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Speaking the Language of Hospitality

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Before moving further into design development, it may be useful to pause and look at some of the language commonly used within the industry. Hospitality development comes with its own vocabulary. Some of these terms are operational. Others are financial, technical, or design-related. Many appear repeatedly during feasibility studies, operator negotiations, concept development, budgeting, and project execution. Understanding these terms becomes increasingly important as projects move from early planning into active development. Several of them directly influence area allocation, staffing models, operational efficiency, and ultimately, project profitability. This is not intended to be a comprehensive glossary. That would become far too long and unnecessarily academic. Instead, these are some of the more practical terms that frequently appear during hotel development discussions and feasibility evaluations. For simplicity, I will keep them broadly grouped by category rather than strictly...
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Starting the Design

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Once the operator is onboard and the Hotel Management Agreement (HMA) is executed, the project finally reaches the stage where design can formally begin. Until now, the development has largely existed in spreadsheets, feasibility studies, operator negotiations, and financial models. This is the point where ideas begin their transition into physical space. But contrary to popular perception, hotel design does not begin with an architect sketching a dramatic lobby on tracing paper. Before the first concept is developed, the developer must assemble the right technical team, define the reporting structure, establish the design responsibilities, and prepare the framework within which the consultants will operate. In hospitality projects, design is never the work of a single individual. It is collaborative authorship involving architects, engineers, operators, cost consultants, interior designers, specialist consultants, and project managers—all moving toward the same outcome from very diffe...
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Selecting the Operator: Brand, Positioning, and Economics

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Once you recognise that the design brief depends on the operator, the importance of this decision becomes immediately clear. The H&BU study has already made its assumptions and may have suggested, for instance, that the best use of the site is an upscale 4-star hotel. With those numbers as a guide, the next step is to engage with operators and understand what kind of partnership you can realistically negotiate. Operators arrive with their own global benchmarks. They will indicate the level of investment expected, the operational structure required, and the revenue range they believe the market can sustain. These inputs begin to translate your feasibility into something more tangible. Selecting a hotel brand, therefore, is not merely a marketing choice. It is a long-term financial commitment—one that defines the operational DNA of the asset. Design standards, staffing levels, construction cost, and ultimately the return on investment are all influenced by this decision. One of the e...
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Chapter on Selecting the Consultants: Building the Design Team

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Once the early studies confirm that a hotel is the right use for the site—and that the business case is viable—the next phase begins: building the design team. In a multi-storey hotel development, complexity is not an exception; it is the default. The building is not just a structure—it is a system of interconnected decisions. This requires a team that is not only experienced, but also highly specialised . At this stage, the owner must make an important strategic decision: how to structure this team in a way that balances control with efficiency. To understand this, it helps to recognise one simple truth—successful design is rarely about individual brilliance. It depends heavily on how well multiple disciplines coordinate with each other, and how quickly they respond as the design evolves. You may be surprised by the number of specialists involved in a hospitality project. Because of this, there is a clear benefit in placing the responsibility of coordination in the hands of a single l...
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A Chapter on Early Studies

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  Since I am writing this book for everyone interested in understanding how a hotel is developed, it is important to begin with a simple clarification: a significant amount of work is completed before an architect sketches the first line on paper. It is a common misconception that a project begins with the commissioning of a designer. In reality, by the time a consultant sits down to draft the first block plan or calculate a structural grid, the project has already lived an entire life in the boardroom. It has been tested, challenged, and refined through business planning and a relentless evaluation of numbers. You may have spent years mastering design or engineering, understanding every detail of a building’s physical form. Yet it is worth recognising that the project had a life before it reached you, and it will continue to evolve after your role is complete. Before any physical design begins, these early studies determine whether the project has a reason to exist at all. A hotel...
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