Opening a hotel: the whole thing in order

Six phases from the GST certificate to the first night audit, and what each one needs.

Opening a hotel is about two to three hours of work, plus an hour if there is a restaurant. It goes wrong in the same four places every time, and all four are avoidable by reading this first.

The phases

1. Before you touch a screen — collect six things. Most stalled openings stall halfway through the wizard, waiting for somebody to find the GST certificate.
2. The account exists — Asar signs the hotel group up; the administrator sets their own password from an emailed link.
3. The hotel itself — the five-step wizard. See Adding a hotel.
4. Make it actually ready — the readiness checks, your lists, and the team.
5. The restaurant, if there is one, in a strict order.
6. The first real day — one real booking end to end, then the night audit.

The four that actually cost money

• The GSTIN's first two digits are the state code, and the hotel's state must match them. Wrong here and every invoice the hotel ever raises is wrong in a way a guest's accountant finds first.
• Type the real door numbers, not a count. A hotel that types 30 and owns 40 sells out ten rooms early every night, and nobody notices for a month.
• The rate sheet has an end. Ready today, silently unsellable in seven months. See Rates run out.
• The night audit is a daily habit, not a feature. Skip it and the operating date stops.

What you need in hand before starting

• The GST certificate — the GSTIN exactly as printed, and the state it was issued in.
• The room list: every door number and its floor.
• The room types, in the order a general manager would rank them — that order becomes the upgrade ladder.
• A rate per room type — today's selling price, not the rack rate.
• The cancellation policy: how many hours before arrival a guest may cancel free.
• Staff names and email addresses. One address per person; two people cannot share a login.