From budget hotel chains to luxury resorts and large restaurant groups, hospitality venues face some of the most complex operating environments, regulatory obligations, and maintenance requirements.
These properties contain a wide variety of spaces, building systems and assets, from bedrooms and event spaces to commercial kitchens, HVAC and water systems, lifts and leisure facilities.
Maintenance is therefore critical not only to compliance and long-term asset value but also to guest satisfaction and brand reputation, meaning there is little room for disruption or error, especially during periods of peak occupancy.
Matt Voyle, Senior Account Executive at SFG20, the industry standard for hotel facilities management, has shared the key challenges facing hotels and hospitality venues today and why a structured approach to planned maintenance is essential for FM teams operating across the sector.
- Legionella and water safety
A significant water-safety risk in hotels and hospitality venues is Legionella. When guest rooms, outlets, or sections of a water system are used infrequently, water can stagnate and create conditions favourable to bacterial growth. Seasonal properties and temporarily closed wings therefore require particular attention.
Control should be based on a suitable risk assessment and managed by someone with the appropriate knowledge and training. Depending on the systems and the findings of the assessment, measures may include temperature control, regular flushing of infrequently used outlets, inspection, cleaning and descaling, and documented checks.
FM teams can strengthen control by maintaining reliable information about their water systems and implementing a risk-assessment-led maintenance regime. Appropriate monitoring technology may support this approach, but it does not replace the required assessment, controls, and documented checks.
- High occupancy turnover with no downtime window
Unlike offices or retail environments, where lower-occupancy periods allow planned maintenance to take place with minimal disruption, hotel and hospitality venues have to accommodate guests day and night.
Hotels, as well as cafes and restaurants, have very small downtime windows, giving little time for anything other than routine checks. This means small issues can go unnoticed, potentially developing into larger problems further down the line.
Maintenance planning must therefore avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and instead be precise and structured around the operational realities of each property rather than being generically applied across the estate.
- Guest experience as a visible measure of FM performance
The condition and performance of hotel and hospitality buildings is highly visible to guests, meaning there’s zero room for failure. Issues with HVAC, hot water, lifts, lighting, plumbing or other facilities can quickly lead to complaints, negative reviews and lost return business.
Common issues include water temperature problems, noise complaints, humidity, kitchen extract failures, false fire alarms and out-of-service lifts, which can all impact accessibility and guest satisfaction.
For hotel management companies overseeing maintenance across multiple properties, consistent FM performance is essential for meeting brand standards, supporting owner and operator reporting and protecting the long-term value of assets.
- Multi-site and multi-format estates with varying asset profiles
Large hotel and hospitality operators often manage estates spanning properties of different ages, formats, historic importance and building types, each with their own asset profiles and maintenance histories.
This creates additional complexity for FM teams, particularly when managing heritage properties that may be subject to planning or conservation constraints alongside independently branded and franchised sites with different standards and owner expectations. Without a common maintenance baseline, standards can vary and compliance gaps can emerge, while inconsistencies become increasingly costly to resolve as portfolios grow.
- Complex and seasonal holiday parks
Holiday parks and resorts present a particularly complex FM environment, combining different accommodation types such as lodges, holiday homes, cottages, and apartments with commercial kitchens, dining areas, pools, gyms, entertainment facilities, and outdoor amenities.
The diversity of these building types, as well as asset ages and infrastructure, combined with seasonal demand, makes it difficult for FM teams to apply a generic maintenance approach. This becomes even more complex when it comes to all-inclusive resorts, where guests have limited alternatives to facilities on site.
Matt Voyle adds:
“With maintenance varying from property to property, having a trusted framework for planned maintenance, organisations and venues can create a more consistent and structured approach. For hotels and hospitality organisations, that means identifying applicable maintenance tasks and recommended frequencies, distinguishing statutory requirements from industry best practice, and documenting where site-specific tailoring is needed.
Hospitality estates vary widely. A strong approach combines a consistent baseline with controlled, evidence-based tailoring, creating a maintenance regime that is practical, auditable and commercially workable
Download SFG20’s free e-guide, How Hotels and Hospitality FM Teams Can Improve Compliance, Control Costs and Run More Efficiently, for practical guidance on reviewing and strengthening your maintenance approach.”
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