55 Hotel Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2023]

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Updated: January 20th, 2022

55 Hotel Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2023]

Interested in starting a hotel business in 2023?

We put together 55 of the best hotel businesses you can start in today.

For each business idea, we’ll show you real-world examples of other hotel businesses to help you see what it really takes.

Here's the full list:

1. Start a cleaning business ($1.2M/year)

How Much Can You Make?

$2,000 — $708,333/month

View all 13 case studies

Average Initial Investment

$115,831

Time To Revenue

180 days

Skills

Customer Service Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Business model

Consulting

Neel Parekh from Los Angeles, CA, USA started MaidThis Franchise over 9 years ago, a cleaning business.

Revenue: $100,000/ month
Founders: 1
Employees: 9
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Case Study

I originally started MaidThis as a side hustle while I was working at a private equity investment firm. Like many people working the corporate grind, I was fascinated by becoming my own boss.

With any first product or service launch, you’re almost guaranteed to get some aspect of it wrong. You might be priced too low, not be addressing the right target market, or have the package all wrong.

I finally stumbled upon The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris, which turns out is basically the Bible for the digital nomad community, and decided I wanted to experience “location freedom”.

how-i-started-a-100k-month-home-cleaning-service-for-busy-individuals-and-airbnb-hosts

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How I Started A $100K+/Month Home Cleaning Service For Busy Individua... ➜

2. Start a hotel consulting business ($6M/year)

How Much Can You Make?

$500,000/month

View all 1 case studies

Average Initial Investment

$10,000,000

Time To Revenue

540 days

Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Writing & Research Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Business model

Consulting

Work from home

Work From Home

Tom Boyd from Knoxville, TN, USA started Ancient Lore Village almost 4 years ago, a hotel consulting business.

Revenue: $500,000/ month
Founders: 1
Employees: 3
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA

Case Study

I was in the process of writing a book about the rise and fall of democracy in the United States. At that time, my son entered the gubernatorial race in Tennessee and I spent 18 months on the campaign trail in small towns and cities all over the state. In talking to all types of people, I found so much intolerance and hatred and lack of understanding for other people. I knew that I needed to change the direction of the book.

I decided to write a book about a person who took a journey and discovered all different types of people and saw that they could all live together in a place of peace, joy, and happiness where only good existed. That place is Ancient Lore Village. To test the theory of my book, I felt that building a Village in its image would be the best way to test this theory.

Having built 17 successful businesses, I had learned from experience that first, you must build a team. First, I found a very creative architect that shared the same vision. Then I set out to find a team of experts in the hospitality industry, with experience in service, lodging, and culinary. I found Melissa Blettner, former Senior Vice President for Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.

starting-a-5-star-boutique-resort-and-event-center-based-on-a-fiction-book-lore

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Starting A 5 Star Boutique Resort And Event Center Based On A Fiction... ➜

3. Start a suite hotels business

Examples of a successful suite hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a suite hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a suite hotels business ➜

4. Start a hotels business

How Much Can You Make?

$15,000/month

View all 1 case studies

Average Initial Investment

$250,500

Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Customer Service Skills

Examples of a successful hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hotels business ➜

Case Study

Hi! I am Ezinne Iroanya-Adeoye, founder and CEO of SKNMUSE! SKNMUSE is a premium beauty brand dedicated to elevating the beauty experience for Black Women. We currently make Body-Care products, rich textures of creams and oils that cater to your soul’s vessel with a candle line to serenade your senses. Our cuticle oil is rated to10 by ELLE USA, however, our Devine Body Oil is the true showstopper.

As a new brand, one of our main priorities is building and maintaining a strong community, so customer retention is extremely important for us. We currently have a 40% customer retention rate with a 169% increase in revenue! Last year we made less than $35,000 in total revenue. This year we made $30,000 in our first quarter alone.

i-created-a-120k-year-skincare-brand-for-black-women-recommended-by-beyonce

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I Created A $120K/Year Skincare Brand For Black Women Recommended By ... ➜

5. Start a casino hotels business

Examples of a successful casino hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a casino hotels business ➜

6. Start a hotel art supply business

Examples of a successful hotel art supply business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotel art supply business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Six Star Hotels: The Art Of Hospitality: Ronald Kolb

Learn more about starting a hotel art supply business ➜

7. Start an airport hotels business

Examples of a successful airport hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a airport hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an airport hotels business ➜

8. Start a pet hotel business

Examples of a successful pet hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a pet hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a pet hotel business ➜

9. Start an extended stay hotels business

Examples of a successful extended stay hotels business:

Anyplace

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a extended stay hotels business:

Learn more about starting an extended stay hotels business ➜

10. Start a resort hotels business

How Much Can You Make?

$500,000/month

View all 1 case studies

Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Customer Service Skills

Examples of a successful resort hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a resort hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a resort hotels business ➜

Case Study

I am Tom Boyd, Founder, and President of Boyd Hollow Resorts. I have launched 17 businesses in my lifetime. I am presently 82 years old. I have written 3 books, one on the business life of my son who built a billion-dollar company, ran for governor of the state of Tennessee, and now is the President of the University of Tennessee.

