The hotel business is developing rapidly and rapidly today, and one of the main reasons for this is its high demand. High economic activity and the development of tourism lead to the fact that in most cities – both large and not so large – there is a growing demand for places to accommodate guests. This is especially true for inexpensive hotel rooms and mid-range rooms. If you have thought about how to open a hotel, most likely it is a private mini-hotel: it can be organized at the lowest cost, and it will pay off relatively quickly. Travelers usually prefer these institutions: of course, there are no huge conference rooms or a dozen restaurants for every taste, but these places are usually notable for low prices and almost homelike comfort.

What hotel to open

The mini-hotel format is optimal if you just come into the hotel business. However, you should know that even a small hotel will require considerable investments and you should be ready that it will pay off not at once. And one of the first tasks that the future entrepreneur will have to solve is to attract investors. But before thinking about financing the enterprise, you need to decide what kind of hotel you want to open.

What kind of hotel are you planning to open? 

• low-budget student hostel,
• a small economy hotel,
• comfortable business hotel,
• aparthotel (it may be a mid-range or luxury).

Another option for organizing a hotel is the so-called “apartment hotel”. This type of business has recently enjoyed great popularity among entrepreneurs, and therefore we should dwell on it in more detail. Such business belongs to the number of “gray” – not properly formalized. It is done as follows: you buy several neighboring apartments in one house, minimal repairs (rarely – redevelopment), apartments are furnished, and it remains only to find customers for daily rent (usually with the help of ads on the Internet or in local newspapers). It would seem that opening a private hotel in this case is very easy.

 Finding a suitable premises

One of the most difficult and most important questions – is where to open a hotel. It is best to find space in a business or historical part of town. Here there should be a developed infrastructure: transport stops, cafes, restaurants, and stores. It is good if there will be nearby attractions. A nice view from the window is a plus for the hotel, although you will not have to pay extra for it.

The hotel should have a separate entrance (photo: freedigitalphotos.net).

Even if the establishment will not occupy the entire building your hotel should have a separate entrance.

One of the reasons this venture is expensive is that it is advisable to buy the premises. Renting a building for the hotel is hardly worth it: too big an investment will have to make in its interior and equipment, and an unexpected proposal from the landlord to terminate the relationship can turn into a big loss and, of course, loss of business. An acceptable option is a long-term lease with the right of redemption.

Interior of the hotel: important little things

After choosing and purchasing premises, it is time to start creating a hotel project, redevelopment, and repair. And, coordination of the project and obtaining permits for redevelopment may take much more time than the actual repair. The remodeling of the room and its documentation can be up to half of the cost of the property.

When the redevelopment will be completed and you begin the interior decoration of the hotel, you can already apply for permission for the concerned services (sanitary and epidemiological station, fire protection), as well as to enter into contracts with the utilities.

Creating the interior of the hotel is very important, although there are no uniform rules. The approach to the arrangement of the room will depend on the hotel concept, as well as its price category. Somewhere will be appropriate business and practical minimalism, somewhere – the eternal classic, and someone wants to make a room with rich decorations – all depends on the tastes of the owner and the preferences of the target audience. But the main thing is a comfortable layout and high-quality repairs, the rooms should look clean and neat, even if they will not be luxurious.

Another important point – furniture and plumbing must be of high quality. Do not rave about them, such savings can turn into additional costs: flimsy furniture will quickly break down because it is no secret that the “public” property is rarely treated with care. The choice of mattress is also important for customer comfort. Hotel experts have compiled the best mattress options in this review – mattresstree.com.

Make sure that the hotel has its corporate style, which is noticeable even in trifles. Needless to say, the development of interior design is better to entrust the professional designers.

Hotel services: important and secondary

First and foremost – rooms should be clean. Daily cleaning, and timely replacement of linen and towels – this is an obligatory condition for every hotel. If there is no possibility to organize laundry in the hotel, you should sign a contract with an outside company that provides this type of service.

Breakfast consisting of coffee, tea, and ready-made cookies may be provided by the hotel, even if there is no restaurant or cafe. If your cafe is planned, you need to be prepared for additional costs. To open it you will need:

• an equipped room that meets all fire and sanitary requirements;
• all the necessary permits and approvals;
• Staff: cooks and waiters;
• A license to sell alcohol.

However, his cafe or restaurant – this is a separate business, in such a facility will need to attract customers and outside, only the guests of the mini-hotel, it will not pay for itself. Much easier to arrange with one of the neighboring cafes to deliver food to guests in the room, or, for example, breakfast at a discount.

Calculating the profitability of the hotel

The fact that the hotel – is an expensive enterprise, has already been said repeatedly. It is time to calculate how much it costs to open a small hotel. Of course, the calculations will be approximate, to get an accurate idea of the future costs and revenues, you will need to get more information:

• find out how much demand for the service in your city (its population, the level of infrastructure development, the state of tourism, business and industry, and what sports or cultural events are held here);
• analyze the market: how many hotels are in your city, what their advertising and pricing policy, how busy they are, and how it is affected by seasonality);
• make a preliminary estimate of costs: the cost of real estate in the community, as well as rates for construction and other works;
• decide what will be the concept of your hotel: the composition of the room stock, services provided, the level of service, and as a result – the target audience.

As we see, it is almost impossible to answer the question of how much it costs to open a mini-hotel, too many factors will affect it. Investments in the capital’s hotels can be ten times greater than in the regional, so the following figures are very approximate.