Sell a Small Hotel or Motel: Prepare Property, Room Results and Booking Duties

Define the property, rooms and actual operation

Identify land/buildings, operating entity, available room types, amenities, fixtures/equipment and actual food, alcohol or other services. Define whether property is sold, leased or retained, with actual title/access, rent, renewal/assignment and use records for adviser review.

SBA sale guidance describes defining assets and liabilities in the agreement.

Coordinate property and operating-business valuation scope without adding included buildings, rooms and improvements twice. Distinguish physical, approved, operationally available and sold rooms; document actual out-of-service spaces. Use the lodging financial guide rather than treating nominal room count as a universal price formula.

Prepare room performance and collection records

CoStar defines occupancy, ADR and RevPAR using rooms sold, available rooms and room revenue.

Prepare consistent monthly room-night and room-revenue reports with the actual availability convention, closures, discounts and refund treatment explained. Reconcile reports to operating accounts and bank/processor/channel settlements. Separate rooms, food, other services, guest taxes and future bookings on the accountant’s agreed basis.

Document direct versus online travel agency (OTA) business, actual commissions/fees and settlement timing. Review protected aggregate guest/channel evidence first. Future booking volume is separate from delivered stays and requires continued performance, cancellation/refund and customer-choice review.

Prepare brand, condition and management evidence

Have counsel review actual franchise/flag, management, reservation, OTA, software and vendor agreements, with assignment/termination, proposed buyer approval and any required improvement plan or fees. A brand relationship does not guarantee occupancy, transfer or unchanged buyer terms. Use the consent register and actual proposed terms.

Collect condition, inspection, maintenance, insurance and investment records for rooms, roofs, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, parking and amenities. Have qualified people and authorities review actual use/fire/building and operator/service conditions. Online reviews may help identify service issues to investigate, but no review score or repair spend guarantees a price premium or specific return.

Prepare permanent people and future guest duties

Map front desk, reservations, housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, channel management and administration through the coverage worksheet. Confirm permanent qualified coverage and actual compensation after seller help, including unpaid owner/family work. Review full-year fixed costs alongside seasonal demand.

Allocate bookings, guest deposits, credits/refunds, group commitments, vendor bills and staff/service duties through the delivery guide. Have counsel review actual long-stay guest/resident arrangements, notices and customer-data permissions. Identify who performs and funds each duty across closing. Compare closing cash, property scope, improvement obligations, consents and seller assistance without unsupported preparation premiums.