The macro picture for the hotel industry is getting increasingly difficult with weaker demand and increasing costs, and that can create less-than-ideal circumstances as hoteliers navigate budget season.
On the latest episode of the CoStar News Hotels podcast, Alicia Carr, vice president of finance for Charlestowne Hotels, said this task requires a blend of big-picture thinking and local market knowledge.
"Revenue-management teams are always going to look at what [STR] says and what CBRE is saying in specific markets, and then I think they just have to really dial into this very specific kind of hyperlocal knowledge," she said. "What's happening in their markets? What's opening new? How has this property been trending? What are the demand drivers in that market? I think it's a constant balance between big picture and the nitty-gritty of what's happening — literally sometimes — on the street."
Perhaps since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, unpredictability has been the defining characteristic of budgeting and forecasting for hotels, and many ownership groups are pushing for a higher degree of forecast accuracy heading into 2026.
Carr said improving on that front starts with better accounting at the corporate level, which then drills down to expertise at the property level.
"That's where you have to rely on your general managers really knowing their business and incorporating their staff to ... not just do the forecast from their [general manager] office but really getting feedback in from your food-and-beverage director, your housekeeping manager, your maintenance manager," she said. "What are they seeing in terms of changes to be able to look forward with more accuracy?"
For the rest of the interview with Charlestown Hotels' Alicia Carr, listen to the podcast above.