Renovating a hotel while it remains open: How do you ensure business continuity?

Construction scheduling starts with hotel scheduling

In a vacant building, the workflow largely dictates the rhythm. In an operational hotel, things are different. Occupancy rates, check-in and check-out, breakfast, housekeeping, events, and peak periods all play a role in determining when and where work can be done.

The relevant question, therefore, is not only how many rooms we can renovate at the same time, but above all, how many rooms we can temporarily take off the market during a given period. This makes phasing more than just a technical decision. Every room that is temporarily unavailable for rent also has an operational and commercial impact.

For an owner, operator, or investor, renovation plans must therefore always be considered alongside hotel operations plans.

A room isn't ready until it's available for rent again

In the construction industry, a space may be technically complete. But for a hotel, that’s not enough. A room must be inspected, cleaned, and fully operational before it can be rented out again.

Don't plan only until the end of the construction work. Plan until the room is ready to be rented out again.

This requires smooth coordination between the contractor, hotel management, and housekeeping. After all, a room that is technically almost ready but cannot yet be rented out remains commercially unavailable.

Separate guest and construction site traffic as much as possible

During renovation, a hotel remains, first and foremost, a hotel. Guests move between their rooms, the breakfast area, the front desk, and other facilities. At the same time, contractors, materials, and debris move through the same building. The more often these flows intersect, the greater the likelihood of disruption.

Effective phasing, therefore, goes beyond simply determining which rooms or floors will be addressed and when. Elevators, hallways, entrances, storage areas, evacuation routes, material transport, and working hours must also be taken into account in advance.

The goal is not to make the renovation invisible. The goal is to ensure that it does not define the hotel experience.

The value of a plan also lies in how you respond when it no longer holds true

Renovation involves working with an existing building. This almost always leads to unexpected situations. A hidden defect, a delayed delivery, or damaged materials can suddenly put a strain on the schedule.

At that point, the value lies not only in the original planning, but above all in the speed with which decisions can be made. Who has the authority to make decisions? How short are the lines of communication? Is there an alternative that doesn’t require keeping rooms off the market for longer or unnecessarily disrupting hotel operations?

In an operational hotel renovation, problem-solving skills aren't just a bonus—they're an integral part of the planning process itself.

Four Questions to Ask Before Work Begins

Anyone planning a hotel renovation while the hotel remains open should be able to clearly answer at least four questions in advance:

1. How many rooms or how much capacity can we temporarily do without per phase?
2. When is a renovated room or area fully ready for rental or operation again?
3. Where can guest and yard traffic influence each other?
4. Who can quickly decide when reality deviates from the plan?

The clearer those answers are in advance, the less likely it is that the hotel’s day-to-day operations will have to constantly adapt to the construction site during the renovation.

The construction site is organized around the hotel

Renovating a hotel while it remains open requires a different approach than a traditional renovation. It’s not just the technical execution that matters. Occupancy, the guest experience, logistics, communication, and the timing of when a space can be put back into use are all part of the planning process.

The construction site should be organized around the hotel—not the hotel around the construction site.

That principle was also central to the renovation of NH Collection Gent, where Group BRS carried out the work in phases while the hotel remained open.

See the NH Collection Gent project

Want to learn more about the story behind the renovation? On the Hotel Business Podcast, Koen De Rijcke, General Manager of NH Collection Gent, and Tim Van Peteghem of Group BRS look back on the project and the behind-the-scenes collaboration.

Listen to the podcast