This Village, which is unique in every detail, is envisioned to be a 5-star boutique resort and event center specializing in executive retreats, group celebrations, and high-end weddings. This property will be the first of many Villages built around the World based on the high demand that we have seen before opening. Each Village will be designed featuring a character from the book, Bokee’s Trek.

starting-a-5-star-boutique-resort-and-event-center-based-on-a-fiction-book-lore

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Starting A 5 Star Boutique Resort And Event Center Based On A Fiction... ➜

11. Start a spa resort business

Examples of a successful spa resort business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a spa resort business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a spa resort business ➜

12. Start a chain hotels business

Examples of a successful chain hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a chain hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a chain hotels business ➜

13. Start a serviced apartments business

Examples of a successful serviced apartments business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a serviced apartments business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a serviced apartments business ➜

14. Start a hotel booking platform

How Much Can You Make?

$114,200,000/month

View all 1 case studies

Average Initial Investment

$209,666

Skills

Writing & Research Skills

Customer Service Skills

Coding Skills

Design Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Negotiation Skills

Examples of a successful hotel booking platform:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotel booking platform:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hotel booking platform ➜

Case Study

Tripadvisor was founded by co-founders Stephen Kaufer, Langley Steinert, Nick Shanny, and Thomas Palka in February 2000. When they first launched Tripadvisor, they emphasized official words from newspapers, guidebooks, or magazines.

Tripadvisor, now the world’s leading travel advice network, assists hundreds of millions of people in becoming better travelers, from planning to booking to traveling.

Travelers use Tripadvisor to get bargains on lodgings, book activities, reserve tables at wonderful restaurants, and discover excellent locations nearby.

Kaufer co-founded TripAdvisor in 2000 to assist tourists worldwide in planning and having the perfect trip. The business idea came about when Steve was preparing for a vacation, and he searched the internet for a vacation idea, and his experience wasn’t pleasing.

At that moment, he decided to work on a travel search engine that would find those backwater pages, insights, and opinions of what other travelers found.

Their original search engine would search what was already out on the web, find biased information, pull it back into a central database, and then license it as a B2B model to other travel providers.

Their first client came a year after its founding when Lycos, the number 3 web search engine in 2001, allowed TripAdvisor to power the travel sections on Lycos and provide all the travel-related content.

Before co-founding TripAdvisor, Kaufer was an independent software vendor and CenterLine Software’s co-founder and vice president of engineering, where he directed the creation of many award-winning programming environments.

The platform has over 1 billion reviews and recommendations from almost 8 million companies. This travel guide firm works across 43 markets and offers services in over 22 languages, making trip planning simple regardless of the sort of journey.

The global revenue of Tripdavisor, Inc. increased by approximately 49 percent in 2021 over the previous fiscal year after dropping sharply in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Overall, the company’s revenue worldwide amounted to 902 million U.S. dollars in 2021, rising from 604 million U.S. dollars in 2020.

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HOW I GOT HERE - STEVE KAUFER OF TRIPADVISOR ➜

15. Start a budget-friendly hotels business

Examples of a successful budget-friendly hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a budget-friendly hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a budget-friendly hotels business ➜

16. Become a bed and breakfast owner

Examples of a successful bed and breakfast owner:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a bed and breakfast owner:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a bed and breakfast owner ➜

17. Start a spa hotel business

Examples of a successful spa hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a spa hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a spa hotel business ➜

18. Start a timeshare rentals business

Examples of a successful timeshare rentals business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a timeshare rentals business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a timeshare rentals business ➜

19. Start a shipping container hotel

Examples of a successful shipping container hotel:

SHELTERMODE

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a shipping container hotel:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a shipping container hotel ➜

20. Start a pod hotels business

Examples of a successful pod hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a pod hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a pod hotels business ➜

21. Start a motel business

Examples of a successful motel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a motel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a motel business ➜

22. Start a conference and convention center hotels business

Examples of a successful conference and convention center hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a conference and convention center hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a conference and convention center hotels business ➜

23. Start an a ryokan business

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a a ryokan business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an a ryokan business ➜

24. Start a luxury hotels business

Examples of a successful luxury hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a luxury hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a luxury hotels business ➜

25. Start a garden hotels business

Examples of a successful garden hotels business:

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a garden hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a garden hotels business ➜

26. Start a patient medical centre business

Examples of a successful patient medical centre business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a patient medical centre business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a patient medical centre business ➜

27. Start an ice hotel business

Examples of a successful ice hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a ice hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an ice hotel business ➜

28. Start a pension lodging business

Examples of a successful pension lodging business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a pension lodging business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a pension lodging business ➜

29. Start a guest house business

Examples of a successful guest house business:

www.ukm.my

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a guest house business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a guest house business ➜

