We used to pick a hotel for its central location, the size of its room, sweet view or sexy pool. Not any more.

These days, travellers are deciding where to sleep based on their stomachs — that is, how awesome the hotel restaurants and bars are. Take lawyer Lim Hui Nan, for example. She checked into Portland’s Hotel Monaco just so she could dine at the Red Star Tavern & Roast House; London’s Town Hall Hotel for its renowned Corner Room; Penang’s Macalister Mansion for the offerings at the whisky bar The Den; and Kuala Lumpur’s Majestic for The Smoke House, which claims to serve “exceptional vintage cocktails and a connoisseur’s collection of single malt whiskies”.

Similarly, analyst Leonard Foo once stayed in three different hotels in Thailand on a week-long holiday just because he wanted to try “these famous places”, namely, Nahm at Metropolitan Hotel (which was recently voted Asia’s best restaurant), the open-air rooftop eatery Sirocco (as seen in The Hangover 2) at Lebua State Tower, and Dining on the Rocks at Six Senses Samui.

LOCAL FACTOR

It’s no coincidence these types of globetrotters have become much more common in the current cultural landscape, where there is an obsession with food — as well as with hip, boutique accommodation. Thanks to trail-blazing hoteliers such as Ian Schrager, Andre Balazs and our very own Christina Ong and Loh Lik Peng, the rise of boutique hotels has popularised the trend of having a standout restaurant or bar on the premises. These hoteliers made SkyBar at Los Angeles’ Mondrian, Bar Marmont at Chateau Marmont, Nahm at The Halkin and Ember at Hotel 1929 — they are the places to see and be seen, and have subsequently become must-visit destinations among travellers.

“When I first opened Hotel 1929 in Keong Saik back in 2002, Keong Saik was still a rough neighbourhood. I figured since we’re going to be here, it was not going to be easy to get diners to eat at our restaurant unless we did something interesting. And with a 32-room hotel, we wouldn’t be able to survive on hotel guests alone. We needed a really cool restaurant,” said Loh on his decision to invite Chef Sebastian Teo to open Ember. Needless to say, the restaurant has become a hit among local diners and tourists alike.

Loh said more than 50 per cent of his hotel guests check into his properties mainly for their F&B options such as Table No 1 at Shanghai’s Waterhouse. Loh’s Town Hall in London recently unveiled a new restaurant, Typing Room (which took over from the popular Viajante), and a bar called the Peg & Patriot. Both have quickly earned a reputation of being London’s hottest tables.

“Boutique hotels like Ace, Thompson and ourselves try to be part of a city’s community,” explained Loh. “My philosophy is what makes a hotel interesting is the flow of locals through it; once you have a successful flow of locals, guests feel much more a part of the local community.”

LUXURY CHAIN EFFECT

But it’s not only the boutique hotels that have adopted that philosophy. Luxury marquee names like Le Bristol in Paris and Claridge’s in London have also seen much local excitement over new introductions Le Bar du Bristol and Fera by chef Simon Rogan.

Didier Le Calvez, Le Bristol chief executive, said: “Le Bar took off immediately when we launched it in 2012. Many Parisians like to come here. They like the cocktails, which are very good. It’s like our restaurants, Epicure and 114 Faubourg, where there are more locals than tourists. Travellers like to eat where the locals eat. And you can’t ignore how important food is in any hotel.”

Every hotel worth its salt (and pepper) is upping the ante when it comes to F&B offerings. The Mandarin Oriental Tokyo will host a month-long pop-up of Noma in January (dinner seating is guaranteed with a booking of a one-night package); while Como Hotels introduced a Michelin Star Experience for The Met and The Halkin in London, where guests are assured of reservations at in-house restaurants Nobu and Ametsa, which can otherwise be hard to secure. The Four Seasons has collaborated with Javier de las Muelas, the award-winning mixologist of Barcelona’s famed Dry Martini Bar, to create cocktails for its hotel bars. Even room service isn’t spared the celebrity chef treatment: You can order David Chang’s famed duck confit banh mi when you’re at Chambers Hotel in New York, for example.

No doubt, new hotels feel the pressure to keep up. The month-old Sofitel So Singapore has unveiled a game plan: To have Michelin-starred chefs as regular guests at its Xperience restaurant (chef Yuichi Kamimura from Niseko helms the kitchen this week). What’s unique is that the chefs’ creations will be made available even after they finish their one-week stints.

Sofitel So Singapore’s F&B director Jerome Le Gall said this concept is different from the usual one-off guest chef events many hotels have. “It’s more like a collaboration where they’re working with us to create a menu for lunch and dinner. We want to surprise and impress guests and bring in chefs who’ve not been to Singapore before.”

RESTAURANT STAYS

Is it any surprise, then, that F&B outlets have become more important than the actual hotels? Andre Balazs’ first London venture is the Chiltern Firehouse. The number of hotel rooms? 26. The seating capacity of its restaurant helmed by Michelin-starred Nuno Mendes? 200.

Loh’s own One Leicester Street is another example of “a restaurant with rooms”. F&B operators are also jumping into the hotel business. Potato Head Bali is opening two hotels on its premises, with one to be launched next year. These will have a strong emphasis on cocktails — even in its rooms, said bar operations and project opening manager Dre Masso. The Nobu restaurant group has ventured into the hotel business with its first hotel in Las Vegas last year and already has five others in the works, including one in Manila.

After all, what’s better than a wonderful night of wining and dining — without the hassle of leaving the property?

As Lim put it succinctly, she hasn’t looked back since she discovered “the joy and ease of an elevator commute back to one’s hotel room after a big night out”.

We’ll drink to that.