A hotel kitchen is several kitchens sharing utilities, so its budget behaves differently from a restaurant’s. The cost is driven less by total area than by the number of distinct production areas and the peak banquet load.
How the budget splits
A typical mid-scale hotel kitchen budget divides roughly as follows.
| Area | Share of budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Banquet production | 25 – 35% | Driven by peak cover count |
| À la carte / all-day dining | 15 – 25% | Menu-dependent |
| Bakery and pastry | 10 – 15% | Ovens dominate |
| Cold kitchen and garde manger | 5 – 10% | Refrigeration heavy |
| Wash-up and dish return | 10 – 15% | Often under-budgeted |
| Stores and receiving | 5 – 10% | Racking and cold rooms |
| Ventilation and utilities | 15 – 25% | Frequently excluded from early estimates |
Where hotel kitchen budgets overrun
Three items account for most overruns.
Ventilation
Duct routing in a hotel is constrained by the structure and by guest areas. A long, offset duct run with acoustic treatment costs several times a straight run, and it is rarely priced properly before the route is fixed.
Wash-up
Dish return volume at banquet peak is routinely underestimated. Under-sizing wash-up creates a bottleneck that no amount of cooking capacity can compensate for.
Coordination and phasing
Hotel fit-outs are phased against a construction programme. Every additional mobilisation costs money, and equipment stored on site is equipment at risk of damage.
Reducing cost without reducing capability
Standardise benching and racking dimensions across areas so they are fabricated in one batch. Specify refrigeration centrally rather than per area. Fix the ventilation route early, before the structure closes options off.