30. Start a hotelship business

Examples of a successful hotelship business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotelship business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hotelship business ➜

31. Start an eco hotels business

Examples of a successful eco hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a eco hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an eco hotels business ➜

32. Start a bed and breakfast business

Examples of a successful bed and breakfast business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a bed and breakfast business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a bed and breakfast business ➜

33. Start a pension hotel business

Examples of a successful pension hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a pension hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a pension hotel business ➜

34. Start a self-service hotels business

Examples of a successful self-service hotels business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a self-service hotels business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a self-service hotels business ➜

35. Start a student hostel business

Examples of a successful student hostel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a student hostel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a student hostel business ➜

36. Start a hostal business

Examples of a successful hostal business:

Google
HPU

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hostal business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hostal business ➜

37. Start a pop-up hotel business

Examples of a successful pop-up hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a pop-up hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a pop-up hotel business ➜

38. Start a boatel business

Examples of a successful boatel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a boatel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a boatel business ➜

39. Start a stopping house business

Examples of a successful stopping house business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a stopping house business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a stopping house business ➜

40. Start a private hostel business

Examples of a successful private hostel business:

UPES
zolo

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a private hostel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a private hostel business ➜

41. Start a condo hotel business

Examples of a successful condo hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a condo hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a condo hotel business ➜

42. Start a holiday cottage business

Examples of a successful holiday cottage business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a holiday cottage business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a holiday cottage business ➜

43. Start a love hotel business

Examples of a successful love hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a love hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a love hotel business ➜

44. Start a heuhotel business

Examples of a successful heuhotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a heuhotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a heuhotel business ➜

45. Start a casa particular business

Examples of a successful casa particular business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a casa particular business:

Learn more about starting a casa particular business ➜

46. Start a boutique hotel business

Examples of a successful boutique hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a boutique hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a boutique hotel business ➜

47. Start a transit hotel business

Examples of a successful transit hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a transit hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a transit hotel business ➜

48. Start a turbaza business

Examples of a successful turbaza business:

checkfelix

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a turbaza business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a turbaza business ➜

49. Start a choultry business

Examples of a successful choultry business:

:: BIEC

Learn more about starting a choultry business ➜

50. Start a flophouse business

Examples of a successful flophouse business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a flophouse business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a flophouse business ➜

51. Start a barge hotel business

Examples of a successful barge hotel business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a barge hotel business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a barge hotel business ➜

52. Start a gasthaus business

Examples of a successful gasthaus business:

Google
Handy

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a gasthaus business:

Gasthaus Saalachstubn

For further info, check out these books and products:

Gasthauskind: 9783492052900: Books

Learn more about starting a gasthaus business ➜

53. Start a hotel publicist business

Examples of a successful hotel publicist business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotel publicist business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hotel publicist business ➜

54. Start a hotel chef business

How Much Can You Make?

$5,000/month

View all 1 case studies

Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Customer Service Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Negotiation Skills

Examples of a successful hotel chef business:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a hotel chef business:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting a hotel chef business ➜

Case Study

I am David Buchanan, a professional chef, and owner of Chefs-Resources.com, a website geared towards providing professional chefs with free detailed culinary info (seasonality, flavor profiles, etc.) about fresh fish, oysters, and cuts of meat, as well as tons of free kitchen management articles. Paid subscribers get access to our premium kitchen management resources such as Excel sheets (prep sheets, recipe templates, ordering guides, etc.), video tutorials, and kitchen management articles.

The site is not about recipes, but I am a Chef, so here is one of my favorite personal creations...seared scallops, spring pea puree, lemon beurre blanc, fingerling potatoes, golden beets, asparagus, corn kernels.

i-built-a-resource-site-for-chefs-like-me-that-generates-60k-of-extra-income

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I Built A Resource Site For Chefs Like Me That Generates $60K Of Extr... ➜

55. Become an interior designer ($1.32M/year)

How Much Can You Make?

$100,000 — $415,000/month

View all 3 case studies

Average Initial Investment

$2,000

Skills

Writing & Research Skills

Design Skills

Business Savvy Skills

Customer Service Skills

Self Motivation Skills

Examples of a successful interior designer:

Here are some great videos on how to get started with a interior designer:

For further info, check out these books and products:

Learn more about starting an interior designer ➜

Case Study

Well, to make a long story short, my mother and I started this company together in 1996. I was working as a staff interior designer at a private firm in NYC, and my mother, Rosemarie was the manager of the Estate and Trust department at a large Law Firm. We both HATED our jobs and dreamed of doing our 'own thing'. We had no idea what that looked like, and so we turned to our passion..antiques and design.

That passion has morphed into a boutique design firm that boasts over 1M in annual revenue and has completed hundreds of trophy projects.

how-we-mother-and-daughter-started-a-1m-year-boutique-design-firm

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How We (Mother And Daughter) Started A $1M/Year Boutique Design Firm ➜

Pat Walls, Founder of Starter Story

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I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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