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Our new-build planning lacks hotel-specific expertise

The architect knows buildings, not hotel operations. The plans look good — until someone asks how the laundry gets to the third floor and where the breakfast dishes come back.

Typical for: family businesses on their first new build · houses with architects who have no hotel references · projects where operations join only after submission

Documented by Hospis

Updated: 16 September 2026

How you recognize it

  • Bring housekeeping, kitchen and front desk to the table from the first draft — with concrete questions, not plans to look at.
  • Draw guest routes and service routes separately and mark every point where they cross.
  • Play through one peak-season day: arrival, laundry, deliveries, breakfast, departure.
  • Check storage, plant and staff areas against actual need, not against the space left over.
  • Clarify who decides on cost, schedule and changes on the owner's side — by name.
  • Ask your architect for hotel references and talk to one of those houses.

Matching Hospi

MU

Much Untertrifaller

Architecture · Building in existing fabric · Alpine construction — Bregenz
AdviseImplement

Brings operational flows into the planning before floor plans are fixed — routes, back-of-house areas and decisions in an order that carries later operations.

Mapped to root cause
Operations enter the planning too lateGuest routes and service routes cross
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match

Which path fits your situation?

01

Diagnosis

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A vetted Hospi analyses your situation in a structured way — in conversation and with a written result. Every statement clearly labelled: FACT, BENCHMARK, HYPOTHESIS or CONCLUSION. You get a concrete path, not a sales meeting.

  • A legitimate outcome is also: no engagement needed.
  • If an engagement follows, the diagnosis fee is fully credited.
02

Urgent support

Acute situation? Your case is reviewed with priority — response within 48 hours.

Cause fields — how to tell them apart

New builds rarely fail on the design. They fail because operational knowledge enters the planning too late — when changes only cost money.

These fields are complete, and many properties get there on their own — that is what this page is for. The cost simply does not appear on an invoice: internal hours, a few attempts, and a season that keeps running in the meantime.

01

Operations enter the planning too late

How you spot it

Housekeeping, kitchen and front desk see the plans only at submission — and then raise points nobody wants to hear any more.

The way out

Bring operational leads in from the first draft, with concrete questions instead of plans to look at: where does the laundry trolley stand, where are deliveries taken, how does the team enter the house.

02

Guest routes and service routes cross

How you spot it

Laundry trolleys in the guest corridor, deliveries through the lobby, staff access through the restaurant.

The way out

Draw both route networks separately before the floor plans are fixed. Retrofitting this is the most expensive mistake — it can hardly be repaired without touching the shell.

03

The opening day gets planned, not the operation

How you spot it

Beautiful spaces without storage, plant rooms too small, no reserve for later upgrades.

The way out

Play operations through the year — peak season, closing period, staff turnover — and derive the back-of-house areas from that instead of from leftover space.

04

Nobody holds the owner's side

How you spot it

Decisions get made in passing, variations get signed without anyone tracking the total.

The way out

One person with a mandate for cost, schedule and decisions — internal or external, but named and reachable.

Frequently asked

Do we need an architect with hotel experience?
Not necessarily — but then the project needs someone who carries operations into the planning. If both are missing, you pay for it in operations.
When is it too late for operational input?
Once the shell is fixed, routes and back-of-house areas get expensive. Up to the first draft, almost everything is still just a drawing.
How much reserve should we plan for?
That depends on site, existing structures and construction method — concrete percentages come from your cost planning, not from a rule of thumb on the internet.

Describe your situation

The problem context is automatically included — you do not need to repeat anything.

Problem
Our new-build planning lacks hotel-specific expertise

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