You are about to open a hotel.
Who on your team has done that before?
Not managed one. Opened one. The two jobs have almost nothing in common, and the first one hands off to the second at the end.
I have opened eight hotels from concept to ribbon-cutting and repositioned four more. The Launch is the hands-on opening or reopening engagement: brand and budget to first guest, ten phases in the right order, on site nationwide, and a handoff to your general manager at the end. For the owner with a signed lease or purchase, a renovation under way, or a date on the calendar. Every Launch starts with a Plan. Quoted per project.
8 hotels opened from concept to ribbon-cutting · 4 repositioned · on site nationwide
year-one revenue at the Paloma, Palm Springs. Upscale boutique opening, featured in Travel & Leisure.
guest score at the Twist after a distressed turnaround and reopening, with 60% of bookings direct.
California. Upscale boutique launch, featured in Modernism Magazine.
I have opened eight hotels from concept to ribbon-cutting, most of them in Palm Springs. I run your opening myself, on the property, in the same ten phases every time.
- hotels opened
- 8
- hotels opened
- repositioned
- 4
- repositioned
- revenue a year managed
- $10M+
- revenue a year managed
- funded feasibility projects
- 6
- funded feasibility projects
Fifteen minutes on the stage, the budget and the date. If a Launch is not the right size for the project, I will say so.
Start where you are.
Ten phases.
All of them in the right order.
The contractor has a schedule. The business does not. The best openings feel inevitable and never are: the name before the budget, the budget before the systems, the systems before the hiring, the booking sites live in month two so the hotel is selling rooms before the paint dries.
A typical Launch runs 90 to 270 days from contract to ribbon-cutting. The range moves with the property's size, the brand and the scope, so treat it as a planning range, not a promise. Tap a phase to see what happens, what goes wrong when it is skipped, and what you hold at the end.
IConcept and positioning
What happensThe name, the voice, the design intent, the hotels you will be compared with, the rate you are building toward.
When it is skippedThe design gets chosen before the guest, and the rate the budget needs never shows up.
What you holdThe written opening plan: the market, the concept and the positioning in one document.
IIBrand identity and creative direction
What happensLogo, brand book, the photography brief, naming conventions for every room and space.
When it is skippedThe signs, the website and the photos get redone after opening, at full price.
What you holdThe brand book and the photo brief.
IIIPre-opening budget and year-one model
What happensBuild cost, furniture and equipment, the ramp to stabilized occupancy, the first year's profit and loss. Carried in from the Plan.
When it is skippedThe money runs out between the last contractor and the first guest.
What you holdThe opening budget and the live financial model, line by line.
IVSystems selection and setup
What happensProperty management, revenue management (Duetto, Lighthouse or Hotelitix, our three partners), channel manager, booking engine, guest database, point of sale, keys. Chosen so they talk to each other.
When it is skippedFive systems that do not talk to each other, and a front desk that types everything twice.
What you holdEvery system set up in your name, with the logins handed to you.
VSales and distribution build
What happensBooking-site contracts, Google hotel listing, group and corporate channels, live early so the hotel sells before it opens.
When it is skippedThe doors open to an empty calendar, because the booking sites went live the week of opening.
What you holdBooking sites, Google and group channels selling before the first night.
VIHiring plan and org chart
What happensLeadership first, then the line, then training. The people who will run the hotel are in the building before the guests are.
When it is skippedThe team meets the hotel and the guests on the same day.
What you holdThe labor budget and the org chart: every position, hours, wage and burden.
VIIStandards and training
What happensFront-of-house manuals, service standards, brand standards, food and beverage. Written by the person who will train the team.
When it is skippedEvery shift does it a different way, and the reviews say so.
What you holdManuals and service standards written for your hotel.
VIIIMarketing launch
What happensPress, paid media, the website and booking engine, the pre-launch email list.
When it is skippedOpening day is a secret.
What you holdThe launch plan: press, paid media and the first email list.
IXSoft opening
What happensGuests in the rooms, a debrief every day, fixes made before the public sees them.
When it is skippedThe first paying guests find the problems, and write about them.
What you holdA daily fix list, closed before the public opening.
