Toast to Toast Restaurant Pilot
In collaboration with Culinary Options, GIRVIN worked with the team at IHG Holiday Inn to develop first one, and then two locations for restaurant pilot concepts to test the workability of a hotel restaurant amenity that is warm and welcoming to both business and family travelers while also being able to deliver hospitable service by a minimum of full time employees.
MAKING DINING CONVENIENT
Holiday Inn had found that while having a restaurant located in the hotel lends gravity and personality to each location, guests often chose to leave the hotel to dine and relax. To encourage a higher number of guests to enjoy the restaurant, while also giving the franchisees and franchise development team something more compelling and profitable to operate, this new foodservice concept was developed.
SECOND RESTAURANT PILOT
As the concept for physical restaurant space took form, GIRVIN also worked to develop the name, design the identity, and menus for what became Toast to Toast, a sandwich specialty quick-serve establishment catering to business and family travelers both coming and going, all enjoying the Holiday Inn brand of hospitality.
DESIGN WITH INTENT
Both sites make use of technology to reduce labor, including digital menu screens, and simple menu offerings with flavor innovations driven by comfort. Each location also combines bright color hallmarks with warm natural materials to signal pathways, demarcate spaces and encourage the options of social mixing or private relaxation. The final concept is captured in a set of guidelines that allow for consistent rollout and adaptation to new locations.
“Thank you so much! Very impressed thus far with how our concept design is coming together. Cannot wait to apply this to Long Beach next week! Exciting progress! I am grateful for all the hard work put into this concept to date! Big win for us!”
Aaron Bruns | Brand Experience Manager | InterContinental Hotels Group