Work out the cost
Use the numbers for the room type that is out of order, and the forecast for the nights it will be out, not the monthly average.
How the calculator works
For each night, it compares two numbers: the rooms of this type you would sell at your forecast occupancy, and the rooms you can still sell with some out of order. When demand is higher than what is left, the difference is lost sales. When it is lower, the out of order rooms cost no room revenue that night.
- Lost room nights = rooms you would sell, minus rooms still available, never less than zero, times the nights.
- Room revenue = lost room nights times your average daily rate.
- Other spend = lost room nights times what a guest spends per night outside the room rate.
- Moving guests = guests already booked into rooms you can no longer give them, times the cost of moving each one.
It assumes every night in the period has the same forecast. If Friday and Saturday sell out and the weekdays don't, run it twice: once for the weekdays and once for the weekend.
A worked example
A hotel has 40 rooms of one type at an average rate of $180, and guests spend about $40 a night beyond the room. Two of those rooms are out of order for three nights while a part is on order.
| Forecast occupancy | Rooms you would sell | Rooms you can sell | Lost sales a night | Cost for 3 nights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75% | 30 | 38 | 0 | $0 |
| 95% | 38 | 38 | 0 | $0 |
| 100% | 40 | 38 | 2 | $1,320 |
The same two rooms cost nothing on a quiet week and $440 a night on a sold-out one. That is the number to hold up against the cost of a faster fix. If an express courier for the part costs $90 and brings the rooms back two nights sooner on a sold-out weekend, it pays for itself many times over. If the hotel is at 75% all week, the part can come by the normal route.
What the number leaves out
The calculator counts the money you can see. Some costs don't show up on the night.
- Rooms sold with a known fault. Putting a guest in a room with a weak AC or a dripping shower to avoid the out of order list costs a refund, a free night or a room move at midnight, and often a review.
- Forgotten rooms. The expensive out of order rooms are the ones nobody is working on. A room that waits a week for a part nobody ordered will be off sale on the busy nights too.
- Upgrades you can't give. With fewer rooms of a higher type, you lose the chance to upgrade a loyal guest or sell an upgrade at check-in.
- The repair itself. Parts and labor cost the same whether the room is back in one day or ten. The delay is what costs revenue.
How to keep out of order nights cheap
- Fix in order of demand. Look at the forecast every morning. A room that will be needed on Friday goes ahead of one that won't be needed until next month.
- Give every out of order room an owner and an end date. When the date passes, someone has to decide: extend it with a reason, or chase the part.
- Keep the usual parts on the shelf. AC capacitors and fan motors, shower cartridges, toilet fill valves and door lock batteries cause many out of order nights. Stock the ones your rooms actually use.
- Use out of service for small things. A stained headboard or a missing lamp is not a reason to take a room off sale on a sold-out night. The difference is explained in the guide to out of order and out of service rooms.
- Plan big jobs for quiet dates. Repainting, regrouting and full AC services belong on nights with spare rooms. The preventive maintenance schedule builder helps you see those jobs a year ahead.
In Turndown, a room is held out of order while its repair is open and released when the job closes, so it never sits on the list after the work is done. The Today screen lists today's arrivals with any room still blocked by an open job at the top, and the maintenance KPIs include rooms out of order and how long they waited. See how the room board works.