Pre-opening in 90 days without a concept document

Site management has a schedule. For operations there is an opening day — and nothing in between

Typical for: new builds and reopenings after refurbishment · takeovers with a fixed start date · properties where construction has absorbed the leadership

Documented by Hospis

Updated: 25 August 2026

How you recognize it

  • The schedule ends with construction handover
  • There are no prices, no booking path, no offer yet — but there is an opening date
  • The team is half recruited, nobody is trained in
  • PMS, POS, locking system, booking engine: ordered, not tested, not connected
  • Menu, breakfast and spa flow exist as an idea
  • Leadership is busy with the build and plans operations in the evening

Matching Hospis

JT

Javier Torrente

Operations · Concept · Team — Palma de Mallorca
Works with protel · Mews · Mews POS · Smart Host
AdviseImplementOperate

His core focus: planning operations backwards from opening day — team, workflows and systems with dates and ownership.

Mapped to root cause
Backwards operating planTeam & onboardingWorkflows & trial runSystems & interfaces
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match
JT

Javier Torrente

Operations · Concept · Team — Palma de Mallorca
Works with protel · Mews · Mews POS · Smart Host
AdviseImplementOperate

His core focus: planning operations backwards from opening day — team, workflows and systems with dates and ownership.

Mapped to root cause
Backwards operating planTeam & onboardingWorkflows & trial runSystems & interfaces
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match
GS

Gerhard F. Salmutter

F&B concept · Bar & beverage concepts · Spatial aesthetics — Vienna
Works with Novatouch · protel · Mews POS
AdviseImplement

His core focus: finishing the offer before opening — F&B concept, menu and room, before the first guest arrives.

Mapped to root cause
F&B concept before openingOffer & identitySpatial aestheticsConcept development
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match

Which path fits your situation?

01

Diagnosis

390 € fixed price

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

A pre-opening rarely fails because of the build. It fails because operations only get planned once construction is finished — and by then there are three weeks left.

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 have no backwards plan

How you spot it

There is no count-back from the opening day: when the team has to be in place, when the systems, when the offer has to be bookable. Everything should be ready “in time” — nothing has a date.

The way out

Plan backwards from the opening day: trial run, team onboarding, system tests, booking launch, pricing decisions — each with a date and an owner. One page, updated weekly. That is the operating plan site management has long had for the build.

02

Sales start with the opening

How you spot it

The property only becomes bookable once it is finished. Until then there is no website with an offer, no prices, no communication. The first months after opening are empty — because they were only sold from then on.

The way out

Open bookings well before opening: positioning, prices, offer, booking path. Opening offers, regulars of the former house, partners in the region. A property that is half full on opening day sold beforehand.

03

Team and workflows arrive too late

How you spot it

The team is hired for the opening day and learns the house while the first guests are in it. Workflows emerge on the job. The first reviews say “beautiful property, chaotic service”.

The way out

Core team weeks before opening, workflows rehearsed in the empty house, a trial run with real guests — friends, partners, suppliers. Find the mistakes before the first review, not inside it.

04

Systems get bought, not connected

How you spot it

PMS, booking engine, POS, locking system, spa software: every system is ordered, none has been tested against the others. On opening day the first guest books, and the key card does not know them.

The way out

A system list with ownership and test dates, interfaces rehearsed before opening, one contact per system. One connected system test with ten test bookings finds what a hundred guests would otherwise find on opening day.

Frequently asked

We have no pre-opening manager — can it work without one?
It works with one person who owns the operating plan and is kept free of the build. Whether internal or external is secondary. Without that person, the build plans operations — and the build has no interest in guests.
How long should the lead time be?
Longer than it feels. Starting the operating plan three months before opening is late. Starting four weeks before means opening in trial-run mode.
Should we postpone the opening?
If the operating plan shows that team or systems are not ready: yes. A postponed date costs less than a start with poor first reviews.

Describe your situation

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

Problem
Pre-opening in 90 days without a concept document