The steps to follow to open your first hotel

Before opening your small hotel, check with a market study whether you will be able to welcome enough guests to sustain your own business. Compare your booking forecasts with the hotel’s expenses, including in quiet periods. You will need thorough research, and financial management and planning to run a successful hotel. If the expected bookings do not cover expenses during quiet periods, revise your plan before signing for premises.

How to carry out your market study ?

For your market study, note the rates and number of rooms of neighbouring hotels, local tourist footfall by season and the expectations of the guests you are targeting. Also identify your suppliers and their prices. This information will help you set your rates and your strategy to attract guests. Then estimate the number of nights you could sell during the quiet season. Compare that figure with the number of nights required to cover your costs, calculated from your fixed costs, the average price of a night and the expenses related to each occupied room. If your forecasts remain below that threshold, rethink your project before concluding it is viable.

To refine demand, distinguish leisure guests from business guests, their arrival periods and the length of their stays. For neighbouring hotels, compare rates, services included and rooms still available for booking on the same dates. During the quiet season, redo your calculation with fewer nights sold and the rates you plan to charge.

How to choose a strategic location ?

To decide between two locations, compare for each the rent, travel time from places frequented by your clientele and the number of nights to sell to cover your costs. Your catchment area must be large enough, and the proximity of shops, amenities and tourist attractions should be significant. Also provide for parking. Being close to an airport or a rail station is a real bonus; and do not forget public transport. Your hotel must be well connected.

Before choosing premises, examine their condition and check whether they comply with the applicable hygiene and safety regulations for your project. Estimate separately the cost and duration of the works required: they depend on the premises.

What budget and financing should you plan before opening ?

Itemise the purchase or rent of the premises, the works, the equipment and the expenses to cover during the first months, before bookings are sufficient to pay them. Compare this budget with your personal contribution and the financing you can obtain. Do this calculation before signing for the premises.

For a small hotel, the budget depends notably on the number of rooms, the condition of the premises and the work required. Add the recurring monthly costs, such as energy, maintenance and wages if you hire staff. Compare this total with your room prices and the number of nights you expect to sell, including during the quiet season.

In your business plan, divide the fixed costs of the quiet period by the average price of a night, minus the expenses linked to each occupied room. You obtain the number of nights to sell to cover those costs. Compare it with the number of rooms multiplied by the nights open and by the occupancy rate you expect for that period. If the result is below the required threshold, revise your forecasts before signing.

Let’s take a hypothetical example, with no figures : call F your fixed costs during the quiet period, P the average price of a night and D the expenses linked to an occupied room. Your break-even is F ÷ (P − D) nights sold. If you plan fewer nights than this result, bookings will not cover your fixed costs for that period.

Before signing for premises, put these items against your resources and your booking forecasts.

Item	To quantify or check	What this helps decide
Premises	Purchase price or rent	Compare the budget with your contribution and financing
Works	Cost and duration depending on the condition of the premises	Adjust the opening schedule
Running expenses	Energy, maintenance and wages if you hire	Plan the expenses for the first months
Forecast bookings	Room rates and nights sold, including in quiet periods	Check whether revenues cover expenses

Which procedures should you check with the local council before opening to the public ?

Before contacting the council, gather information on the premises and the planned works. Ask what conditions for opening to the public and what hygiene and safety rules apply to your project. If works are required, include their cost and duration in your financing plan. Adapt your schedule accordingly. Do not set an opening date until these points are clarified.

Before setting your opening date, check on Service-Public.fr the procedures that may concern your premises. Ask the council whether your project requires an opening authorisation and, if so, which documents to provide. Take this response into account in your timetable.

How to create your hotel’s website ?

Before opening, publish on your website the hotel address, the planned rooms and an opening date only if it is confirmed: your future guests will be able to discover your establishment from its launch in a competitive area. This will also make it easier for your future guests to find you, and will help with good SEO.

This is the perfect opportunity to define your visual identity. Also include attractive images of the rooms and suites you will offer. And provide an online booking system. To go further, read our article The website for your hotel : indispensable !

How to make your hotel known ?

To make your hotel known and retain guests, ask your tourism partners to recommend it and invite past guests to return, then count the bookings obtained through each approach.

Before opening, prioritise spending on what allows guests to find your hotel and book: an up-to-date website and a reservation path that works. Then use network marketing, in other words “word of mouth”, and contact tourism partners suited to your clientele. These efforts mainly require time. Keep social media promotion spending for when you can measure the bookings they generate.

Care for your digital reputation for guests searching for your hotel and booking online. Manage your social networks through community management.

You can promote your establishment by developing partnerships with other tourism players: travel agencies, tourist offices, guides.

How to ensure customer service at the hotel ?

The reception sets the tone for the stay. Welcome your guests with a smile and check, according to their situation, whether any administrative formalities need to be completed. On departure, prepare the invoices and take payment.

Furthermore, for a truly successful welcome, inform guests about the services on offer at the hotel, the cultural and gastronomic activities in your town, give them the wifi code and useful phone numbers. Alternatively; go digital ! Simply let them scan the QR code they will find in their room, giving them access to your digital welcome book on their mobile. There they will find the hotel’s services, cultural and gastronomic activities, the wifi code and useful phone numbers.

Frequently asked questions

Is star classification mandatory to open a hotel ?

Before applying for a star classification, assess what it might bring to your bookings compared with the procedures involved.

Do not assume you can open without classification: check the conditions applicable to your project. If you plan to apply for classification, at opening or later, find out about the procedures with Atout France and check the criteria and steps before displaying stars on your website or listings.

How to estimate the works and the cash needs before signing for premises ?

Ask for quotes to distinguish the cost of the works from their duration. Then draw up a month-by-month cash schedule: rent, charges and any salaries will need to be paid during the works and at the start of operations, before bookings are sufficient to cover them.

What procedures must be completed before opening a hotel to the public ?

Check the formalities for declaring your activity on the single business formalities portal. Ask the council which accessibility rules apply to your hotel, whether works require authorisation and to which service to address your requests. If you serve food, check the health obligations that concern your activity and whether you need to contact the DDPP. If you serve alcohol, check whether a licence is necessary.

How to offer a tourism partnership that is useful to your guests ?

Contact a travel agency, a tourist office or a tour guide with a precise proposal: an activity suited to your clientele and the terms for booking it. Check schedules and conditions before recommending it. These partnerships with other tourism players complement word of mouth and your social networks, without replacing monitoring of your online reputation.

What if a guest cannot scan the QR code ?

Keep an alternative way to provide practical information: the wifi code, useful phone numbers, services offered and local activities. The QR code in the room gives access to your digital welcome book on mobile, but it must not be the only way to obtain this information.

Can you take over an existing hotel rather than fit out new premises, and what should you check before signing ?

Yes, you can consider taking over an existing hotel. Before signing, check that its location meets the needs of your clientele, examine the condition of the premises and enquire about the hygiene and safety rules applicable to your project. Itemise any works, the running expenses and the first months of activity, then compare this budget with your financing and your booking forecasts, including for the quiet season.

Ask the seller for past bookings by season and the actual expenses paid, then compare them with your forecasts. Visit the rooms and check the condition of the equipment, bookings already taken and commitments to suppliers that you would assume. Have what is included in the takeover specified in writing before signing.