With the economy recovering and more people traveling to enjoy the great outdoors, giving your hotel a facelift now might be worth the investment. However, the rising construction costs, especially materials, are still a major drawback.
Here are five hotel renovation tips to help impress your guests while protecting your bottom line.
Set yourself up for success by engaging your general contractor or project manager from the outset. It's important to establish a close relationship with these key stakeholders to set the stage for the successful execution of your hotel renovation plan.
All parties who are highly influential in bringing your project to fruition should feel invested in it. Closely engaging them can help streamline the project and prevent some of the usual headaches. Specifically, enlist a general contractor with vast experience in hotel construction projects. Better yet, ensure they properly understand the brand and design standards this project is meant to achieve. An ally who can value engineer the project and eliminate unnecessary costs should be part of your team.
Your hotel property should always be upgraded to keep up with your evolving brand and customer behavior or guest expectations. Before upgrading, consider the cost-per-key as it may have increased sharply since the last time you gave the property a facelift. This cost can range from hundreds of thousands to more than a million dollars in some capital-intensive renovations. Involve your general contractor in setting your project budget and discuss key cost factors, including your hotel location, property, and PIP.
Constant communication with the project team helps keep the workflow streamlined and the project in progress. Stay in touch with the general contractor, architect, designers, owner's representative, sub-contractors, branding teams, and other stakeholders. Any of these parties can make a decision that impacts others' schedules and project budgets, so it's important to keep everyone constantly in sync. This approach can help minimize unpleasant surprises and costs.
Make your plans early to provide for delays in key aspects of the project. Engineers, consultants, and designers may take longer than anticipated to complete their roles in the project as they're usually very busy.
Negotiations with the hotel brand's representative and designers are also a key area of concern. Sometimes, a prototype will take 45-60 days to review, which can impact project timelines if not addressed early. The timely delivery of FF&E orders, too, can be a challenge in specific scenarios. Early planning can help prevent costly project delays due to these potential bottlenecks.
Define and communicate responsibilities for each project team member. By effectively managing your expectations of all parties, you can prevent unforeseen project delays and cost overruns. This entails openly discussing what success looks like for everyone to understand their exact role. It can prevent costly disputes in any hotel renovation project.
With these hotel renovation tips, you can save money and deliver superior experiences for your guests. Contact us today at Parkwest General Contractors for value-added hotel construction and upgrade services. With years of experience in hospitality and commercial real estate markets, we provide A to Z solutions, including general contracting, value engineering, design review, feasibility analysis, project management, and more!
