The Hotel Development Guide

Hotel Development Guide

Welcome to the Hotel Development Guide!

Hotels are a complex, highly specialised, capital- and labour-intensive form of real estate. Development and investment, especially in emerging markets, are fraught with pitfalls and, therefore, risk. Nevertheless, hotel investment can be rewarding, offer an excellent ROI opportunity, and fit nicely into a diverse real estate portfolio.

  • The guide endeavours to provide necessary introductory information, ideas and links on a single site to aid potential hotel developers and investors in finding the resources to initiate (or not!) a hotel in an efficient, sustainable direction.
  • The guide is not a replacement for professional consultants. Indeed, it encourages using appropriate specialists at suitable stages of the development process.

The guide focuses on emerging markets, mainly in EMEA; however, all are welcome to access this portal; we aim to promote good practices and facilitate the sustainable growth of the hotel and accommodations sector. While the structure and limits of the guide in providing links to third parties may highlight or omit organisations, we aim to remain as independent as possible. If the guide does not appear to cover issues you would like to understand further, or you would like to comment, add, remove or amend any part of this guide, please notify us via the contact page.

Before considering developing a hotel, it is essential to evaluate how hotels fit in commercial real estate and

Hotel Development - Why would you want to invest in a hotel?

…would you want to invest in a hotel?

A hotel might be the wrong real estate choice for your investment, consider the following…

CHALLENGES of hotel investment

ADVANTAGES of hotel investment

MOTIVATIONS for hotel investors

HOTEL vs. OFFICE and other CRE sectors

Further, the guide follows the following structure:

Project Team – Determining the Hotel Project Team

A guide to selecting consultants to build an effective project team in support of the development of the hotel project:

Management – Hotel Management

A guide to finding and engaging an appropriate operator and brand, review of the principal contracts, preopening and commissioning processes and critical elements of hotel operations:

Planning – Planning the Hotel Development & Project

A guide to determining a feasibility hotel segment and configuration, understanding and initiating the design development and essential elements of hotel project financing:

  • Concept Planning
  • Project Planning
  • Project Financing

Asset Mgmt – Hotel Asset Management

A guide to creating value through the structure and management of the hotel asset, understanding valuation principles and exit strategies:

  • Hotel Asset Management
  • Owning & Operational Company Structure
  • Hotel Valuation
  • Exit Strategies

Disruption – Disruption & Innovation in the Accommodations Sector

A review of contemporary disruptive influences and innovations in the accommodations sector that present potential risks and opportunities to hotel investors:

Resources – Hotel Development Resources

Summary and links to hotel development resources that provide a further understanding of the hotel development processes, specific market knowledge, and valuable hotel development tools:

HDG Glossary – Hotel Development Guide Glossary of Terms

An alphabetical list of words, phrases and acronyms relating specifically to hotels and hotel real estate development to aid your understanding of this site and the hotel development industry.