How to Get Bang for Your Buck When
Renovating a Hotel
As a hotel ages, its interior will need refurbishing to keep it looking fresh and attractive for guests. Even within a budget, a successful renovation can help a hotel compete on par with the newer entrants in its submarket. Getting bang for your buck makes this possible.
Working with the right hospitality design and procurement provider, you can optimize your spend across several key areas of a hotel renovation project. It is important to understand when certain choices or trade-offs will jeopardize FF&E quality or design intent. The overall project budget will influence the options available, so you will want to share what you want to accomplish and what capital you have available to spend before the design process begins.
In other words, knowing the budget before we start working with a client allows Innvision to be a “value engineer.” We can implement impactful aspects of your custom or semi-custom design that are a financial fit for your property and location.
In this blog, you will learn how to get bang for your buck when renovating a hotel while still honoring brand requirements and standing apart from the competition.
Ways to Get Bang for Your Buck When Renovating a Hotel
In general, we find the potential for savings in items with large order quantities or in those that are highly customized but able to revert to something more standard. Here are some ways to get bang for your buck in specific FF&E product categories within your hotel renovation:
Finishes
- Use a generalized wall paint with vinyl accents instead of wall vinyl.
- Shop around for porcelain floor tile, as it can range in price and many manufacturers often produce the same style.
- Install carpet broadloom instead of carpet tile, which is typically higher in price and more labor-intensive to install.
Casegoods
- Select laminates instead of wood veneers where the hotel brand and/or design intent will allow.
Upholstery
- Lower an upholstery grade or switch to another mill with a similar specified upholstery or fabric. This can greatly change the price of a chair, sofa, or even pillow.
Wall Art
- Change the medium or switch to a similar image or size to see how that impacts pricing. Also, look for a framer willing to consult on a customized design with a given specification.
Lighting
- Custom pieces can be reverted to standard or stocked pieces. For example, a custom chandelier can run into the thousands, but if a stocked chandelier can accomplish the same effect, that cost savings can be quite meaningful.
Important Considerations When Renovating a Hotel
When drilling down into any custom design, ensure you’re in tune with the proposed FF&E selections and pricing before approving the selection to submit to your hotel brand. It’s possible though, when populating a design with the best of the best manufacturers and products, to get blindsided by the final budget. This type of surprise is never pleasant, but fortunately, this is usually avoidable with good upfront communication.
When the design does break the budget, the hard work begins to determine which items you can adjust without jeopardizing the design intent. Sometimes a portion of the renovation must be postponed to stay within the original budget, but in most cases, tweaking the selections will fit the budget. Typically, cost savings are achievable with value engineering while staying true to the design intent.
While seeking bang for your buck is worthwhile, we would not recommend cutting costs on standard equipment, brand-required FF&E, or using a “friend of a friend who knows someone overseas” to possibly provide goods at a lower cost (that are not brand-approved). Overseas scenarios such as this can pose real risks when not dealing with a proven manufacturer. Furthermore, costs will be higher in the long run if quality turns out to be inferior and/or the brand disallows it, making a full replacement necessary.
At Innvision, we use vetted manufacturers with excellent quality, service, and delivery. We help hoteliers get bang for their buck but also stand behind what we sell and make sure all parties—including the brand—are on board with any cost-saving design modifications. We also look heavily at manufacturers closer to the property for freight savings. In some cases, the brand will dictate the FOB points, however, we will seek out the closest vendors for the best rates in freight.
To learn how we can help you get the most bang for your buck when renovating your hotel, contact us!
