Add a coffee shop in your lobby?

A closer look at amazing people doing great things in the South African hospitality landscape.

Author

Nick Kleynhans
June 25, 2025

Your weekly update on tourism, technology, and hospitality in South Africa, and memes

📰 In This Issue


✔️ Spotlight: 3 Great services to try out.
✔️ Add a coffee shop to your lobby?
✔️ MEMES!
✔️ Hotellab.
✔️ To the future and beyond.

🌟 Spotlight: People who make hospitality great.

🔍 Jeffrey van Staden – Ever wondered if your guests are having the ultimate experience at your hotel? Wondered if the delivery is as promised, or if something is lacking? The Guest Perspective addresses these questions, providing constructive feedback on how to align the brand promise with its delivery.

💡 Marlon Jacobs, with a decade of management experience in hospitality, started guestkru. Focused on advising hotels on how to do more with what they already have. As a guy who sells technology, I think this is an amazing offering. Book a consultation with him and discover the potential power of your current systems.

🚀 Calvin van Niekerk and the team at Ecom Hotels have a fantastic digital marketing service. From direct email campaigns, negotiated promotions on various digital channels, Google Ads, and more. They’ve built beautiful websites that convert and work with a selection of booking engines to drive direct reservations. Great team to work with.

📢 Food for thought? Add a coffee franchise to your lobby?

📰 Plato opens in Mediclinic & Bootlegger at Hotel Expo.

📊 I am a sucker for a creamy, smooth, cortado. I cannot walk past one, and if you throw in a fresh pastry, I’m done. Day made!

Why don’t I have that feeling when walking into a hotel lobby? Most of them have some sort of a bar or breakfast area, but how many lobbies are filled with people, the fresh smell of coffee and pastries, and a buzz of laptop warriors taking on the world?

I get it, location, space, atmosphere, brand, etc, all play a role in this decision. HOWEVER, coffee brands pull people in, people who might not know about your incredible Spa or Restaurant, people who don’t know about your weekend staycation promotion.

Maybe, just maybe, I can have an amazing coffee at a city hotel lobby, laptop warrior, and host a lovely meeting over lunch at the hotel restaurant. It would make me look super professional and all.

😂 Meme of the Week

I’m not the sad type.

In the competitive landscape of the hospitality industry, maximizing revenue is essential.

There is this fine balance when it comes to an RMS: let the AI take over, or be confused with options.

Hotellab creates a fine balance between automated tactical features and strategic guidance for decisions. Multi-LOS rate shopper, Restriction management, multiple rates optimised, and comprehensive analytics. It gives power and control to your revenue team.

Book a free discovery call with us to evaluate the impact an RMS could make on your hotel.

📌 Final Thoughts & What’s Coming Next

✨ Hospitality is evolving at an amazing pace. Keep your options open with valuable services and stay ahead of the evolution.
🔮 Back to AI, you might need some in your hotel.
📩 Please share this with a hotel person who might enjoy it. If it’s terrible, also tell me.