Hotel Renovation Costs Per Room: See it broken down for economy, upscale, and luxury hotels
Clean and comfortable no longer cuts it—they want to feel inspired by their surroundings and immersed in a personalized guest experience that leverages the latest tech.
To keep up in a highly competitive hotel market, and fend off competition from short-term rentals, you need to regularly revamp your brand—which may also mean remodeling rooms.
But hotel renovation costs per room can be difficult to calculate, and you need to know which aspects to prioritize to improve occupancy and gain customer loyalty.
For this guide, we’ve researched the latest hotel renovation trends and construction costs to bring you the ultimate guide to hotel room renovation.
We show you how you can delight your guests with tech solutions like in-room devices and keyless access.
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What is the average cost of renovating a hotel room?
The cost of renovating a hotel room will depend not just on how much work you intend to do, but also on the type of establishment you have.
Is the renovation for an economy or midscale hotel attracting budget travelers, an upscale boutique hotel offering visitors a unique experience, or a luxury 5-star resort complete with gym, pool, and rooftop restaurant?
Using these three examples to illustrate the most and the least you can expect to spend, we’ve calculated that a guest room renovation will cost an average of:
- $7,500 in an economy hotel
- $22,000 at an upscale hotel
- $47,5000 in a luxury hotel
How do you calculate a renovation budget?
Before you calculate your renovation budget, decide which items you think will add the most value in terms of guest loyalty and repeat bookings.
Typical items to include in your renovation budget are:
- Updated FF&E (furniture, fixtures, and equipment), like lighting, outlets, artwork, and a mini-fridge
- Newly painted walls and doors
- New flooring, blinds, and curtains
- Bed-linen and towels
- In-room entertainment
- General contractor costs
- Technological solutions like keyless access
Cost of common renovations
In our Guide to hotel renovation, we look at how you can creatively renovate spaces across your hotel. Here, we focus on room renovation, giving you estimated costs for rooms ranging from economy to luxury five-star hotels.
Furniture
Every hotel room, whatever the budget, will need a comfortable bed and mattress to give your guests a good night’s sleep and make them feel looked after.
You’ll also need, as a minimum, two nightstands, a closet or dresser, a desk, and a chair. Bigger rooms and suites include a seating area with a sofa and coffee table, to give guests space to relax.
The price you pay for furniture will be the biggest factor affecting its appearance and durability.
In the table below, we’ve provided a breakdown of what hotel owners might expect to pay for different types of guest room furniture.
To give you an updated range of costs, we’ve based our prices for economy furniture on IKEA. For upscale hotel furniture, we’ve researched prices at Pottery Barn, and for the luxury market, we’ve referenced price points at Rove Concepts and Hay.
Walls, floors, and windows
Updating walls with a fresh coat of paint or a modern vinyl wall covering will make a big difference to the feel of a room. Paint is the cheapest option, but wallpaper has more impact and you can save costs by just using it on one wall or above the bed.
Carpets can soon look tatty and are difficult to keep clean, so installing a hardwood or parquet floor will not only improve the look of a room but save cleaning time. Wooden floors cost as little as $6 a square foot (with installation) going up to $50 a square foot for the finest quality redwood.
Most guest rooms have two layers of curtains, one for privacy and one to block out the light. Alternatively, hoteliers can install blinds that will give the rooms a sleek finish.
Soft goods: Bed linen and towels
Guests love a freshly made hotel bed, with soft cushions and fluffy blankets to make them feel special when they’re away from home.
The difference in feel between cheap polyester sheets and Egyptian cotton is huge, so if there’s one area where you should splash out to add the most value for guests, it’s here.
For each room, you’ll need:
- Bed linen: Sheets, pillowcases and a quilt cover
- Quilts/comforters (depending on your location, you might need a summer and a winter version)
- Blankets
- Towels
- Cushions
In-room entertainment
Guests these days bring so many of their own devices that hotel owners might think they don’t need in-room entertainment. But guests still expect to have a TV to keep them in touch with the outside world.You can go bigger and better with screen size and by adding streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO, and all the main sports channels to make sure your guests don’t miss any of their favorite shows or events during their stay.
