Hotel & Hospitality - Pre-opening & Opening

The process of opening is the most active part in the asset life cycle - Staff recruitment, budgeting, equipment search, preparation and implementation of a sales plan and many other important activities. This is the time when support of a professional is necessary for the successful implementation of the project and the launch of the facility on the market. Getting ready and doing all activities necessary for us to receive the first guest, is the pre-opening period. In addition, it’s the start of active management. Getting any asset (hotel) up and running successfully is a gigantic task. 

• Pre-opening Planning: If we don't know what to do, where and when, it’s impossible to manage and control the process. We therefore must have a plan. A good question is, how detailed does the plan need to be? If we make it too detailed, we can get stuck in detail and the plan becomes a break on the process. The opposite of too little, can also halt the process, when important tasks are missed, and a solution must be found on the spot. What’s the right balance between too much and too little, to get a plan that works and allows to control the process? As soon as we need something before another task, it must be in the plan. If a task is important to the success of the project, it must be in the plan. Does that mean everything needs to be in the plan? No, of course not.
• Team & Hiring: There are different opinions on who to hire first? Somebody hires the financial director first, somebody the chief engineer, somebody the management company or the general manager of the asset (hotel). There’s not just one way to do this and a choice needs to be made that balance project needs and costs.
• Pre-opening Management: Getting the building and management system ready for use. During this phase, the building will still be under construction, furniture and other deliveries, builders continuing to work, etc... Anything related to building renovation/construction and design is already in the project plan. Here, we focus on the management side of getting things ready. Organizing means having a system and communication with regular checks.

The Opening Timeline:

How much time is needed to open an asset (hotel)? There are chain hotels that insist on 24 months or 2 years plus. The logic being, we have one year to adapt the construction project (before it’s too late to make changes) and pre-sales contracting starts one year in advance (Usually, September-November for summer next year and April-May for next winter season) of the opening. It can be less, but usually not less that six months prior to the opening. 

The main stages of start-up period:

• Purchasing: Selection of suppliers, development of technical specifications and organising tenders.
• Human Resources: Development of the manning plan and organizational structure.
• Recruitment: The actual hiring process. 
• Management: Development of systems and standard operating procedures
• Facilities: Preparing and testing of rooms and other hotel prmises. 
• Sales & Marketing: Sales and marketing planning, implementation and execution. 
• IT Setup: The choice of IT infrastrucutre, property management system (PMS) and their configuration/testing.