Scaling from STRs to Boutique Hotels... (+80 STR doors in 1 year)

Scaling from STRs to Boutique Hotels... (+80 STR doors in 1 year)

Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes

Hi Everyone, 
We bought 3 hotels & motels this year and are quickly ramping up to buy more hotels in this upcoming recession. I started in real estate with househacking (renting rooms in my house out as STR/MTR), then quickly bought 9 STRs without partners (I was an attorney at the time, so used mostly conventional financing), then quit my job to focus on real estate investing full time.


After doing a few creative STR deals (BRRRR STR, wrapped note reselling of STR, etc.) I decided to focus on hotel investing.

We plan on applying the BRRRR strategy to hotel deals, pushing the valuation of hotel deals higher with operating them better (unlike with residential real estate, the hotel valuations is tied to financial performance). 

Most recently, we were able to pull off this deal:
Bought: 48 Keys, $750K
acquisition 

Rehab/FF&E: $500K 
Refinancing Appraisal: $2 Mil 

[Bonus Equity Gain: $750K] 
This is without 1 year financials yet, and we have pushed the ADR from $79-89 range to over $200+ during peak season with the renovated rooms. 

We will be using the refinancing to do more improvements to the hotel and push for a $3 mil valuation in a year or two, once we have more financial data. 


BEFORE/DURING: 


AFTER: (these are cellphone pics - we did get pro ones but I'm not 100% happy with them yet!)


There are SO many lessons learned... I've visited north of 50 hotels, underwritten at least 200-300 if not more, and made offers on about 2 dozen of these deals. We tend to be very conservative with our underwriting (assuming higher exit CAP, higher exit interest rate, market average performance even though our track record has been always outperforming market, etc.).

Here are some of the photos of us looking at hotel deals over the last 2 years...

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Lender · New York, NY · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
3y

How did the financing options that you obtained change as you went from STRs (I assume SFRs mostly, if not 1-4 units) to boutique hotels (commercial assets)?

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  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    Bravo! 

  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y

    Thank you! Was just on the Short Term Shop's podcast with Avery. :) 

  • I​nvestor & Agent · Tulsa, OK · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    This is so cool. I’ve often wondered if the attitude of Airbnb VS hotel will eventually desegregate. This could be a model of the future. 

  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Nate Sanow:

    This is so cool. I’ve often wondered if the attitude of Airbnb VS hotel will eventually desegregate. This could be a model of the future. 


     Absolutely! I attend hotel and str conferences and feel like both teams are antagonistic towards each other right now... hopefully those attitudes will change in the near future. Airbnb already has revamped to allow for hotels to list on there (you can have 1 listing for 10 identical hotel rooms). 

  • Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 17 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    Hi @Diya L., creative strategy to scale and form a cool niche.
    I've worked on several STRs at once, and found the approach exhausting. Are you focusing the boutique hotels in Texas? Also, are you doing a mix of STR and MTR?

  • Real Estate Agent · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2020 · 140 posts · 75 votes
    4y

    Thanks for sharing!  Such an inspiration!

  • Real Estate Investor · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 6 votes
    4y

    Refinancing that place already is amazing. Who did you use? What did you use to convince them of the 2mm valuation? What was the rate they gave you and LTV?

  • Ryan MoyerBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orlando Kissimmee Davenport Salt Lake City, Park City · Member since 2019 · 996 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y

    Well done!

    Are you able to manage these remotely like STRs or does it require more onsite attention to operate?

    Cosmic Vacations4.9174 Reviews
  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Elizabeth Hernandez:

    Hi @Diya L., creative strategy to scale and form a cool niche.
    I've worked on several STRs at once, and found the approach exhausting. Are you focusing the boutique hotels in Texas? Also, are you doing a mix of STR and MTR?


    We have 1 hotel in texas, 1 in AR, 1 in NC. Focusing on 6-7 states right now for both STR and hotel acquisitions. Not doing MTR for these hotels yet but we are looking into extended stay conversions for portions of our hotel (the hotel equivalent to MTR).

  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

    Well done!

    Are you able to manage these remotely like STRs or does it require more onsite attention to operate?

    You can operate smaller hotels (6-13 units) like STRs. Beyond that it gets hairy and it's cheaper to just hire staff at $30-50k/year vs giving STR management companies 20-30% gross revenue. Also depends on your local town and whether it requires someone on site to issue a full hotel license.

    For clarification - we plan operating our 13 key motel by the beach as more of 13 separate airbnb's (rather, listing on airbnb + direct booking) but our 48 key motel is run with a mix of technology and full time staff (half the staffing of traditional hotels). Our 19 key hotel will be a hybrid but lean closer to the hotel + events space model since we will host on-site retreats and small weddings. 

    Also - it depends on your market. If your market has more eyeballs going to Expedia and Hotels(dot)com, it's not in your best interest to only list on STR-type OTA's. My biz partner runs ops as he has 20+ years of tech/team lead experience, and I focus on acquisitions/financing/fundraising. 

  • Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2016 · 887 posts · 1k+ votes
    4y
    Quote from @Diya L.:
    Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

    Well done!

    Are you able to manage these remotely like STRs or does it require more onsite attention to operate?

