Accommodation has moved firmly up the agenda for pub operators. At MA Leaders in Glasgow earlier this year, it generated more conversation than almost any other topic, and for good reason. Our research shows that 41% of operators are planning to add rooms in the next 12 months. Across the UK, the sector already spans an estimated 5,700 properties and 50,000 rooms. The opportunity is there for pubs to capitalise on this demand.

But in our experience of working with pub groups that offer accommodation, the ones achieving strong returns from their rooms aren’t doing anything fundamentally different. What really sets them apart is how well their technology connects the guest journey from the moment of booking to the moment of checkout.

Rooms and F&B: two businesses or one?

Pubs with rooms occupy a genuinely distinctive space in the accommodation market, combining the desire for authentic experiences with higher quality food and drink options. That is a real commercial advantage. The problem is that many operators aren’t fully capitalising on it.

This normally takes the form of disconnected systems, and the result is familiar: guests aren’t prompted to book a table as they book their room; restaurant bills can’t be charged back to accommodation; operators lose visibility of what guests are actually spending across their stay.

With fragmented systems, a guest who stays for three nights and eats in your restaurant twice could look, in your data, like a low-frequency occasional visitor. The result is missed revenue, missed insight, and a guest experience that feels like two separate businesses operating under the same roof. The operators we’ve seen performing best have moved away from that model entirely, with property management, EPoS, table reservations, payments and loyalty all fully connected.

The revenue opportunity

Integrated tech that joins up your rooms and F&B open up additional revenue opportunities throughout the customer journey, across many different touchpoints. In-room ordering is a good example. When guests have a frictionless way to order food and drink to their room, such as an app or web ordering platform directly connected to the POS, we consistently see a £5 to £7 per head uplift compared with restaurant dining alone. In addition to this increased spend, 37% of guests say they are more likely to order food to their bedroom when the option is presented to them. Without this channel, operators are leaving that revenue on the table, or even potentially losing it to third-party delivery platforms.

The booking journey itself is another area where integration makes a measurable difference. Giving guests the option of booking a table at the same time as their room whilst they’re already in ‘buying mode’ is a great way of driving further incremental revenue. That single change keeps more guests on-property for the evening and reduces the amount of revenue missed to nearby competitors.

Direct room bookings also provide a significant opportunity for optimising revenue. OTAs have a role to play in distribution, but every direct booking is a better-margin booking and, crucially, a guest whose data you’ve captured for further marketing use. Operators with fully connected technology across their PMS, EPoS and CRM are in a far stronger position to convert future stays, target returning guests, and build a direct relationship that bypasses third-party platforms.

Removing the friction from day-to-day operations

One of the practical concerns operators raise when considering adding rooms is the staffing question: does this mean a dedicated front desk, and a separate system the bar team has to learn on top of everything else? The answer, with the right technology, is no.

With an integrated PMS and POS system, your existing bar team can handle check-in at the same EPoS terminal they use every day, in seconds, between serving other customers. No separate login. No drop in service quality during a busy shift. For multi-site pub operators managing estates without dedicated hotel infrastructure, that is a meaningful operational advantage.

Connected systems, connected data

One of the most valuable aspects of integrated F&B and accommodation tech is the breadth of loyalty and data opportunities that are unlocked. When accommodation spend, restaurant spend and bar spend all feed into a single guest profile, operators can start to understand their guests in a way that genuinely changes how they market and how they serve. Across the industry, properties using integrated guest data report 23% higher repeat visit rates. When accommodation spend, restaurant spend and bar spend all feed into a single guest profile, operators can start to understand their guests in a way that genuinely changes how they market and how they serve. Across the industry, properties using integrated guest data report 23% higher repeat visit rates. When a guest’s full stay is visible in one place, the marketing becomes more targeted, loyalty is boosted, and guests have more reasons to return for another visit.

Knowing which guests dine regularly but have never booked a room, and having a campaign ready for them, is exactly the kind of commercial intelligence that a fully connected system makes possible. Without it, that opportunity simply doesn’t exist.

To find out how Zonal’s connected technology is helping multi-site pub operators maximise revenue across rooms and F&B, speak to our team.

With consumer spending squeezed and visit frequency down, finding ways to keep guests returning is a top priority for many hospitality businesses. Rising costs, increased competition, and tightened margins mean that these loyal customers – those that do visit repeatedly, and spend more when they do – are an incredibly valuable source of revenue.

But consumer loyalty is ever-shifting, and what guests want (and expect) is something that operators may not be able to easily keep track of.

Drawing on our quarterly research of over 5,000 British hospitality guests, here are four loyalty insights to help you better understand the hospitality loyalty landscape, and boost guest loyalty inside, and outside, your venues.

Connection is a key loyalty driver

Loyalty is about so much more than just collecting points on purchases, or exclusive deals. It’s also building connections with customers, and making them feel valued. In fact, 54% of consumers we’ve spoken to told us that they’d be more likely to return to a venue again when they feel personally valued by a brand during their visit.

This emphasis on connection is further backed by our recent GO Technology research People vs Tech in 2026, where human interaction has become increasingly important for guests during their visits to hospitality venues. Just under half of respondents (48%) said that human interactions are the most critical factor during their visits to hospitality – a rise of 19% since we last asked this question in 2023.

But how do venues deliver this connection that makes consumers feel personally valued? It’s the small touches that resonate the most – a birthday treat, personalised messages and offers on items guests like the most, giving them a choice in where to sit, or even just remembering them when they visit.

All of these little touches come together to help deliver a more memorable experience for guests which, ultimately, drive brand advocacy and keep them coming back for more.

Consistency is key!

Loyalty is hard earned, but even once it’s established, it can be fickle. 61% of consumers say that encountering problems during a visit would lead them to visit less (or even never visit again), meaning that it’s important to get the fundamentals of good hospitality right every time, alongside delivering memorable experiences.

