PERSPECTIVE
Dreaming Big
7 WAYS TO BECOME A HOTEL OWNER WITHOUT BEING RICH.
By PIERRE MARÉCHAL, VP STRATEGIC ADVISORY & ASSET MANAGEMENT, JLL HOTELS & HOSPITALITY GROUP
A
hotel owner told me something recently that stuck:“ No one got rich with hotels, but everyone who is rich, has a hotel.”
It reflects a common truth in our industry: Hotels are often seen as trophy assets, accessible only to the wealthy. For many aspiring hoteliers, the sheer capital required makes ownership feel out of reach. But hotel ownership doesn’ t have to be the exclusive domain of the ultra-wealthy. In fact, there are multiple pathways into ownership that rely more on creativity, deal structure and partnerships than deep pockets.
Based on my own experience as both a hotel owner and asset manager, here are some practical approaches.
➊RENT THE PROPERTY Renting rather than purchasing avoids the largest upfront cost— real estate. My first foray into hotel ownership was structured entirely this way, simply because the property’ s ticket size made buying unrealistic. We followed a PropCo / OpCo model: The property company( PropCo) owns the real estate, while the operating company( OpCo) runs the hotel business. In this case, I owned the OpCo, not the PropCo. This structure allowed us to step into ownership of the business without needing to acquire the underlying asset. Rent will likely be your biggest ongoing expense, so the numbers must stack up. In our case, our profitability before rent exceeded 80 %, which gave us enough margin to cover the lease and still turn a healthy return. This approach enabled us to focus capital on operations, branding and guest experience, while making hotel ownership achievable from day one.
➋SECURE A LEASE THAT PROVIDES STABILITY While renting offers flexibility, securing a lease with built-in longevity provides control and confidence to invest. A long lease( traditionally 20 years or more) is often seen as closest to ownership, but hybrid models can also work. For example, in one hotel, we negotiated a 5 + 5-year lease( a contract for a commercial property with an initial five-year term followed by an option to renew for another five-year term), which gave us the initial security we needed, with an option to extend. This created the
44 hotelsmag. com Jan / Feb 2026