Kuuru
Client: Leylaty Group
Location: Riyadh, KSA
Date: March 2024
Cuisine: Nikkei
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Kuuru is a Japanese Peruvian concept that embodies an elevated casual atmosphere and is truly unique to the Saudi Arabian market. Kuuru’s aesthetics and the F&B offering have formed a unique and dynamic causal Nikkei concept that blends both cultures innovatively.
JW Marriott Marquis
Location
Dubai, UAE
Industry
Hospitality & F&B
Client
Marriott International
A data-led F&B restructuring across a 1,600-key hotel, designed to rationalize and reposition more than 20 venues within a single property.
At the JW Marriott Marquis, one of the largest hotels in Dubai, the scope covered a full F&B audit, market research, feasibility study, and strategy, alongside interior design and kitchen and BOH design for selected venues. The work focused on evaluating the entire F&B portfolio and establishing a clear direction for each outlet within a highly saturated internal ecosystem.
The challenge
An oversized F&B landscape with no clear logic for retention, investment, or removal.
From the client’s perspective, the issue was not lack of offering, but lack of clarity. With more than 20 venues operating within the same property, there was no consistent framework to assess performance beyond topline metrics. The challenge was to move from subjective decision-making to a structured evaluation—while also addressing internal competition between venues and the absence of defined destination clusters within the hotel.
The APPROACH
Building a decision model, not just a strategy
The work combined market research with a full audit of every F&B outlet, supported by a proprietary scoring model. Each venue was assessed across 4 dimensions: market relevance, F&B concept strength, performance, and asset relevance. These were broken down into specific parameters to generate a conclusive score, creating a clear basis for decision-making—whether to retain, reposition, upgrade, or remove a venue. In parallel, the property was restructured spatially by grouping outlets into distinct clusters, shifting the experience from a collection of standalone venues to a set of identifiable destinations. The strategy was carried through into feasibility planning and into the redesign of selected spaces, including kitchen and BOH interventions.
HOW DID WE STRATEGIZE A PLACE THAT WORKS?
Objective scoring replacing subjective decisions
A proprietary evaluation model introduced a consistent method to assess each venue, allowing decisions to be made on comparable criteria rather than individual bias.
From accumulation to structure
The F&B offer was reorganized into clusters, creating internal destinations that guide guest movement and reduce overlap between venues.
Portfolio-level thinking within a single asset
Each outlet was positioned in relation to the others, ensuring that the overall mix works as a system rather than as independent concepts competing for the same demand.
THE RESULT
The property moved from an overextended F&B mix to a structured portfolio with clear roles and investment priorities.
At the JW Marriott Marquis, the framework now supports ongoing decision-making as market conditions and performance shift.
