Before award
Six Questions for a Hotel Project
Hotel bids differ mostly in what was assumed about occupancy, and that assumption is rarely stated.
Key count, the scope you are facing, and your occupancy pattern. Those three tell us whether the program is achievable.
The six
Ask every bidder, including us.
- What occupancy and room-release assumption did you price?
- What hours did you price for loud work?
- What does your cost per key include, exactly?
- How will you handle life safety impairments in an occupied hotel?
- When will you order the long-lead furniture and fittings?
- What happens to your program if operations releases fewer rooms?
The one that separates bids
The room-release assumption. A contractor who priced a whole floor at a time will be substantially cheaper than one who priced four rooms at a time, and both numbers are honest.
If operations will only release four, the cheaper bid was never real — and that becomes a change order rather than a discount.
Normalizing
Before comparing, confirm every bidder assumed the same room release, the same working hours, the same cost-per-key scope and the same FF&E responsibility. They frequently did not.
FAQ
Common questions
- Why do hotel bids vary?
- Mostly the assumed room release and working hours, not trade pricing.
- What is the key question?
- What occupancy and room-release assumption was priced.
- Does cost per key scope matter?
- Enormously. Two honest figures can be entirely non-comparable.
- Who orders FF&E?
- Confirm it explicitly. It is the most common cause of a late reopening.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.