Hotel development consulting
Building a hotel is unlike building anything else. Amit helps owners turn a concept into a budget, a programme and a team, and keeps all three on track.
- Concept and area programme
- Budget, schedule and consultant team
- Owner’s representative through construction
- Owner-side only
- Paid by hotel owners, never by brands or vendors
- 100+ hotel projects
- Advised across India
- 50+ hotel brands
- In Amit’s working network
- 40+ cities
- From metros to tier 2 and 3 markets
Where hotel developments go wrong
A hotel combines the engineering of a hospital, the finishes of a luxury home and the services of a small town, and it has to open on a date that sales teams have already promised to guests. Projects run late and over budget for familiar reasons: decisions taken in the wrong order, designs that ignore brand standards until it is too late, consultants who are not coordinated, and owners who are not told about problems until they become expensive.
Amit’s development consulting puts an experienced hotelier on the owner’s side from the start. He does not replace your architect or contractor. He makes sure the right questions are asked at the right time, that every consultant is designing to the same brief, and that you always know where the project stands against budget and programme.
Stages Amit manages with you
- 1
Concept Turning the feasibility study into a clear development brief: positioning, room count, facilities and target cost.
- 2
Team Selecting and briefing the architect, interior designer, MEP engineer, landscape designer, quantity surveyor and specialist consultants.
- 3
Approvals Mapping the licences and permissions needed, from building plans and fire NOC to environmental and tourism approvals.
- 4
Design stages Reviews at concept, schematic and detailed design, with the brand’s technical team.
- 5
Budget control A development budget broken down by package, tracked monthly against commitments and spend.
- 6
Procurement Tender strategy for civil, MEP, façade, interiors and furniture, fixtures and equipment.
- 7
Construction Monthly site reviews and reports to the owner on progress, quality, cost and risks.
- 8
Handover Snagging, commissioning and the handover to the pre-opening team.
The value of getting decisions in the right order
Many expensive mistakes in hotel development come from making a decision too early or too late. Fixing the structural grid before the room size is agreed with the brand, for example, can cost several rooms on every floor. Choosing the kitchen equipment after the MEP drawings are frozen can mean moving drainage that has already been cast into slabs.
Amit works with owners to a decision calendar that ties each choice to the design stage where it should be made. It sounds bureaucratic, but it is the single most effective way to protect budget and programme, and it gives owners confidence that nothing important is being left until it is too late.
Working with family-owned projects
Many hotels in India are built by business families developing their first hospitality asset alongside other businesses. Decision-making is often shared among several family members, each with a view on design and cost. Amit is used to presenting options in a way that helps families reach decisions quickly, with the trade-offs laid out clearly.
What owners receive each month
Owners who are not on site every day need a clear, honest view of their project. During development, Amit sends a short monthly report written for the owner rather than for engineers. It covers four things: progress against the master programme, spending and commitments against the development budget, the risks that could affect cost or opening date, and the decisions the owner needs to take in the coming month.
The report is followed by a call or meeting where the owner can ask questions and decide. Over the life of a project, this rhythm builds a written record of every decision and its reasons, which is invaluable if a dispute arises with a contractor or consultant, and when the hotel is later valued or sold.
Owners regularly tell Amit that the monthly report is the first time they have felt in control of their own project. That sense of control is the point: a hotel is far too large an investment to be managed on reassurance alone.
Hotels Amit has advised
Every tag is a real hotel. Sarovar, Clarks, Lemon Tree and more, across six states.
When should I bring in a hotel development consultant?
Ideally right after the feasibility study and before the architect starts design. The earlier the brief is right, the cheaper every later decision becomes.
Do you replace the project manager?
No. On larger projects there will usually be a project management consultant running the site. Amit acts as the owner’s hotel expert alongside them, focusing on the decisions that affect the hotel’s operation and returns.
Can you help with approvals?
Amit maps the approvals your hotel needs and the order in which to seek them, and works with your local liaison consultants. He does not act as a liaison agent himself.
How do you control the budget?
Through a development budget agreed at concept stage and reviewed monthly, with every change to scope priced before it is approved.
Do you work on resorts as well as city hotels?
Yes. Resorts bring extra questions around land use, infrastructure, landscape and phasing, which Amit covers in the same way.
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Tell Amit about your hotel project
Amit reads every enquiry himself and replies within one working day.
- Owner-side only: no fees from brands or vendors
- First conversation is free and confidential
- Your details are never shared with brands without your consent