55 Hotel Business Ideas You Can Start Today [2024]
Interested in starting a hotel business in 2024?
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 service
A housecleaning side business is a beautiful idea for people with free time on weekends or even weekdays. The side hustle idea requires little capital to start. During the launch, you can choose to offer the service to your neighbors and scale as you gain experience. The average salary for a house cleaner is $17.32 per hour.
By starting a house cleaning business, you are tapping into an enormous market with plenty of clientele. There could always be demand for your cleaning service, which keeps you in business as you help homeowners keep their homes spotless.
How much you can make: $3,000 — $600,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 80 days (?)
Time commitment per week: Min. 7 hours/week
MaidThis®, launched by Neel Parekh in Los Angeles with just one cleaner in 2013, has achieved over $10 million in total revenue by focusing on cleaning Airbnbs and vacation rentals, thanks to its successful remote business model and new-age marketing tactics, and has now launched MaidThis Franchise to expand the business further.
2. Start a hotel consulting business
A hotel consulting business provides professional advice to investors or individuals interested in the hospitality industry. Another role of a hotel consultant is analyzing the hospitality industry and advising the hotel and resort owners on how to build a thriving business.
To start and operate a successful hotel consulting agency, focus on gaining industry knowledge and earning years of experience in hotel management.
How much you can make: $500,000/month
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
Boyd Hollow Resorts is launching a 5-star boutique resort and event center based on a fiction book that will be the first of many Villages to be built around the world, with over 200 event inquiries received before launching.
3. Start a suite hotels business
4. Start a hotels business
If you are considering starting a hotel, then it is time to implement your plan. There are five key elements to understand if you want to succeed in this industry: location, size, budget, experience, and market demand.
Here are some tips to consider before forming a hotel:
- Name your business
- Decide on a marketing strategy
- Start by renting out a room in your home.
- Hire a business capital broker
- Try Airbnb
- Make a marketing plan
- Offer complementary services
How much you can make: $15,000/month
How long does it take to build: 325 days (?)
SKNMUSE, a premium beauty brand dedicated to elevating the beauty experience for Black Women, has a 40% customer retention rate, achieved a 169% increase in revenue, and made $30,000 in Q1 alone.
5. Start a casino hotels business
A casino hotel is an establishment consisting of a casino with temporary lodging and a hotel. Customers have access to gambling facilities, lodging, and other catering services under the same roof.
Casino amenities are profitable businesses, with much of their profits coming from gambling activities. However, they require certain licensing and permit guidelines that may differ from other catering businesses.
6. Start a hotel art supply business
7. Start an airport hotels business
8. Start a pet hotel business
Starting your own pet hotel business is not as difficult as you might think. With the right knowledge and hard work, you can achieve a lot in the pet industry.
A pet hotel is a place where people bring their cats and dogs for short-term boarding. It's a business that provides pet-sitting services in which customers can board their pets while they're out of town, or while they're at work.
Over 60M households own dogs or cats in the United States. What happens when they leave town or go on vacation? Pet boarding is a lucrative industry that can be served locally in any state or city across the world.
9. Start an extended stay hotels business
10. Start a resort hotels business
A resort provides accommodations and attractions conveniently located on the same premises. An ideal resort business on an island has an excellent prospect since many people love traveling. However, starting a resort can be overwhelming.
To start, ensure you have a solid business plan and scout the area you intend to purchase the property, ensuring it shall be well-positioned. Promote and market your resort to attract tourists.
How much you can make: $500,000/month
Boyd Hollow Resorts is launching a 5-star boutique resort and event center based on a fiction book that will be the first of many Villages to be built around the world, with over 200 event inquiries received before launching.
11. Start a spa resort business
12. Start a chain hotels business
13. Start a serviced apartments business
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
14. Start a hotel booking platform
The explosively popular Airbnb and countless similar services have proven that the market for home and apartment rentals is growing rapidly.
As an entrepreneur who loves travel, you see an opportunity to extend this model to hotels.
That’s why you start a hotel booking platform where travelers can search for and book accommodations worldwide.
The market size of the online hotel booking platform industry worldwide amounted to nearly $518B in 2020.
Starting a hotel booking platform can be so interesting as an idea that can proliferate. It doesn’t require any license, no inventory — only mobile phones, an internet connection, and some motivation to succeed.
How much you can make: $114,200,000/month
How long does it take to build: 180 days (?)
Tripadvisor is a global travel advice network with over 1 billion reviews and recommendations from almost 8 million companies that generated 902 million U.S. dollars in global revenue in 2021, representing a 49% increase from the previous year.
15. Start a budget-friendly hotels business
How long does it take to build: 60 days (?)
16. Become a bed and breakfast owner
Bed and breakfast is a sort of hybrid between a luxury hotel and a private home. The host offers the guests affordable accommodation featuring a bed and breakfast at the room's price. B&Bs offer affordable accommodations and are becoming popular among travelers who prefer a private setting.
