The money
Revenue relies mostly on rooms, with limited food and beverage, so room revenue and occupancy are central. Labour is controlled by lean staffing and rooms-per-attendant targets, with housekeepers typically cleaning a set number of rooms per shift. Many sites are leased or franchised, with fees to the brand. Dynamic pricing and direct booking channels reduce reliance on online travel agents and their commissions. Margins can be strong when occupancy is high and property costs are controlled.
Numbers that matter
- Occupancy
- share of rooms sold
- ADR
- average room rate
- RevPAR
- revenue per available room
- Rooms per attendant
- housekeeping productivity
- Direct booking share
- rooms sold without OTA commission
- Cost per occupied room
- operating cost for each sold room
What keeps owners up
- Housekeeping workloads and room quotas
- OTA commissions
- Wage rises in lean staffing models
- Price competition and rate wars
- Maintenance of ageing estates
What we talk about
- Housekeeping quotas: what a fair shift looks like
- Multi-skilled roles: opportunity or understaffing
- Why budget hotels win on sleep quality
- Self check-in and the disappearing front desk
- Franchise owners' view of the brand
- The night auditor's lonely shift