Quinta do Lago is one of Europe’s leading luxury lifestyle resorts, located in the heart of Portugal's Algarve region within the protected Ria Formosa nature reserve.
Spanning more than 2,000 acres, the resort attracts an international clientele of golfers, leisure travellers and families and offers a diverse food and beverage programme across 14 restaurants and bars.
To strengthen beverage expertise across its venues, Quinta do Lago partnered with WSET to deliver structured spirits training for its front-of-house teams.
“WSET Level 1 in Spirits marked a significant milestone in our bar training programme. The motivation and confidence instilled in the participants have been clearly reflected in their performance.”
– Debbie Tsao, Group F&B Director, Quinta do Lago
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The challenge
With multiple dining concepts and bars across the resort, maintaining consistent beverage knowledge and service standards across teams was a growing priority.
Quinta do Lago identified several opportunities to strengthen its beverage programme:
- Beverage knowledge varied between outlets, leading to inconsistent guest experiences
- Front-line staff had limited formal training in spirits and cocktails
- Premium spirits sales were below expectations for a luxury resort
- Bars were often perceived as secondary to dining experiences rather than destinations in their own right
The resort wanted to build stronger drinks knowledge across teams while helping staff feel more confident recommending beverages to guests.
The solution
In partnership with WSET Approved Programme Provider SouthSide Bartending, Quinta do Lago introduced the WSET Level 1 Award in Spirits for bartenders and front-of-house professionals across several outlets.
Participants came from venues including Bovino Steakhouse, Casa Velha, Umami, Casa do Lago, The Shack and Dano’s Sports Bar.
Delivered as part of a wider beverage training initiative, the programme combined structured spirits education with practical communication and upselling techniques.
The aim was to unify beverage knowledge across outlets and strengthen staff confidence when engaging guests about drinks.
The results
Improved guest experience scores
Quinta do Lago regularly uses independent mystery guests to assess service quality across its restaurants. These anonymous visits evaluate areas such as staff attitude, sales behaviour and overall dining experience.
Comparing evaluations before and after the training, scores improved across every category.
- Staff attitude: +32%
- Sales behaviour: +35%
- Dining service & food quality: +19%
These improvements reflect stronger team engagement and greater confidence when interacting with guests.
Increased spirits sales share
Sales analysis following the training showed an increase in the share of spirits served across participating venues. The strongest-performing outlets recorded increases of up to 17 percentage points in spirits sales share, suggesting greater confidence among staff when recommending spirits to guests.
Continued professional development
Following the success of the programme, additional staff progressed to the WSET Level 2 Award in Spirits, expanding beverage expertise across the resort.
"Taking the WSET Level 1 Spirits course was an enriching experience. It gave me greater confidence when recommending drinks and explaining spirits to guests.”
- Stelian Ravas, Head Bartender, Casa do Lago
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"It was an excellent experience that left me more confident and better prepared for day-to-day work.”
- João Ferreira, Head Bartender, Bovino Steakhouse
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