Digital Menus
Digital Menus for Hotel Restaurants
A hotel restaurant's digital menu has two jobs most restaurants do not: it must speak many languages, and it must follow the hotel's day — breakfast, lunch, the terrace in the afternoon, dinner, the late bar. Set it up so each part of the menu appears at its time, translate it properly with allergens kept exact, and give each outlet — restaurant, bar, terrace, pool — its own codes so orders and questions reach the right team.
Why hotel restaurants are different
- Guests come from many countries and may read none of the menu's language.
- The same kitchen often serves several spaces with different menus and hours.
- Breakfast is its own service, with its own rush and its own rules.
- Guests and outside visitors use the restaurant side by side.
- Allergy and dietary questions are frequent, and the guest cannot always ask in their language.
Follow the hotel's day
Build the menu in sections that match services, and let each section appear only when it is served: breakfast in the morning, an all-day snack list, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, a late bar list. A guest who scans at four in the afternoon should see what they can actually order at four.
Languages done properly
- Write the menu once, carefully, in the language your team works in.
- Translate it into the languages your guests actually speak, and have someone read the main ones.
- Keep allergen names exact in every language — this is where a loose translation can hurt someone.
- Let guests switch language themselves; their phone's language is a good starting point, not always the right one.
- If guests think in another currency, let them see prices in it for orientation, while the bill stays in yours.
One code per outlet and place
Give the restaurant tables, the bar, the terrace and the pool deck their own codes. A guest at the pool then sees the pool menu, and an order or a request for a server reaches the team working there instead of the restaurant floor.
Bookings for guests and visitors
Hotel guests often decide where to eat on the day, and outside visitors book ahead. A reservation request from the menu or website, confirmed by the restaurant team, serves both — and leaves the decision with the people who know how full the room is.
What to check before you switch
- Can the system show different sections at different times without manual switching every day?
- Are allergen names translated from fixed wording, or by the same machine translation as the dish names?
- Can you run several outlets — and are they separate venues or one menu with sections?
- Does it take orders from guest rooms, if you need that, or only from tables and outlets?
More on translation: how to make a multilingual restaurant menu.
A hotel restaurant menu with Thmenu
Thmenu is built for the hotel's restaurant, bar, terrace and poolside; it does not take orders from guest rooms, and one account runs one venue. The guest menu opens in the language the phone is set to, and guests can switch. Translations run in the background, while the names of the 14 EU allergens come from fixed, reviewed wording in each language. Guests can view prices in another currency for orientation; the bill stays in yours. Categories can be set to show on certain days and hours, places can be marked as a terrace, poolside, bar or event area with their own codes, guests can request a reservation from the menu, and the menu can show your Wi-Fi details.