Anyone managed motels?

OH has a client who is muttering about buying motels, and would then be looking for someone to manage them for him. OH is muttering about us selling up, moving ( no sheep, chooks or land!) and us having a complete change of industry. Anyone able to offer a few salient words of wisdom about the pros and cons of motel management. Would be completely new for both of us, though I do do something similar in the canine field..

I have friends who manage motels. He loves it and she hates it.
It seems to be a 24hr a day job. Folk coming and going at all hours. Great job for meeting folk from different places.
But its a real tie. You can't both be off the premises at the same time. Good if you have no other social life, but not so good if you enjoy going out or getting away for a few days.

My friends seem to have struck a balance - he stays at the motel pretty much 24/7 and she continues her part time job(she would not give that up for anything) elsewhere and does all the other jobs - the groceries etc.

Then there are the ratbags who like to throw parties and trash the place. Depends on where the motel is as to the frequency of these occurences.

And you may need part-time staff for the morning cleaning rounds - becoming an employer is another whole kettle of fish if you have not done it before.

Good, solid advice from an accountant and lawyer would also not go amiss as you are only the managers, not the owners

As in everything we do, there are pros and cons. Start making a list if you are seriously considering the move and see where it lands.......

Blimey! Probably harder to put stroppy human guests in their place then stroppy dogs, but then they'd be responsible for their own toileting which would have to be a plus. I think it would depend a lot on where the motels are, the sort of clientele and which end of the market they're in.

A motel somewhere like Franz Joseph or Hamner would be easier I reckon than somewhere like Hamilton or Auckland. Smaller, more of the touristy market with (generally) polite forigners as opposed to roudy sports fans visiting for the big away match to watch their team, coming home from after game roaring drunk and acting like pissed students with less sense.

hilldweller;179628 wrote: Blimey! Probably harder to put stroppy human guests in their place then stroppy dogs, but then they'd be responsible for their own toileting which would have to be a plus. I think it would depend a lot on where the motels are, the sort of clientele and which end of the market they're in.

Yup, at least with the dogs I can plug in the pheromone thingy, and the humans might hopefully know to wipe their feet before they come inside (yeah right.) Te Anau was mentioned.

Oh. Hmmmmm. See, I'd struggle with this. I *LOVE* Te Anau - I would jump at a chance to live down there. Love it, love it, love it.

Motels? Well, it's a bit like others have said, and that's only from what I've heard. So, no real help. Although I would think that down at Te Anau you will find that there will still be a 'season' which may be quieter (say, about now) which is kinda in between 'tourist' and 'ski' seasons. And that may make it easier to delegate management duties for some relief time. And personally, I believe in this day and age of cell phones that good management will make it easier to get some moments together whilst still managing motels.

Just my two cents' worth.

We owned a Motel for 10 years then sold up and travelled around doing Motel Relief Management for 3-4 years. There isn't much I don't know!!!!!!!!!!!! I could write a book on the pros and cons and experiences we had (the same as any longer term motelier) It is 24/7 but if you get a "good one" it can be great, or it can be disasterous and divorce material. Do your homework first, part of the problem is knowing what questions to ask. Proir to our first Motel I thought I'd done all my homework but soon discovered I didn't ask about ????????? because the question never even occurred to me. What a learning experience!

Good luck

Rod, if it gets past the thought process into the actual - potential - action stage, I might be emailing you for a sample copy of what some of those questions you should have asked might have been!
Thanks HH

That's OK H

Haven't managed motels but part of my job is to observe fairly closely motels in various places.

My biggest observation would be that good managers are vital and you either are or you aren't a motel/hotel person in my opinion. In fact I would go as far as to suggest it is genetic LOL. I have seen people selling up their house to buy a motel lease and two years later get out of it with half the money they went in with due to the way they managed it (which isn't any slight on their personalities just an indication that they weren't motel people but thought they were)

Location is the next thing - the Statistics NZ website has some accomodation statistics that they collect monthly. The variation in occupancy rates round the country is interesting reading (if the guests don't want to stay the night you are unlikely to be able to make them!). Would also be worth considering the economic downturn - there are going to be less travellers IMO.

Before committing yourself it could be worth doing a kiwihost course or similar and if possible some sort of motel management course. The Moteliers Association may be able to offer some info.

We knew a couple about 8 years ago, who used to be our neighbours in suburbia who brought a Motel for a change of lifestyle. they were around 55 when they did this. They lasted around 18 months before selling. They did enjoy it at first, got to meet alot of different people etc. they enjoyed the challenge but after awhile decided that it was indeed hard work, not in as much of the actual work but realised that they didn't really have time to have lives of their own as owning a motel was a 34/7 job. Trying to organise a week away occasionally was a mission as they had to find someone to take over while they were away. Also their social calender had to be planned well in advance, even just a meal out. I don't think they regretted it but could not have done it for years on end. I suppose it would also depend on where you moved to. Our neighbours brought their Motel on the North shore.

I have not read the replies,it all depends on how large and how long people stay and how often you have in and out checks and how many meals you provide.one hotel is not like another hotel.been there done that but only as employee and been able to go home