Many people dream of running their own hotel. A beautiful place where you can welcome guests from all over the world and give them a fantastic experience in a new location. But there is more to managing a hotel than meets the eye. It is not just about having a load of rooms and charging people money to stay in them. As a hotelier, you need to provide a place of sanctuary. A spot where they can relax and feel comfortable for the duration of their stay.
Your hotel will succeed or fail based on its reputation, and whether your guests have an amazing or a terrible experience, you can be sure they will let other people know about it. If you want to run your own hotel business, you need to know exactly what you are getting into and adopt the right strategies to help you succeed. Here are five tips to get you started.
Do your research
It’s not enough to just open a hotel and hope for the best. All successful businesses start with a plan, and yours is no different. Your plan should detail exactly what sort of business you want to run, who your ideal guests are, and how you can attract them to your establishment. Conduct extensive research into the hospitality industry and talk to other hotel owners for advice. The more work you do in the early stages, the more likely you will be to thrive.
Pick the right location
One of the most important decisions you will need to make when setting up your business is whether to buy an existing building or build your own from scratch. Purchasing a hotel will enable you to save time and money, but you should expect to have to undertake some renovations. Building a hotel allows you to customize it in any way you like, opting for the materials and design you think would be best for your vision.
Hire and train staff
Unless you are the owner of a tiny bed and breakfast, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to run your business all by yourself. You will need a team of dedicated staff to perform all kinds of duties and functions including preparing food, performing the linen service, cleaning rooms, valet parking, and managing the front desk. When interviewing employees you should seek those that best represent the values and goals of your business, and train them up thoroughly in their expected job functions.
Create a marketing strategy
How will you make people aware of your business? A marketing strategy will help you spread the word about your new hotel to your ideal customers. Use tools like social media, content creation, online advertising, and print marketing to draw people in.
Listen to the customers
As the owner, you have a completely different perspective on your business compared to your guests. Make sure you ask your customers for feedback about their stay and use this to make important changes. Learn from any negative criticism and work to improve in this area in the future.