Finishing touches: Lighting, artwork, and outlets
Your guests may not pay much attention to your choice of finishing touches, but they’d certainly notice if their room had bare walls and a single light fixture.Hotel rooms have lots of lights. There are nightstand lamps, a desk lamp, a floor lamp, overhead lights, and a welcome light next to the door. Easy-to-access switches will make your guests’ lives easier, and a dimmer switch will let them change the mood of the room.
Updating electrical outlets so overseas travelers can plug in their devices without needing an adaptor is an inexpensive way to bring your guest rooms up to date.
At the same time, carefully curated artwork can inspire your guests and add to your hotel brand.
You can hang photos of the region, original pieces from local artists, or just pick artwork that fits with the color scheme of the room or the view outside.
And don’t forget a mini-fridge, which will pay for itself, and a coffee machine.
Hotel renovation costs per room
To calculate the painting, decorating, and flooring costs of each hotel room refurbishment, we’ll assume the following guestroom sizes:- Economy – 300 square feet
- Upscale – 500 square feet
- Luxury – 1000 square feet
Other ways you can impact your in-room guest experience
Giving your hotel rooms a modern facelift will undoubtedly impress your guests, but there are other ways you can improve their in-room experience. By making the most of hotel guest experience software, you can find inexpensive ways to delight your guests.
Utilize digital guestbooks to highlight in-room amenities
Give your guests all the information they need for a stress-free stay, and make them feel looked after with a digital guidebook. You can find information on in-room amenities and WiFi codes, and embed video tutorials on how the coffee machine or TV works.
Providing this essential information will help guests get the most out of their room while saving hours of staff time answering the same types of questions.
And when you use Operto Guides to create your welcome book, your guests can have all the benefits of Operto Guest, including online hotel check-in and in-app messaging and upsells.
Add smart in-room devices for extra comfort
Hoteliers can enhance guest comfort and give them more control with Operto Guest’s smart-in room devices, such as smart locks, thermostat controls, and noise monitoring to guarantee a safe and optimal stay.Update locks for keyless entry
Replacing traditional card or key locks with keyless access will increase security, give your guests autonomy and free up hours of staff time. Operto offers an app-free, modern check-in experience by providing guests with a unique access code that eliminates the need for key cards.
Tailor upsells and in-room services
With Operto Guest, you can give your guests an above-and-beyond experience while increasing revenue for your hotel.
You can use your own branded app to offer additional services and provide your guests with personalized offers and suggestions to make their stay extra special.
Add value to your guests’ in-room experience
Renovating your hotel rooms is costly but essential to staying competitive and turning happy guests into delighted brand champions.
To completely remodel a guest room with a new interior design, new furniture, and updated fixtures and fittings, you should expect to spend in the region of:
- $7,500 for an economy hotel room of 300 square feet
- $22,000 for an upscale hotel room of 500 square feet
- $47,500 for a luxury hotel room of 1,000 square feet
But, you can also impact the guest experience with tech solutions and Operto.
Design and furnishings can only go so far. Providing smart in-room devices and in-app personalized care brings its own luxury feel to a vacation that modern guests love and remember.
Frequently Asked Questions about hotel room renovation costs
How much does it cost to build one hotel guestroom?
The average cost to build a new hotel room is around $200,000 for a midscale hotel. This cost includes constructing the building, adding all the fixtures and fittings, and installing furniture and extras, such as bed linen and TVs.How much does it cost to maintain a hotel room?
The cost of maintaining a hotel room is around $5,000 a year, assuming hoteliers remodel hotel rooms every 10 years.What is the average hotel room size?
The average size of a hotel guestroom in the USA is 330 square feet, though suites in luxury five-star hotels, like the Marriott or Hilton, can be as big as 4,000 square feet.Why do hotels need renovations?
Hotel renovation projects are necessary to improve the guest experience with modern interior design and the latest technology that the hotel industry has to offer. Guestroom renovations can also save on energy expenditures in the long term.More Articles
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