Coffee is big business.  So big that at Loews Hotels all over North America, where I’ve consulted for over a decade, it’s treated with some serious creative attention.   In fact, while the quality of every cup is discussed regularly with the whole F & B team nationwide, every day product is the direct responsibility of  each executive chef and things are anything but cookie cutter. There are a couple of big time corporate vender relationships involved but every property flings the java in it’s own special way.  Royal Cup of Birmingham, Alabama has created a national custom blend, adjusted by region and water supply, and Lavazza supplies where appropriate in Florida, as theme and partnership apply.  Here, then, are a few highlights from around the continent.

Take Loews Coronado Bay Resort, where the coffee bar is sweetly sandwiched between a full service deli, itself at the heart of a thousand square foot specialty foods shop, and the entrance to their all day, dock-side dining spot, The Market Cafe. 

This is a resort just across from the Silver Strand Beach and the pounding Pacific Ocean, so slightly transporting is the order of the day.   In warm weather the bar heavily features ice-cream, fun concoctions and related treats, but all year long the six stool, eight table outlet spouts espresso and all permutations of  bean beverage as well as a host of teas and  every possible cocktail -- this, long before Xando made the mix a hit.  It’s perfect for a quick grab and go, or a sip and nibble while waiting for an outside table overlooking the eighty boat slips or the quays beyond.

Any time the restaurant has a promotional festival, as it does at least three times a year, the details start at the coffee bar, where the brew might be doctored with Mexican chocolate or Jamaican rum.  And on Sundays, when the entire place turns into a rambling market basket brunch buffet, that green marble expanse does double duty. 

Up the coast the offerings and challenges are different.  In the eight story glassed atrium of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel the plan has always been sensory seduction and quick service.  This being L.A it’s hot stuff and mixed juices on the fly from a full service, fragrant coffee cart parked just outside the lobby bar, most mornings from six a.m.

In fact, as the decaf lattes began to foam off the charts it became clear that responding to every customer request might not be best for business.  As the product line expanded to meet demand, with toasted bagels, breakfast breads, yogurt, fruit and more, we all noticed that restaurant breakfast sales were suffering.  They were practically doing stand-up a la cart eye opening in the middle of the lobby, cannibalizing potentially and traditionally higher and more profitable sales elsewhere, while running to serve a growing line of anxious travelers.   More action meant more staff, in a tight job market, and that little tip jar just wasn’t doing the trick.

These days the menu at the cart is streamlined, and adjusted regularly for occupancy and business mix.  Full blown upscale fine breakfast dining is on Limoges in their well-regarded restaurant, Lavande, or at their all day, soon to be renovated and renamed ocean view café and bar (along with a multi-million dollar face life for the entire property).  When the new Papillon takes a bow next year, the bar will feature glowing bottles of booze and an ever-ready espresso machine.  But that cart will still get rolled out for those big mornings when the wait for the valet means a cup in the hand is worth two on the road.

Out in the southwestern sun, the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson keeps racking up ratings and packin’ ‘em in.  For just about four hundred rooms there are three very different restaurants:  the award winning Ventana Room, the popular Flying V Bar and Grill and the all day Canyon Café.  With that hearty ratio of seats to rooms out in the oasis it’s no surprise to learn that locals frequent every one.  High end meeting business being at the core of their clientele, a coffee cart at the appropriate crossroads seemed the right idea. 

This one is thematically correct (note the tasteful light wood wagon wheel) and regionally inclined, jalapeno corn muffins and all.  When not right for the current flow it just goes away, or gets used outside the appropriate business gathering for full service coffee breaks.

The newest addition to the barista collection is a completely authentic replication of a European coffee bar.  The Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Escape –another Loews Hotel – is a fairly stunning replication of the Italian sea side town of part of that same name, built right in the heart of theme park country in Orlando, Florida.  It’s a beautiful enclave that feels like a village on the Mediterranean that just happens to have seven hundred and fifty guest rooms.

On one side of the harbor, between fine shops and above the bobbing rowboats, sits a pair of storefronts familiar to even the un-traveled eye.  One is a real life gelateria, and the other, called Caffe Espresso, is just what you’d expect.  Painted tile walls, stone floors, steaming machines, bottles of flavoring syrups and jars of biscotti line the counter, and adult visitors queue up while the kids dash next door for a cone.  The little cups are correctly brand emblazoned  (Lavazza) and the trash container says “grazzi” on the swinging door.

And in the heart of Miami’s South Beach, the Loews Miami Beach Hotel sports the kind of early morning to late, late night coffee bar made famous in that highly Latin town. SoBe Coffee serves it piping hot just off the main lobby. 

At night a pre-disco pick-me-up might be a Cuban coffee, a double macchiato or a sip from the Champagne & caviar bar that suddenly appears right on the glass and stone counter just at sunset.

So whether it’s desert or beach, downtown or off and away, at Loews, coffee is king.