The late summer honey harvest season has been a good one for the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire, Ill. Executive Chef Pierre Daval told me this past week the resort’s 600,000 bees have produced 500 pounds of honey so far. “We are about halfway through the season,” he says. This is the eighth year the bees have produced honey. What do you do with so much of the sticky stuff? The kitchen and sales teams got together and came up with a honey-themed celebration called Viva La Honey. “We all love it,” Daval says. “We have honey everywhere.”
In honor of National Honey Month, Viva La Honey is a month-long, honey-themed celebration in September that features everything from anti-aging spa honey treatments to the launch of an exclusive honey ale— Five Eyes Honey Ale—to a restaurant menu filled with endless tasty ways to utilize the bees’ bounty.
The resort partnered with a local brewery, Tighthead Brewing Company in creating the custom honey beer. “The beer is awesome,” Daval says. “We started the process a year ago. It has a crisp, refreshing taste. There is an awesome flower aroma.”
When asked in what menu items honey appears, Daval ran off a long list. Some examples: honey cupcakes, honey pies, fried chicken with honey BBQ, honey pecan cakes, honey BBQ brisket, pecan crémeux, and honey plumped cranberries. The No. 1 seller is fish and chips. It includes batter made with the honey beer. Maybe I should start vacationing in Lincolnshire in September?
Bees Reside on Resort’s Farm
Daval says 99 percent of the bee work is done by him and his staff. That includes feeding in the spring, making sure the queen is producing babies, harvesting the honey, and winterizing them. The hives are located on the resort farm adjacent to the 18-hole golf course. Because he does not wear gloves while working with the bees, he does get stung occasionally.
Here are a few other ways the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort is utilizing its honey harvest this month:
- Honey popcorn and jars of Marriott’s raw honey are available for purchase in the resort’s gift shop.
- Wright’s Brew & Bistro is celebrating with Viva La Honey Happy Hour every Monday through Thursday in September from 4 p.m. through 5:30 p.m. Specials include the first batches of Five Eyes Honey Ale Draft for $4.00 in addition to honey-inspired cocktails and honey food specials. Guests who mention HONEY receive half off their first seasonal cocktail, The Kentucky Porto Connection valid now through September 30, 2019.
- Honey takes center stage at The Spa at Lincolnshire. The resort’s spa is featuring treatments including a honey-infused anti-aging facial—an 80-minute experience that embraces the antioxidant properties of honey.
With overnight rates starting at $230, any of Viva La Honey’s features can be added to any resort package including the Experience Marriott Theatre package and the Ultimate Spa package.
Viva La Honey is a great way to celebrate sustainability while building awareness of the resort’s green efforts at the same time. In what ways does your property celebrate its sustainability successes with its guests? I would love to learn about them. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
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