Hospitality Renovation Tips for Hoteliers

Hotel owners strive to keep their properties in excellent condition to remain competitive.  However, since not all hoteliers are construction experts, a hospitality renovation project isn’t easy at the best of times. If you plan to renovate and convert your existing hotel, you’ll want to consider a few factors ahead of time. 

What You Should Consider Before and After a Hotel Renovation Project

Pre-Renovation Tips

When done right, a renovation can increase your profits by allowing you to charge more per night and attract new customers. Whether you’re focusing on a new building’s finishing or the renovation and conversion of existing hotel buildings, you’ll want to consider the following tips for a successful project. 

• Plan Early

In most cases, all aspects of a renovation project take longer than anticipated. For instance, due to their busy schedules, designers, architects, and consultants may require more time to complete their part of the project.  

In addition, the hotel brand’s representatives may need more time to submit their input. Since a basic prototype review may take 45 to 60 days, depending on the brand, negotiating a custom design or specific waivers or deferments may take much longer.

Furthermore, furniture, fixtures, and equipment can take longer than expected because factories work overtime to meet current demands. Since getting stuck with tight deadlines can have a significant impact on project costs, it’s crucial to stay on top of material delivery dates to ensure they arrive on the installation timeline is crucial. Moreover, planning early, setting realistic goals, and having a realistic budget will help keep the schedule moving. 

• Communicate 

 Several job stakeholders are involved in hotel renovation projects. These include the General Contractors, Owner’s Reps, Designers, Architects, Management Companies, Third Party Project Managers, Purchasing Agents, Brand Teams, Ownerships, and others. When one group makes a decision, it affects all others’ project budgets and timelines. For this reason, constant communication is vital to minimize costs and ensure all parties are continually in sync. 

• Manage Expectations

Each project participant must be on the same page regarding what is expected from them and when they should accomplish their tasks. Besides understanding what a successful renovation project looks like, all parties must know how to manage expectations effectively. Consequently, managing expectations is the glue that holds the process together. Failing to do so will lead to unforeseen delays and financial overruns.

While having someone 100% in charge of the project ensures that hotel resources aren’t spread thin, a failed project usually comes down to the person who put it together. Avoid issues and disputes by holding all parties accountable. Assigning clear-cut and reasonable responsibilities to team members and creating a contingency plan may require patience, but it’s worth all the effort and time invested.  

• Consider Guest Experience

While hotels usually remain open during renovations to bring in revenue, hoteliers must strive to ensure that normal business operations resume with minimal interruption. For this reason, they must take special measures to meet the renovation schedule without creating an unpleasant experience for guests or compromising their safety. The team must be willing to adjust when the occupancy rate exceeds what they initially anticipated.

Since hotel management may need to reduce the number of guest reservations as the project progresses, they must review their occupancy trends to determine when their off-season is. Furthermore, it’s best to renovate one section or floor at a time and keep guests as far from the construction as possible.

Discount rates should also be offered to guests booked in rooms near renovation work to compensate for their inconvenience. Moreover, the noisiest construction work should occur between check-in and check-out hours.

Post-Renovation Tips

Once all of the "Renovation To-Do" items have been accomplished, the hotelier can put their handy work on display. Plan a marketing campaign highlighting hotel upgrades with the hotel's marketing manager and sales director. A brand-new advertising campaign can be added to the hotel marketing plan to reintroduce the upgraded hotel to customers. 

• Update marketing materials to reflect renovations.

Photograph all of the renovation changes with a professional photographer. Capture photos that will appeal to your target audience by emphasizing upgraded hotel amenities, upgraded hotel spaces, and updated hotel technology. You might consider investing in high-quality drone footage, panoramic photographs, and other experiential marketing content to enhance your online profiles and listing pages.

• Keep your hotel's online profile up-to-date.

Update the main website of your hotel, social media pages, third-party booking channels, and supplier network listings following renovations. Consider advertising renovations on sourcing platforms if your property has upgraded its wedding and event spaces. Utilize virtual tours, image carousels, and other experiential marketing content to help travelers and travel planners visualize a stay at your hotel. You may want to invite travelers and travel agents to take a photorealistic 3D tour of your property. 

• Ensure that your online audience stays informed.

Share a sneak peek of your renovation process with your online audience through social media, and hint at what's ahead. Display before-and-after photos and time-lapse videos of your renovated property on social media pages to encourage users to interact with your content after the renovation.

Do You Need Help With an Upcoming Hospitality Renovation Project? 

As a hotelier, you’ll want your hotel to stand out in a crowded marketplace and popular travel destination to attract travelers. Keeping up with innovative hospitality trends, from updated hotel technology and exciting enhancements to guest amenities, is key to staying competitive.

At BlueTeam, we understand that Capital improvement projects can significantly increase a hotel’s look, value, and functionality. We strive to fully understand your goals for your capital improvement projects so we can develop and implement plans that maximize return on investment.

Expect us to complete complex interior and exterior capital improvement projects at a fast pace with remarkable results. We’re available to work around the clock or at any hour to minimize the disruption to your hotel’s regular business operations. Our ultimate goal is to be there for you, and to exceed your expectations.

It doesn’t matter if your project requires ground-up construction, remodeling, improvements, refurbishing, or repairs. BlueTeam is ready when you are. Contact us today to request a demo or a quote.