What are the steps one needs to take to own and operate a boutique hotel?

I have spent a year exploring this question through the Senior Seminar class at my school. I have completed research, found a mentor, immersed myself in experiential learning, and created a product to demonstrate my learning.

My Year Long Experience

My senior seminar research explores the steps to own and operate a boutique hotel. I’m excited about this work, as my ultimate career goal is to do exactly that. This goal sprouted when I stayed at a female-owned boutique hotel and observed the owner complete the daily operations - ironing the sheets, making the beds, welcoming new guests, serving meals, and taking new bookings. I knew I could do the same and would absolutely love it!

At the beginning of the year, unsure where to start as there are many aspects to owning and operating a hotel, I started with categorizing all the different components and doing research for each category – marketing, design, finances, hotel operations, and guest complaints. I found a lot of information but really saw it in action and learned much more through my mentorship at The Cliffside Inn in Newport, Rhode Island. This experience gave me a deep dive into the different aspects of operating a boutique hotel, for example, responding to guests' inquiries, housekeeping, food preparation, and insight into the financial side of owning and operating a hotel. After my research and experience at The Cliffside Inn, I decided I wanted to create my own business plan for a hotel currently on the real estate market. This task would help me learn the aspects of a business plan and the costs that come with creating and operating a hotel. I felt that creating a business plan was the best way to display and use the information I learned, as it is more in-depth than an infographic or video.

My sample business plan for The Old Sea Pines Inn in Brewster, Massachusetts is comprised of two components; written and financial. After compiling information and finding a property, creating a business plan is the second step of my future hotel coming to life on paper and through the numbers. This is critical to projecting how much pre-opening costs will be and continual costs will be to help sustain the business throughout the years to come. For the written plan, I went through what the loan would be used for, annual goals, target audience, job descriptions, and competitors in the area.

For the financial plan, I thought about all costs - pre-opening day and then

continual operating costs. I was able to look up several of these costs, as

they are subscription-based or typical for that job. But for others, I had to

estimate and calculate all factors that went into that category. For example,

in the renovation category, I had to estimate the costs of renovating the

bathrooms, adding wallpaper, new furniture and mattresses, and any

additional building maintenance. There were several categories that I

marked as unknown since they are costs that I would figure out once the

hotel is ready to be legally established, such as licensing and insurance.

From this business plan, I expect the reader to understand all numbers

and create a picture of this hotel in operation. This product is unlike

anything I have completed before, but I really enjoyed the challenge of