Worked examples

Five worked examples. They are illustrative: built from the published London rates in our cost guide, not records of completed projects. They show how a refurbishment budget is put together, and where the gaps usually sit.

 

1. 120-key upscale hotel, central London. Guest-room soft refurbishment

120 rooms at about 260 sq ft: 31,200 sq ft.

At £140 to £220 per sq ft: £4.4m to £6.9m, or about £36,000 to £57,000 per key.

Gaps we would look for: corridor finishes and lighting left as an allowance, fire door ironmongery, and the back-of-house routes the guest-room budget does not cover.

 

2. 60-key boutique hotel. Hard refurbishment

60 rooms at about 300 sq ft: 18,000 sq ft.

At £220 to £380 per sq ft: £4.0m to £6.8m, or about £66,000 to £114,000 per key.

Gaps we would look for: fire-stopping where new services pass through walls and floors, bathroom waterproofing details, and acoustic separation between rooms.

 

3. Bar and all-day dining refit

Bar of 2,000 sq ft at £350 to £600: £0.7m to £1.2m. Dining room of 3,500 sq ft at £280 to £450: £1.0m to £1.6m.

Combined: about £1.7m to £2.8m.

Gaps we would look for: extraction and gas safety records, the servery link to the kitchen, and back-bar services.

 

4. Back of house

Kitchen, laundry and staff areas of 4,000 sq ft at £180 to £320: £0.7m to £1.3m.

Gaps we would look for: this is the area most often left off a refurbishment scope altogether. Staff corridors, changing rooms and service lifts carry the hotel every day.

 

5. Spa

2,500 sq ft at £450 to £750: £1.1m to £1.9m.

Gaps we would look for: ventilation and humidity control, wet-area tanking, and the plant behind the treatment rooms.

 

What the gaps are worth

Avoidable error costs about 5% of project value across UK construction (Get It Right Initiative). On the £4.4m to £6.9m guest-room programme in example 1, that is about £220,000 to £345,000. Finding it before handover is the point of the gap report.