The Newest Trend in Hotel Restaurants? The Dinner Party

Hosts and entertaining aficionados had reason to celebrate in 2024. It was “the year of the dinner party,” according to Eater. There were cookbooks devoted to the subject, and Gen Zers, apparently sick of hearing how isolated they are behind their screens, embraced the format as if they’d invented it themselves. The revival of small gatherings around a dinner table has proved to be an unlikely engine for social connection—and for showing off pandemic-acquired cooking and table-setting skills.

You might think of this trend as one that begins and ends at home. But you’d be wrong. Hotel operators have been paying attention to the value of a dinner party, too. As more travelers, including solo ones, seek out memorable experiences on the road and community wherever they can find it, hotels and resorts around the world are transforming their restaurant services into the kind of dinner party you’d love to attend. This means offering long communal tables and outdoor spaces that feel like a backyard patio, where strangers can pass platters, clink glasses and socialize.