If you have realistic expectations, B&B can be a profitable and enjoyable business. To start, you can renovate and turn your home into an inn. Alternatively, you can build or buy a ready house and convert it into a modern B&B.
17. Start a spa hotel business
18. Start a timeshare rentals business
19. Start a shipping container hotel
20. Start a pod hotels business
21. Start a motel business
22. Start a conference and convention center hotels business
23. Start an a ryokan business
24. Start a luxury hotels business
How long does it take to build: 500 days (?)
25. Start a garden hotels business
26. Start a patient medical centre business
27. Start an ice hotel business
28. Start a pension lodging business
29. Start a guest house business
30. Start a hotelship business
31. Start an eco hotels business
An eco-friendly hotel employs sustainable practices to reduce its impact on the environment. Some measures include energy and water consumption, zero waste generation, and eco-friendly products in its maintenance, services, and supply chain.
According to statistics, a third of consumers prefer sustainable brands. In addition, tours and travel brands like Tripadvisor have developed a Green Leaders program.
Starting an eco-friendly hotel brand is profitable and a way of supporting environmental conservation efforts. If you are starting an eco-friendly hotel, sensitize your staff on the importance of ecological conservation. Some eco-friendly ideas to consider for your hotel include:
- Cutting down on the use of plastic water bottles by adding a water filling station in the lobby
- Offering guests a reusable branded water bottle
- Installing towel racks in bathrooms to make it easier for guests to reuse the towels
- Making recycling options easy to spot
Starting an eco-friendly hotel may sound. However, with more people becoming sensitive to environmental preservation, an eco-friendly hotel could be more profitable than you expect.
32. Start a bed and breakfast business
Bed and breakfasts have been around for a long time. Owners interact with customers while they benefit from affordable lodging.
Travelers nowadays have a high interest in experiencing local culture, ready to take on the adventure of meeting and interacting with others from different backgrounds and perspectives in order to get a unique taste of how a small town or even neighborhood might live.
The great thing about starting at home B&B is that you don’t need a degree in business. You only need enough capital to purchase essential items needed to open your very first one.
Listed are the steps to start a bed and breakfast business.
- Plan your business plan
- Secure needed permits, licenses, and certifications
- Hire Staff
- Open a bank account for business transactions
- Prepare your business for operation -Promote your business
33. Start a pension hotel business
34. Start a self-service hotels business
A self-service hotel allows guests to independently check-in, check-out, and access their rooms without staff assistance.
This type of lodging is becoming increasingly popular among travelers due to its cost-effectiveness and convenience.
From a business perspective, self-service hotels are profitable as they reduce staffing costs and allow for a more streamlined operation, resulting in higher profits.
However, it is essential to ensure that the facility is equipped with automated systems and robust security measures to provide guests with a safe and comfortable experience.
35. Start a student hostel business
36. Start a hostal business
37. Start a pop-up hotel business
38. Start a boatel business
39. Start a stopping house business
40. Start a private hostel business
A private hostel is a residential premise or center set up by a private entity to accommodate paying guests on a rental basis for a fixed duration. Private accommodation for tourists and travelers can be a good option if you love meeting and hosting different people while creating a passive income from your business.
Setting up your own private hostel business takes a lot of planning. First, find the ideal location and check all the local zoning laws. Then, procure (buy/lease) a perfect building and equip it with beds and other accommodations for guests.
To attract business, network with tours and travel companies and advertise the business on social media.
How long does it take to build: 730 days (?)
41. Start a condo hotel business
42. Start a holiday cottage business
43. Start a love hotel business
44. Start a heuhotel business
45. Start a casa particular business
46. Start a boutique hotel business
47. Start a transit hotel business
48. Start a turbaza business
49. Start a choultry business
50. Start a flophouse business
51. Start a barge hotel business
52. Start a gasthaus business
53. Start a hotel publicist business
54. Start a hotel chef business
How much you can make: $5,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $50 (?)
How long does it take to build: 360 days (?)
Chef David Buchanan generates over $6,000 per month through his website Chefs-Resources.com, which provides professional chefs with free and paid access to detailed culinary information and kitchen management resources such as Excel sheets, resulting in gross revenue of $46,000 to date and a subscriber growth rate of over 1300% from 2015 to September 2021.
55. Become an interior designer
Interior designing involves making indoor spaces safe, functional, and beautiful by determining space requirements and selecting essential & decorative items such as colors, lighting, and materials.
The global luxury interior design market is growing at a CAGR of 9.0%. The growth metrics show there is great potential for entrepreneurs targeting households.
If you are starting a luxury interior design business, focus on style and specialty. Add valuables with creative professions, such as interior design, so you stand out from the rest. Ensure you hire the right people and hone the brand identity.
How much you can make: $100,000 — $415,000/month
How much does it cost to start: $2,000 (?)
How long does it take to build: 90 days (?)
Mother and daughter duo turn passion for antiques and design into a boutique design firm with over $1 million in annual revenue and hundreds of trophy projects, showcasing the importance of grit, determination, and passion in building a successful business.
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
