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Independent hospitality consultants for the whole hotel

Every floor. Every venue. Every margin.

Captivate helps hotel owners and operators grow revenue, recover lost profit and improve operational performance. From rooms and food and beverage to procurement, feasibility and technology, we identify what needs to change and work with your team to deliver measurable results.

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How We Work With You

Hotel Performance & Profit Recovery

Whole-property operational reviews and profit recovery across F&B and rooms.

  • Hotel Operational Review

    Rooms, F&B, engineering and guest experience, with an action plan your team owns.

  • F&B Profit Recovery

    A 90-day sprint to lift F&B revenue and margin: covers, average spend, menu engineering, purchasing, waste and labour, measured against an agreed commercial baseline.

  • Rooms Revenue & Profit Recovery

    More revenue from every room and less cost behind it: pricing, channel mix and distribution cost, upselling and upgrades, plus room cleaning productivity, linen and guest supplies, measured against an agreed baseline.

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Owner Advisory & Development

Feasibility, concepts, asset management and pre-opening support for owners and investors.

  • Hotel Advisory & Feasibility

    F&B concept creation, feasibility studies, brand strategy and pre-opening support for new and existing venues.

  • Hotel Asset Management

    Owner-side support for hotel investors and owners: budget and capital plan reviews, operator performance against the management agreement, P&L and KPI reviews, and pre-opening oversight.

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Technology & Operations Optimisation

Independent business cases for robotics and automation, tested against the cost of your current operation.

  • Operations Optimisation

    Feasibility assessment, cost modelling and deployment planning for hotel automation and robotics: independent, vendor-neutral and commercially led.

  • Hospitality Robotics & Automation

    Independent assessment, pilot design and deployment support for hotel groups exploring robotics and automation.

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Hotel shown as a transparent blue digital model on white, with lit rooms, restaurant and lobby visible

The whole hotel, measured

  • Engineering and energy

    Maintenance, utilities and the cost of keeping the building running

  • Rooms

    Revenue management, room cleaning, linen and guest experience

  • F&B venues

    Covers, average spend, menu engineering and cost control

  • Arrival and guest flow

    Service standards from the first step through the door

Independent

No technology affiliations. Recommendations are based on the needs of the operation.

Operator-Led

Recommendations are grounded in practical hotel operating experience.

Commercially Accountable

Every engagement is measured against agreed financial outcomes.

How profit grows

Profit has two sides.

Cutting cost alone has a ceiling. We work both sides of the P&L: more rooms sold at the right rate, more guests spending more, more often, and a leaner operation behind them.

Rooms

Grow revenue

Rooms

Rooms soldOccupancy, channel mix, length of stay, group and corporate business
× ADRRevenue management, pricing, distribution cost, upgrades and upselling
= Rooms revenueMeasured as RevPAR, alongside total revenue per available room

Food & beverage

CoversExternal capture, hotel guest capture, seat use by daypart
× Average spendMenu engineering, pricing, beverage attach, upselling
× FrequencyGuest recognition, CRM, direct booking, reasons to return
= F&B revenueRestaurants, bars, in-room dining, banqueting and events

Control cost

Rooms

  • Room cleaning productivity
  • Linen and laundry
  • Guest supplies
  • Commissions and distribution

Food & beverage

  • Food and beverage cost
  • Waste
  • Labour and scheduling
  • Procurement

Whole building

  • Energy and utilities
  • Maintenance
  • Automation where it pays

Our Flagship Service

The 90-Day F&B Profit Recovery Sprint

We work with hotel owners and operators to recover the F&B revenue and margin lost to low covers and spend, menu inefficiency, purchasing gaps, waste and scheduling. Structured. Time-bound. Commercially focused.

Restaurants

Full Operational Review

We review the full F&B operation, costs, revenue, labour, procurement and performance to identify margin gaps before recommending any change.

Recovery Plan

A costed plan for revenue and cost, ranked by profit impact and designed to protect service quality.

Measurable Results

We work alongside your team through implementation, tracking every recovery metric against the agreed commercial baseline.

Book a Profit Recovery Review

Proven Results

Selected Project Outcomes

Each engagement is different. The following illustrates the types of outcomes achieved across recent projects. Actual results vary by property and context.