XPublic opening and handoff
What happensThe ribbon, then the handoff to your general manager and to Revenue Management Services, so the revenue work does not stop the day the Launch ends.
When it is skippedThe pricing stops the day the consultant leaves.
What you holdEverything documented in your name, handed to your manager and your revenue manager.
A private portal
for every Launch.
You never have to ask where the opening stands. Every Launch client signs in to a private portal that shows the whole project, what waits on you, and what is ready for your OK.
- One wheel for the whole opening
- Every project fills its own wheel: in progress, 25%, 50%, final systems check, then ready for your OK.
- What only you can do
- The decisions and steps that wait on you, with why each one matters, at the top of the page.
- Ready for your OK
- When a project is done, it comes to you with the test it had to pass, written in plain words.
- Every update, in writing
- News lands on the page and in your inbox, so nothing lives only in a phone call.
Open a hotel in five minutes. Then open yours.
You bought a hotel and it opens in 90 days. Pick your guest, build, set up your systems, hire, market and cut the ribbon. Every choice costs money and days, and the phone buzzes when guests notice. At the end you see your hotel set up, and the same ten phases above, in the order a real opening walks them.
A learning tool, not a toy. Free, no sign-up. At the end: your opening score, explained in dollars, and your hotel set up piece by piece.
Plan first. Then the Launch.
Fifteen minutes on the project: the stage it is at, the budget, the date, and whether a Launch is the right size for it.
One flat fee, quoted up front. The demand, the math and the value, so the Launch is built on numbers that hold. If you already have a Plan from us, this step is done.
Scope, phases and the monthly fee, quoted per project after the Plan. On site nationwide.
Your general manager runs the hotel. Revenue Management Services runs the revenue. The Launch team leaves with everything documented in your name.
It is not a management contract, and it does not run the hotel after opening. It is the opening, done in the right order, and then handed to the people who will live there.
Ten phases, on site nationwide, run by an operator who has opened eight hotels from concept to ribbon-cutting.
The reset that
beat the renovation.
Some hotels do not need construction. They need a reset: the brand, the team, the pricing, the systems and the booking sites, done at once, ending in a relaunch. The Launch covers this too, for a property that is open and underperforming. Twist was a reset before it was a reopening.
- ◆Brand and positioning reset
- ◆Operations and standards rebuilt
- ◆Systems triage, and the ones that leak replaced
- ◆Pricing and booking-site reset
- ◆Relaunch press and marketing
- ◆A relaunch event and the handoff to Revenue Management Services
Everything documented,
in your name.
Every Launch produces the same shelf of documents, built on your property and kept live until the ribbon.
The written opening plan, the live model, the opening and labor budgets, the brief for the city and five more.
- 1The written opening planThe market, the concept, the positioning, the operating direction and the recommendation, in one document.
- 2The live financial modelCarried in from the Plan and kept current through opening. Every input sourced, graded and editable.
- 3The opening budget and capital planLine by line, in tiers, per key, with a confidence grade on every line and contingency on top.
- 4The labor budgetEvery position, hours, wage and burden, sized for how the hotel will actually run.
- 5The ancillary income modelEvery income stream beyond the room rate, priced from named local benchmarks.
- 6The improvements programThe capital plan from the on-property assessment, checked against local cost benchmarks.
- 7The brief for the cityWhat the property needs from planning, written before the meeting, so nothing is learned at the counter.
- 8The status boardWhere the project is, what is being fine-tuned and what is next, updated as we go.
- 9The site visit recordPhotographs, transcripts and findings from every walk of the property.
- 10The review packetThe numbers in six pages, for lenders, partners and buyers, with every assumption and its source on the last page.
The brief for the city, the $786,500 improvements program and the $585,000 labor budget, from the delivered Plan.
Hotel use in this zone needs a conditional use permit. The city's pre-application review is the confirmed first step, so the conversion is planned at the same unit count, with no added keys assumed until the city says otherwise.
Exterior work runs through design review. Millwork and furnishings ordered before January 1, 2027 avoid announced tariff increases of 30 to 50 percent.
Two paragraphs from the brief written before the owner's first meeting with planning.
The capital plan from the walk of the property, checked against Coachella Valley cost benchmarks, contractor bids pending.
