two series of weekends, in 2018 and 2021, for Conrad St James. These ‘Ultimate Gastronomic Weekend’ experiences, as we named them, showcased the best of London while placing the hotel stay, bars, restaurant and facilities at the heart of the weekend.
The weekends included a Michelin-starred ‘Gourmet Odyssey’ lunch across three restaurants, with guests enjoying two courses at each and being transported between them on a vintage London red Routemaster bus. The experiences also included a two-night stay at the Conrad St James, a private tour of Burberry’s flagship store on Bond St, and lunch hosted by Galvin’s at Hilton Park Lane hosted by the Michelin-starred chef Chris Galvin.
Keen to target the Middle East, the weekend was offered to high-value American Express Platinum and Centurion Cardmembers in that market by American Express, it was also promoted to select members of the Hilton Honors loyalty programme.
Following the success of the London-based weekends, Hilton asked us to develop a programme to target important properties in key European markets. In 2022 and early 2023, we executed the first Savour the City weekends in the form of Savour Berlin, Savour Amsterdam and Savour Istanbul. These gastronomic European mini breaks all included a multi-night stay at a fantastic Hilton property, fine dining at the city’s best restaurants, and exclusive activities to discover each capital’s distinct culture and history.
The program will expand in 2023 to six more exciting cities, including Rome, Budapest, Lisbon and Valletta. We have also designed and launched Cardmember-specific websites exclusively for the Savour the City program which host all of the trips on offer, as well as exclusive content including city guides and tips on the hottest new openings in these cities.
Client: Marriott Bonvoy
Objectives:
Marriott Bonvoy, in partnership with American Express, came to us to curate a series of events to showcase their portfolio of luxury properties across Europe. They wanted to drive awareness of, and deepen engagement with, their Marriott Bonvoy global rewards program – promoting its elite benefits to Premium American Express cardmembers.
Alongside this, they wanted to create a set of local Marriott Bonvoy Moments of affordable luxury, which local members could redeem their reward points against. Incorporating a luxury element to all activity was key.
Results:
We proposed a pan-European program of activations in their key markets consisting of Luxury Weekends and local Gourmet Odysseys. All of the events offer a unique premium offering, incorporating a luxury Marriott property at the heart of each event.
The Luxury Weekends include a hotel stay at a luxury Marriott property; dining at the city’s finest restaurants, including a Champagne reception and dining moment in the hotel to showcase Marriott’s exceptional F&B offerings; luxury brand experiences with the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Loewe; and the best cultural experiences the city has to offer. The first weekends will be taking place later this year in Paris, Venice, and Madrid.
The Gourmet Odysseys, a signature Gastronomous offering, are high-end culinary events to encourage engagement from local Bonvoy members. These indulgent lunchtime adventures see guests visit three celebrated restaurants in the heart of their city, for a six-course wine paired lunch. A luxury Marriott hotel is showcased in each city by hosting a welcome champagne reception, as well as featuring one of its restaurants as part of the Gourmet Odyssey. The first two events will take place in Paris and Venice this summer.
Client: World of Hyatt
Objectives:
Promote Hyatt’s hotels with a pan-European campaign which emphasises their F&B credentials. Drive room nights, and promote the high-quality F&B offering of the hotels, including the promotion of high-profile hotel openings.
Results:
These days, guests appreciate everything being taken care of for them. And so, in 2019, A Tale of Two Cities was created by the Gastronomous team, and in so doing ‘Gastro-Tourism’ was born, featuring the very best 5*Hyatt hotels.
The first itineraries were three-day experiences in London and Paris where guests – in this case American Express Platinum Card members – purchased all-inclusive tickets. This includes: stays at 5* Hyatt Hotels in London and Paris, Business Premier Eurostar travel in a private carriage, Michelin-Starred Gourmet Odyssey in London, dinner in London with a celebrated chef, private tour of The Louvre, dinner prepared by Jerome Bocuse, exclusive tour of the Caves du Louvre wine cellars and lunch at Ducasse sur Seine – the legendary chef’s boat.
The whole weekend was created, managed and hosted by Gastronomous.
Working closely with our long-term client, World of Hyatt, the A Tale of Two Cities programme will now expand significantly in the years ahead due to the high demand and the success of the first itineraries.
In 2022 there will also be London, Madrid and Prague hotel launches, and itineraries involving longer stays and not always anchored in London – will also come to market. We firmly believe that ‘Gastro-Tourism’ is a natural next step for Gastronomous as a business and we are exploring other opportunities.
A Tale of Two Cities is a programme for American Express Platinum Cardmembers, and World of Hyatt hotels.
Client: The Ritz
Objective:
To offer guests an exclusive, and original, experience at Royal Ascot – the UK’s most celebrated race meeting. The hotel can then use this to anchor a multi-night stay at The Ritz in London.
Results:
Using our contacts at Royal Ascot we secured an exceptional location for The Rosebery next to the rails on the sought-after Number 1 Car Park. In 2016 The Ritz took one of the five days we now offer annually at this most prestigious occasion in the sporting and social calendar. The Rosebery at Royal Ascot is an exclusive use private event for 16 guests and includes all badges, champagne reception, tips from leading bookmaker Fitzdares, three-course lunch on the upper deck of The Rosebery, open bar all day and afternoon tea. The Ritz takes Ladies’ Day (Thursday) each year and has already booked for 2019. Many of their guests come from Asia, and America, to enjoy The Ritz’s Royal Ascot experience and stay several nights.
Client: The Savoy
Objectives:
Create a once-in-a-lifetime experience for guests staying at The Savoy, through promoting gastronomic experiences in the surrounding area and in the hotel.
Results:
During our London in Luxury 2021 series, we created a fully curated and hosted, long weekend exclusively for American Express Centurion Cardmembers. An immersive experience of the capital’s finest restaurants, fashion, supercars, watches and jewellery, staying at the legendary 5* The Savoy Hotel. A weekend of luxury and culinary experiences, we encouraged American Express Cardmembers to visit and return again to The Savoy Hotel through association.
Client: Four Seasons
Objectives:
To promote two properties in London: Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square and also focus on their three restaurants – Amaranto La Dame de Pic London and Mei Ume.
Results:
Started as official hotel partner for the first time during London Restaurant Festival: October 2021 doing bespoke events (3 in each property) and OpenTable festival menu program. Creating great content which can be communicated across Four Seasons social and comms channels. Highlighting that Four Seasons properties and restaurants are open for business. The bespoke and memorable events were in line with the hotel’s wider marketing aims and objectives and highlighted their association with London’s most high-profile restaurant festival, and OpenTable Festival Menu campaign.
We created revenue opportunity: incremental room nights and restaurant spend through our personalised ‘where to stay’ page on our websites, promoting the Four Seasons Hotels in London as the best central hotel to stay in during the Festival. Incentivise Amex Cardmembers to visit and return again to Four Seasons properties through our Ultimate Gastronomic Weekends and email marketing. ‘Hubs of the festival’: high-profile events at Four Seasons properties benefiting sites (publicity, footfall, association).