    You can operate smaller hotels (6-13 units) like STRs. Beyond that it gets hairy and it's cheaper to just hire staff at $30-50k/year vs giving STR management companies 20-30% gross revenue. Also depends on your local town and whether it requires someone on site to issue a full hotel license.

    For clarification - we plan operating our 13 key motel by the beach as more of 13 separate airbnb's (rather, listing on airbnb + direct booking) but our 48 key motel is run with a mix of technology and full time staff (half the staffing of traditional hotels). Our 19 key hotel will be a hybrid but lean closer to the hotel + events space model since we will host on-site retreats and small weddings. 

    Interesting. First off, congratulations on the success, it's amazing what you've done. 

    Regarding the hotel staff, do you manage them directly, or is that outsourced to someone else? As someone who manages both employees and LTR/ STR, I feel that managing employees can be the more difficult than guests/ tenants. 
  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Greg R.:
    Quote from @Diya L.:
    Quote from @Ryan Moyer:

    Well done!

    Are you able to manage these remotely like STRs or does it require more onsite attention to operate?

    You can operate smaller hotels (6-13 units) like STRs. Beyond that it gets hairy and it's cheaper to just hire staff at $30-50k/year vs giving STR management companies 20-30% gross revenue. Also depends on your local town and whether it requires someone on site to issue a full hotel license.

    For clarification - we plan operating our 13 key motel by the beach as more of 13 separate airbnb's (rather, listing on airbnb + direct booking) but our 48 key motel is run with a mix of technology and full time staff (half the staffing of traditional hotels). Our 19 key hotel will be a hybrid but lean closer to the hotel + events space model since we will host on-site retreats and small weddings. 

    Interesting. First off, congratulations on the success, it's amazing what you've done. 

    Regarding the hotel staff, do you manage them directly, or is that outsourced to someone else? As someone who manages both employees and LTR/ STR, I feel that managing employees can be the more difficult than guests/ tenants. 

     My operations partner is currently doing this for most of our properties, but we are training a new wave of hotel operators from existing (experienced) str investors who can help with extra hands on this across the USA. 

  • Investor · Dublin, CA · Member since 2019 · 167 posts · 134 votes
    4y

    Congrats on the success with the transition from STR to hotel operator! That's good to know a 6-13 unit property could work well in the STR model.

  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Collin Chan:

    Congrats on the success with the transition from STR to hotel operator! That's good to know a 6-13 unit property could work well in the STR model.


     Yes, but why not think bigger? ;) Do fewer but smarter deals. 

  • Member since 2021 · 256 posts · 213 votes
    4y

    DIYA!

    Congratulations on what you have accomplished! You have done a lot of work looks like it and put in a lot of hours so everything is well deserved!

    Wish you luck and success in the future!

  • Real Estate Agent · Smoky Mountains, TN · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 984 votes
    4y

    Very cool @Diya L.! I know several people in the STR space jumping over to this. Congratulations on your success.

  • Dave StokleyBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2015 · 705 posts · 799 votes
    4y
    Super awesome! I need to know where you got that heart tub...
  • Nicholas L.Pro Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    4y

    @Diya L.

    congrats!!!!

    can you provide more info on the "48 keys for $750K" deal?  on/off market?  commercial financing? etc.  seems like a killer deal!

  • Investor · TX NC, AR · Member since 2017 · 26 posts · 55 votes
    4y
    Quote from @Nicholas L.:

    @Diya L.

    congrats!!!!

    can you provide more info on the "48 keys for $750K" deal?  on/off market?  commercial financing? etc.  seems like a killer deal!

    Hi! Probably will have a recording of the presentation I gave at a recent conference up on youtube soon, but: 
    -off market
    -seller financing at 6% interest, 25 year AM, first year interest only, and 3 year balloon. Now we are refinancing with a bank (hence the $2 mil appraisal) and it's around 6.3ish% interest. 
  • Member since 2022 · 64 posts · 47 votes
    4y

    Wow! That's awesome Diya. Looks like a fantastic transformation.

  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    4y

    Wow, what a cool thing to see. Grats @Diya L..

    I am curious as to where they are. Especially the lodge looking place in the snow.

  • Investor · MI · Member since 2018 · 37 posts · 40 votes
    4y

    Congrats @Diya L. ! Renovations look great. Curious what the submarket looks like if you're able to share details? Median income in area, is it a travel destination, etc? May not have required the strongest demo to take from 15k/door add 10K/door and turn to 60k/door, but just curious if you can share! 

  • Member since 2022 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    Killing it!!

  • Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    4y

    The property looks great as do your numbers.  Congrats!

    My colleague has purchased eight hotels in the past two years and is running five of them as hybrid apartments/hotels and three of them as traditional hotels.  I am building a hybrid apartment/hotel...should have a signed PSA on the land soon.

  • Leander TX · Member since 2020 · 179 posts · 150 votes
    4y

    @Diya L. , your story is incredibly interesting, particularly the work you put in and the commercial vs. residential aspect of typical STRs. Very interested in hearing how receptive guests are to your boutique experience.  Also in how you are managing daily operations.

    Please continue to share you experience with the BP community.

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