Intangible Assets and Hotel Value

Abstract: Hotels are operating businesses whose financial value is affected by a number of intangible factors. The accurate value of a hotel affects a number of parties from hotel owners, operators, brokers, management companies, and financiers. While researchers have been creating methods for valuing intangible assets within hotels and creating new automated frameworks for hotel valuation it has yet to be seen if these methods are known to be utilized by members of the hospitality industry. This article examines how hotel owners, investment brokers and general managers in California utilize intangible assets to generate revenues and value in hotels. Results show that brokers, owners and general managers have varying definitions of intangible assets yet most acknowledge that intangibles affect their average daily room rate (ADR), return on investment (ROI) and net operating income (NOI), yet few investigate how.