This is a thoroughly 'hands-on' guide to opening a hotel, by an author who has been there, seen it and done it - and turned their own pipe dream into reality. It offers an A to Z of practical advice, from accounting to creating a website. It is full of advice for the aspiring or novice hotelier as well as those already in business and striving to meet customer expectations. AUTHOR At the age of 45 Mark Lloyd, an events organizer, had had enough of working for other people. With his wife and family he moved from Watford to run his own hotel in Chipping Sodbury in Gloucestershire. He had no previous experience of the hotel industry. Eighteen months later he has a successful hotel - and no regrets.
45th book of 2020: A mix of obvious and bad advice.
The author ran a hotel for 18 months and then wrote a book. With precious few numbers and astoundingly mundane anecdotes, this book could be written by somebody who had run a hotel for 18 days. Picking out some quotes at random should be sufficient to dissuade you from reading this book:
On how to manage a hotel: "Having a holiday or even time off will be nigh on impossible in the first couple of years" On purchase price: "Your key concern should be whether your offer is within your means and at the same time will be attractive to sellers." On employees: "Making sure that your staff are paid on time is vital."
Notes: Lender brokers are worth considering in the UK. Contract needs to include the furnishings not just the real estate. Book has a reasonable list of questions to ask the hotel owners.
Overall I think this is a very detailed and well thought out book about how to buy and run a small hotel. It was an enjoyable and very informative read.