/ Mar 21, 2026
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Consider a hotel’s unused spaces as opportunities to reach guests in new ways
In today’s hospitality landscape, asset managers face a triple squeeze: rising construction costs, escalating labor expenses and flattening ADRs.
At the same time, hotel guests demand more personalized, differentiated experiences. In this climate, underutilized spaces — breakfast rooms, lobbies, parking lots — aren’t just dead weight. They’re latent assets waiting to be activated.
The hidden cost of idle space
Unused areas often drain resources through utilities, maintenance and missed opportunity. Instead of chasing external revenue streams, hotel asset managers can turn inward and ask: What if this space could do more?
1. Transform dead zones into retail gold
Case in point: A hotel converted a dull, street-level corner into a UPS Store. The tenant paid utilities, eliminated the hotel’s printing burden and brought in local foot traffic. As a bonus, UPS began hosting meetings at the hotel, boosting food and beverage and room revenue.
Other ideas:
According to Forbes Hospitality Council, monetizing ancillary spaces is a key strategy for offsetting inflationary pressures.
2. Flex spaces for pop-up events
Hotels near stadiums, airports or convention centers can capitalize on event surges.
Example: A Courtyard by Marriott reimagined its breakfast room as a midday co-working hub. With minimal setup, it offered hourly rentals to traveling professionals.
Event-driven retail: During game weekends, lobbies became pop-up fan shops selling team merchandise, some generating $30,000+ in just three days.
3. Monetize outdoor or ‘unbuildable’ land
Odd-shaped or small parcels often sit idle. But with creativity, they can become income streams.
Here are several ideas:
CBRE’s Global Hotel Asset Management team emphasizes leveraging overlooked assets to improve cash flow and valuation.
4. Intangible assets: Naming rights and brand alignment
A hotel near a university offered naming rights to its ballroom in exchange for a donation. The result? Prestige, visibility and stronger ties with institutional clients.
Other possibilities include:
Keys to unlocking value
Final thought
Innovation in hotel asset management isn’t about grand reinvention. It’s about seeing the ordinary with extraordinary vision. The most impactful asset managers aren’t just stewards of space; they’re architects of possibility.
This article originally appeared on Horwath HTL.
Consider a hotel’s unused spaces as opportunities to reach guests in new ways
In today’s hospitality landscape, asset managers face a triple squeeze: rising construction costs, escalating labor expenses and flattening ADRs.
At the same time, hotel guests demand more personalized, differentiated experiences. In this climate, underutilized spaces — breakfast rooms, lobbies, parking lots — aren’t just dead weight. They’re latent assets waiting to be activated.
The hidden cost of idle space
Unused areas often drain resources through utilities, maintenance and missed opportunity. Instead of chasing external revenue streams, hotel asset managers can turn inward and ask: What if this space could do more?
1. Transform dead zones into retail gold
Case in point: A hotel converted a dull, street-level corner into a UPS Store. The tenant paid utilities, eliminated the hotel’s printing burden and brought in local foot traffic. As a bonus, UPS began hosting meetings at the hotel, boosting food and beverage and room revenue.
Other ideas:
According to Forbes Hospitality Council, monetizing ancillary spaces is a key strategy for offsetting inflationary pressures.
2. Flex spaces for pop-up events
Hotels near stadiums, airports or convention centers can capitalize on event surges.
Example: A Courtyard by Marriott reimagined its breakfast room as a midday co-working hub. With minimal setup, it offered hourly rentals to traveling professionals.
Event-driven retail: During game weekends, lobbies became pop-up fan shops selling team merchandise, some generating $30,000+ in just three days.
3. Monetize outdoor or ‘unbuildable’ land
Odd-shaped or small parcels often sit idle. But with creativity, they can become income streams.
Here are several ideas:
CBRE’s Global Hotel Asset Management team emphasizes leveraging overlooked assets to improve cash flow and valuation.
4. Intangible assets: Naming rights and brand alignment
A hotel near a university offered naming rights to its ballroom in exchange for a donation. The result? Prestige, visibility and stronger ties with institutional clients.
Other possibilities include:
Keys to unlocking value
Final thought
Innovation in hotel asset management isn’t about grand reinvention. It’s about seeing the ordinary with extraordinary vision. The most impactful asset managers aren’t just stewards of space; they’re architects of possibility.
This article originally appeared on Horwath HTL.
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It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.
The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making

The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution of letters, as opposed to using ‘Content here, content here’, making it look like readable English. Many desktop publishing packages and web page editors now use Lorem Ipsum as their default model text, and a search for ‘lorem ipsum’ will uncover many web sites still in their infancy.

It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
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