In Hotel Director a group can show a profit and still go bust. Three weeks in a row with negative cash ends the game, however much your hotels are worth. Grow with leases first, buy once you have the deposit and a cushion, and always keep enough cash for the weeks when rent, wages, loan payments and tax all land at once.
Leases or mortgages
| Lease | Buy with a mortgage | |
|---|---|---|
| Up front | Nothing | A 25% deposit |
| Each week | Rent | Mortgage repayments over 25 years |
| Counts towards net worth | No | Yes, the hotel's value less the loan |
| Risks | Rent reviews, and losing the hotel if you don't renew | Repossession after four missed payments |
Leases are how you start: no deposit, and the profit is yours. But they don't build net worth, and net worth is what opens the better parts of the city. Once you have the cash, owning hotels moves you up.
Leases last 52 weeks. After 12 weeks the landlord may review the rent upwards, and renewing costs 5 to 15% more. Renovate a leased hotel and the rent rises too.
Unlock the city
London is split into four zones. You open each one with net worth, not reputation:
| Zone | Districts include | Opens at |
|---|---|---|
| Outer London | Stratford, Croydon, Lewisham, Woolwich | Start |
| Inner London | Shoreditch, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Greenwich | £1 million |
| Central London | Southwark, Covent Garden, Kensington, Paddington | £4 million |
| Prime London | Mayfair, Knightsbridge, The City, Chelsea | £20 million |
Better zones earn far more per hotel. In our test runs, a 40-room Superior hotel in Camden made about £19,000 a week, and a Boutique in Covent Garden about £29,000.
Climb the brand tiers
| Brand tier | Hotels | Net worth |
|---|---|---|
| Independent | – | – |
| Boutique Collection | 2 | £600,000 |
| London Brand | 4 | £2 million |
| Prestige Group | 7 | £8 million |
| Iconic London Hotel Group | 10 | £40 million |
Reaching London Brand with five or more hotels lets you set up a Head Office.
Borrow carefully
The base interest rate starts at 5% and moves with the economy. Mortgages cost the base rate plus 1.5%, business loans plus 3%. How much you can borrow depends on your cash, your weekly cash flow and the equity in the hotels you own.
- Refinance when rates fall. After 12 weeks you can move a loan to a better rate, or release equity, for a fee of four weeks' repayments.
- Don't miss payments. Missed interest is added to the loan, and four missed mortgage payments mean the lender takes the hotel.
Plan for tax
Corporation tax is charged once a year, in week 52, on the year's operating profit. You get a warning in week 49. The rate is 19% on the first £200,000, then 25%, rising to 45% on the very largest profits. Keep the cash aside from week 40 or so, because a big tax bill is a common way to fall into the red.
If cash goes negative
The first week in the red delays payroll and hurts staff morale. The Cash Crisis screen then gives you options:
- Emergency facility: a one-year loan at a punishing rate that rises each week you stay in the red.
- Sell an asset: a hotel sells for its value less 5%.
- Outside investment: an optional in-app purchase that adds cash to your save.
Three weeks in the red and the business is over, so act in the first week.
Delegate as you grow
Running six hotels by hand is a lot of tapping. You can hand the routine to others, at a price:
- Local manager (£2,800 a week): runs one hotel, sets its prices and fills staff gaps. Worth it for big hotels; small ones rarely earn it back.
- Department contracts: an HR Agency, Maintenance Contractor, Revenue Management Service, PR & Reputation Agency, Procurement Service, and Compliance & Insurance Office each take one job across the group.
- Supplier deals for linen, food and drink, toiletries and cleaning supplies cut operating costs by 3 to 8%.
- Head Office runs every department for the whole group. The game itself suggests it's only worth it from about eight hotels.
Beat the rivals
Four rival groups compete in every city. You can buy their individual hotels, which go cheap when the owner is struggling, or bid for a whole rival group. A board accepts most full-price offers and never one below 75% of the asking price, and you need the full cash on the day they say yes.
Growth checklist
- Two leases early, then a third, before you think about buying.
- Renew every lease before it runs out.
- Keep at least a few weeks of costs in cash, more as tax approaches.
- Buy your first hotel when the deposit leaves a cushion behind it.
- Refinance when rates drop.
New to the game? Start with the beginner's guide, and read how to set room rates.