This is especially true during the current cost-of-living crisis. Previous research has uncovered that since the start of the cost-of-living crisis, 16% of guests are less loyal to hospitality brands, however 52% have higher expectations of the brands they are loyal to.

Greater emphasis should therefore be placed on staff training, helping to ensure that your teams are delivering a consistent level of service that matches guest expectations.

Competition can trump loyalty

Whilst guests may love what you do, they are shopping around for a better offer. 1-in-3 guests told us that they are likely to switch their loyalty to another hospitality brand if they spot something better. This propensity to switch is slightly higher for restaurants, with 34% of guests likely to switch to a different restaurant brand compared to 29% for pubs and 30% for bars.

What’s particularly important to note here, is that more frequent users of hospitality are also the most likely to switch up who they’re loyal to. 41% of those that eat and drink out weekly say they are very or somewhat likely to choose a different venue, 17 percentage points higher than the 24% of those who go out less frequently.

These frequent users of hospitality are also the most lucrative, so securing their loyalty through a combination of delivering on hospitality fundamentals, and giving them memorable experiences, will be key.

Loyalty schemes are a powerful loyalty lever to pull, but beware of barriers…

47% of guests say that value for money is a key factor in their loyalty to hospitality brands, and with 90% of consumers open to joining a loyalty scheme, a loyalty scheme can be a great way of helping to enhance the value of your offering.

Currently, 58% of guests believe that loyalty schemes represent good value for money, and 47% have joined more loyalty schemes to save money since the cost-of-living crisis began.

But what types of loyalty schemes are popular with guests? Unsurprisingly, schemes focused on monetary rewards are the most popular, however there is demand for additional benefits that can increase engagement:

Which of these loyalty schemes do you find most appealing?

1. Member-only prices (49%)
2. Collecting points for purchases (39%)
3. Cashback (37%)
4. Deals on regularly-bought products (29%)
5. Stamp cards (14%)
6. Chance to win prizes (13%)
7. Personalised offers (12%)
8. Deals on products in a different sector (9%)
9. Digital receipts (8%)
10. Subscription schemes (8%)

Despite consumers’ willingness to engage with loyalty schemes, barriers to entry do still exist for many.

A not insignificant 38% are put off by upfront membership costs, whilst a further 29% don’t want to be locked into subscriptions, and 22% feel that they wouldn’t get enough value out of signing up to a scheme. This apprehension around upfront costs can be a barrier for many operators where running an associated scheme will have costs associated with it, so it’s important to ensure that communications around the value any loyalty schemes offer are clear and compelling.

What loyalty offers to your venue in 2026

So, now that we’ve seen the insights, what are the main benefits a focus on guest loyalty can bring to your business?

Increased customer retention – Loyalty programmes encourage repeat business.

Increased share of wallet – Loyal guests spend more with you over time compared to the occasional visitor!

Valuable customer insights – Customer loyalty is also a great way to feed further marketing activity, providing valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviours, and helping you to tailor your offering to further build and enhance loyalty.

Click here to learn more about Zonal’s loyalty platform and how it could help you increase repeat visits and drive revenue!

Turn Times

Turn Times play a vital role in managing flow during busy festive periods. With guests celebrating, dining times often extend – but smaller tables or quicker lunches might still need a faster turnaround.

Your system uses a hierarchy to determine which Turn Time applies:

1. Occasion (defined in the Occasion setup)

2. Area (set within the Turn Times tab – templates can be area-specific)

3. Session (defined for standard or special days)

4. Default (if no others apply, typically 2 hours)

Example Scenarios:

· Christmas Occasion: You’d like guests booked under your “Christmas Occasion” to have 2.5 hours at the table, while standard bookings retain 2 hours. Set this in the Occasion Turn Time – it will take priority.

· Festive Sports Area: You have a section showing live festive football matches. Set a unique Turn Time in that area to allow guests to enjoy the full game without overlap – this can be done under Sessions.

Special Days

Key festive dates often require bespoke setup – Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, and even that quieter week between Christmas and New Year.

Creating Special Days allows you to tailor your service for these dates without changing your standard configuration. For example, your site may:

· Open only for Christmas Day Lunch

· Extend hours for New Year’s Eve Dinner

· Close entirely for a few post-festive rest days

To create a Plan to apply to a standard day or special day, follow these steps:

Navigate to Events Admin → Manage Sites → Plans

1. Click Add new table plan

2. Enter a Name for the plan

3. Select from the drop downs the desired Turn Times and/ or Table Layout

4. Click Save Changes

Applying a Plan to a Standard Day

Follow these steps to apply plans to standard days:

1. Go to the Manage Capacity tab

2. Select the Standard tab

3. Locate the day of the week you want to amend the plan for. Click the arrow beside the day name and the sessions will appear

4. Select from the drop down, in the Table Plan column, the desired plan name

There is no save option. Once a selection is made this will take effect for all future days/ sessions (unless a special day is configured and this will take precedent).

Applying a Plan to a Special Day

Follow these steps to apply plans to special days:

1. Go to the Manage Capacity tab.

2. Select the Special tab

3. Locate the Special Day you wish to action. Click Edit

4. In the header row, using the drop down, select the required Plan name

5. Click Save Changes

A plan can also be changes within the Tables Host app screen within Future Seating

Need a Helping Hand?

The festive period is all about preparation and precision, and we’re here to help you get the most from your system.

If you’d like further guidance or would like to discuss the best ways to optimise your setup for Christmas and New Year, please reach out to your Account Representative who will get you in touch with our Customer Success Team.

Together, we’ll make sure your venue is perfectly planned, fully festive, and ready to welcome guests all season long.