Main pool zone Deck, coping, equipment and chiller, loungers, cabanas, grill pergola, safety gates | $250,000 |
Spa courtyard and second pool Adults-only positioning | $150,000 |
Fountain refurbishment | $50,000 |
Landscape and trees Pool privacy hedging, planters, a palm allee, statement trees | $50,000 |
Exterior lighting and sconces Palm uplighting | $40,000 |
Gates, railings, exterior paint, unified unit doors | $60,000 |
Concrete and walkways Accessibility included | $50,000 |
Signage and a commissioned art walk | $25,000 |
Laundry room build-out Two commercial washers, two dryers, folding tables; serves the hotel and outside businesses | $40,000 |
Contingency, 10% | $71,500 |
| Total improvements | $786,500 |
Self-managed staffing built around guest experience agents: self check-in arrival, hosts on site who curate the stay and run the income streams. Wages respect the 2026 California floor; burden at 25 percent.
| Position | FTE | Rate | AnnualAnnual, with burden |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guest experience agents | 2.5 | $22.00 | $143,000 |
| Housekeepers | 4.0 | $19.00 | $197,600 |
| Houseperson | 1.0 | $17.00 | $44,200 |
| Maintenance tech | 1.0 | $25.00 | $65,000 |
| General manager, oversight share | 1.0 | $45.00 | $117,000 |
| Night audit, remote answering service | $1,500 a month | $18,000 | |
| Total labor, 9.5 FTE plus remote night audit | $585,000 | ||
From a Plan delivered in September 2026 for a 38-key conversion in the California desert, shared with the owner's permission and without the property's name.
Adam Ramirez.
Operator first.
Adam has spent 10+ years opening, repositioning and running independent and boutique hotels, many of them in Palm Springs, and still prices hotels every morning. Ramirez Hospitality Group is how an owner gets that work without hiring for it.
The method is the product and it lives in your own accounts: every rate plan, rule and piece of data belongs to you. A second contact is named on every account. If you wanted to take it over tomorrow, you could.
- ·The Paloma Resort
- ·Twist Palm Springs
- ·Limón Palm Springs
- ·Sands Hotel & Spa
- ·The Stardust
- ·Dunes Palm Springs
- ·The Creekstone Inn
- ·Town & Desert Hospitality
- ·Bellevue Oasis
- ·Float Palm Springs
- ·Saguaro Hotel
- ·8 hotels opened from concept to ribbon-cutting
- ·4 properties repositioned after renovation or ownership transition
- ·50+ independent and boutique hospitality properties worked with
- ·$10M+ in annual hotel revenue managed
- ·6 funded feasibility projects with full pro formas
Asked by owners,
answered plainly.
I have a general manager for that.
A general manager runs a hotel that exists. An opening is a different job: ten phases in the right order, from the name and the budget to the first guest, and it hands off to the manager at the end.
How far in advance should we talk?
Before the name and the positioning are locked, ideally, because that decision drives the budget, the systems and the hiring plan. We have also stepped into projects mid-construction. Bring the schedule to the consultation and we will tell you what is still open to change.
How long does it take to open a hotel?
A typical Launch runs 90 to 270 days from contract to ribbon-cutting. The range moves with the property's size, the brand and the scope, so treat it as a planning range, not a promise.
What does the Launch cost?
It is quoted per project, after the Plan, because the scope moves with the property. The Plan itself is one flat fee, quoted up front, and every Launch starts with one.
How will I know where the project stands?
Every Launch client gets a private portal: a wheel for the whole opening and one for every project, the decisions that wait on you, and every update in writing. You can check it on your phone any time.
We are repositioning an open property, not opening a new one.
The reset is the same discipline, compressed: positioning, the model, the systems, the pricing and the booking sites, then a relaunch. Four of the hotels on the track record were repositioned this way.
What happens after we open?
The revenue work continues as Revenue Management Services, so daily pricing and the booking sites never lapse. Your general manager runs the hotel.
Tell me about
the project.
Five fields, then pick a time for a 15-minute consultation.
Book an Opening Consultation
Fifteen minutes on the stage, the budget and the date. If a Launch is not the right size for the project, I will say so.
Text consent is optional. The Launch is quoted per project after the Plan.