How to Buy & Run Your Own Hotel Paperback – January 1, 1900

perfect

Just like advertised.

While written for the English market, there is still much to take away from this volume. I especially like the author's boxed texts and case studies drawing from his own experience as a first time hotel owner and innkeeper.

It is written more for hotels in the UK and not in America.

Good

The title does not correlate with the information provided in the book. In fact, he should retitle it to how an American can buy a 20 unit boutique motel in UK. And his story is basically that. how he acquired it without realizing too much about the business proposition but took the time to do a lot of research. If you are an experienced hotelier, you do not get to call yourself a hotelier until you have at least a 150 unit full-service properly with at least a banquet or conference room with restaurant and business center. This is totally a different ball game. What the author is expressing is what a typical 9 to 5 person experiences when they actually own a beginner level business for the first time being a business owner is like. He make it seem like what he achieved is enormous but he is a perfect version of a inexperienced beginner in the hotel world who hasn't even begun to experience what a full scale hotel operation is like.

This book provides insufficient detail on how to either buy a hotel or how to manage a hotel. In terms of purchasing a hotel, there is nothing with regard to valuation... analyzing historical operating details, calculating RevPar or capitalization rate, using comps to determine average cost per room, etc. This analysis is basic. No one should buy or operate a hotel (or even a bed & breakfast) without knowing how to calculate and manage these performance ratios. Similarly, the book fails to deliver sufficient detail on day-to-day hotel management, revenue management and maximization, customer relations, and marketing and promotion. To the extent that some of these subjects are covered, they are discussed in such generalities as to be almost useless. I have no doubt that the author is a talented and experienced hotelier. However, he has failed to provide the level of detail that a reader would need to truly buy and run their own hotel. I strongly recommend that readers avoid this title and purchase one or two of the many more-comprehensive books available on hotel development, acquisitions and management.