A hotel welcome firmly rooted in the place it’s situated.
When VOCO Hotel set out to reintroduce itself as part of IHG's fastest-growing premium brand, the team knew the usual amenity tray wasn't going to cut it. They wanted something a guest could hold in one hand and, without a single explanation card, understand exactly where they were and why it mattered.
The brief: a biscuit with two histories to carry
The hotel came to us with a strong idea: a small, round Scottish-style shortbread, finished with an edible rice-paper print of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" design.
It was a clever brief because it asked one biscuit to hold two true stories at once:
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The building's own history, having been built by a Scottish family from Edinburgh
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The neighbourhood's history: the "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster was created by Britain's wartime Ministry of Information, which was based at Senate House in Bloomsbury during the Second World War.
Add a third, more practical requirement to the mix: 500 to 700 biscuits a week, arriving fresh and consistent for every guest, not just a launch-week flourish. Making this a dedicated hospitality programme.
The solution: shortbread that tells you where you are
We made a bespoke round fluted shortbread-style biscuit, produced to order, each one topped with an edible rice-paper reproduction of the iconic "Keep Calm and Carry On" artwork.
Guests checking in on arrival will now see this familiar phrase, feel the nod to Bloomsbury, and get a small taste of the hotel's character before they reach their room.
The high quality rice-paper print kept the design sharp and true to the original poster, while the biscuit itself stayed exactly what a welcome gift should be: easy to eat, easy to enjoy, easy to photograph.
Hotel identity
That last point matters more than it sounds. VOCO is built around an approachable, less formal take on premium hospitality, with each hotel encouraged to show its own personality rather than a house style stamped across every property. A biscuit with a genuine story does that work brilliantly.
None of this is branding for the sake of branding. It is a hotel using a biscuit to say something true about itself, and doing it in a way a guest could understand.
What this means beyond one hotel lobby
This is the what we think about most when a brief lands in The Biskery: the biscuit is never really the point. It is simply the vessel of the message. What VOCO® hotel actually gives every arriving guest is a moment to see their hotel. While taking the time to say: "We udnerstand the gradure of where we are, and we're glad you're here to share in it too."
That's the same principle behind everything we make, whether it's 600 biscuits a week for a hotel welcome or a single box sent to say thank you to one person who mattered. The format changes. The intention doesn't.
If your brand, venue or hotel has a story worth putting in someone's hand on arrival, we'd like to hear it. Get in touch and let's work out what your welcome could say.
