Officials of HEI Hotels & Resorts, a leading hospitality investment and management company, today announced the company was awarded a Vibe Vista award for “Best Beverage Menu” at this year’s Questex Vibe Conference, the premiere on-premises beverage conference for executives. This marks the second consecutive year in which HEI was recognized, winning for Best Overall Beverage Program in 2022.
“Vibe Vista Awards recognize the top performers in the beverage industry through the creation, training, execution, management and on-going positive results of beverage programs, and we are humbled to be recognized from among this year’s outstanding participants,” said David Miller, corporate director of beverage operations, HEI. “It is important to our entire F&B team to work with hotels individually to create beverage menus that add to the experiential nature of our properties. While our mixologists are experts in what they do, it takes that extra property-level knowledge to create something unique that stands out from the crowd. This award is a testament to the hard work done by our executive team comprised of Rachel Moniz, Aliya Kritzler and me, as well as the individual hotel teams and beverage partners who helped us achieve this amazing goal.”
Vibe Vista Awards entries were reviewed by a panel of Johnson & Wales University beverage faculty, staff and alumni and were judged on positive beverage sales initiatives, efficient operational innovations and training and service programs producing high quality standards.
As an example of its beverage program, HEI worked with the F&B associates at the Westin San Antonio’s recently remodeled Zocca Bar to create “The Paloma Rossa,” a cocktail derived using Blanco tequila, grapefruit, Big Red syrup, torched rosemary and lime to create a similar taste to a popular local soda. “San Antonians are in love with Big Red Soda, but people from outside the 210 and 726 area codes likely aren’t that familiar with the drink,” Miller noted. “By working with our on-property bar teams, however, we were able to create a truly unique cocktail for our guests that takes a casual drink to a truly localized experience we find visitors prefer.”
ABOUT HEI HOTELS & RESORTS
HEI Hotels & Resorts, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., is a leading hospitality investment and management company that owns or operates 100+ luxury, upper-upscale and upscale independent and branded hotels and resorts throughout the United States. HEI’s branding partners include Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Choice and Wyndham. The company is renowned for its commitment to its associates under the culture of HEI Loves, its revenue management, profit contribution and empirically based real estate value creation, driven by a full complement of proprietary software tools to set and exceed targets on a fully integrated basis. HEI works hand-in-hand with institutional capital partners on existing assets under management as well as sponsored acquisition opportunities. The company has ample equity capital and strategically co-invests with its partners on many transactions.