Case study · F&B

Completed 2024

4-Star Luxury Resort F&B Performance Improvement, Mediterranean

A 4-star luxury resort with a high food cost of sales and declining guest satisfaction. Multiple venues underperforming against budget. Procurement lacked structure, menus had become overly complex and kitchen productivity was below expectations. A full F&B review covered food, labour, rostering, table set-up and operating items such as linen, as well as revenue, improving profit flow-through. Off-season manning was restructured using a time-and-motion study, with rotas set to guest volumes and agency cover in the low season.

1.75%

Food cost of sales reduction against actual

US$377K

Annualised profit improvement from the full F&B review

36%

Food waste reduction

Case study · Portfolio

Completed 2025

City Hotel Portfolio F&B Standardisation

A hotel group with inconsistent F&B performance across six properties. No common reporting framework, inconsistent menus and significant variation in labour productivity. Required a unified operational approach across the portfolio.

6

Properties standardised

2.9%

Labour cost improvement

63% → 89%

Guest satisfaction score

Case study · Sustainability

Completed 2025

Sustainability & Operational Performance, European Resort

A European resort required ISO 14001 alignment alongside commercial improvement. Sustainability was managed separately from operations. We integrated it into daily F&B practice, reducing operational costs and supporting compliance readiness.

−24%

Operational waste reduction

78%

Waste diversion rate

−18%

Energy usage reduction

8 countries · Resort hotel group

Completed 2025

Two-year F&B programme for a resort group

Two years supporting a resort hotel group with 68 hotels across eight countries, from the Mediterranean to North Africa and the Canary Islands. Much of the programme was implemented in the first year, with a strong focus on Spain, where the group's F&B issues were most significant and guest care improved markedly.

  • F&B strategy and brand standard menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner
  • Training plans and 20 SOPs, including allergen management
  • Signature dishes and themed nights
  • Guest experience: welcome amenities and drinks
  • Self-assessment tools rolled out in 8 countries

Global hotel group · Hotel technology

Completed

Operations platform for a global hotel group

We developed and delivered the SSS platform, with templates and data storage, used across 221 hotels of a global hotel group.

  • Platform design and development
  • Templates for hotel teams
  • Central data storage
  • In use across 221 hotels

India · Hotel group · Leadership

Ongoing

Executive committee mentoring and coaching

Mentoring and coaching for hotel executive committees, General Managers and F&B leaders across a group of hotels in India, building the capability to run and improve the operation.

  • Executive committee coaching
  • General Manager mentoring
  • F&B leadership development
  • Regular performance reviews with the hotel teams

Bucharest · Hotel · Feasibility and concept

Ongoing

Feasibility study and F&B concept for a hotel in Bucharest

A feasibility study and F&B concept for a hotel in Bucharest, from the market and the real competition to the guest, the occasion and the concept itself, including its name.

  • Market and competitor review
  • Guest segments and occasions
  • Concept story and naming
  • Commercial feasibility

GCC · Large hotel

Completed late 2025

Whole F&B operational review

Every F&B area reviewed over four and a half days on property: restaurants, bars, room service, banqueting, the central kitchen and colleague dining.

  • Findings for each venue
  • Menu size and structure
  • Accuracy of online venue information
  • Waste separation and kitchen hygiene
  • A prioritised action plan owned by the hotel team

London · Luxury hotel

Completed 2026

Hotel F&B review with a Michelin-starred chef

A review of every venue, from the chef-led restaurant to bars, private dining and in-room dining. The client's team built the findings into a time-bound plan, and the owners saw positive F&B results for the first time in seven years.

  • Concept and positioning against the London competitive set
  • Menus, pricing and service flow
  • Events, private dining and booking channels
  • Labour, rotas and flow-through
  • Controls, procurement and leadership structure

What Our Clients Say

“Michael is an absolute expert in the food and beverage industry. He has developed and successfully implemented new standards across our hotels and significantly enhanced the guest experience. Reliable, dedicated and passionate. I highly recommend him and his company.”

4 & 5 star resort hotel group

Results depend on property starting point, market position, purchasing structure, operating model, team capability and implementation quality. Client names are kept confidential.

“Operator first. Consultant second.”

Captivate is led by practitioners with direct hotel operating experience, from General Manager to corporate level. Every assessment is grounded in practical hotel operations, commercial experience and independent judgement.

About Michael Butler

Hotel Business Intelligence

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25+Years Hospitality Leadership
350+Hotels & Resorts Supported
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