Value engineering: saving €1,800 per hotel room

When a hotel project goes over budget, we never say:

“What can we take out?”

We do value engineering.

It sounds much more elegant.

We take out a power outlet.

We cut back on storage.

We swap the armchair.

We simplify the lighting.

And in the end:

€1,800 saved per room.

An excellent investment committee meeting.

Six months after opening, the comments start coming in.

Not enough outlets.

Nowhere to put the suitcases.

Uncomfortable armchair.

Confusing lighting.

We price the fixes.

€2,600 per room.

Obviously, we’re not going to redo everything.

It’d be a shame to lose those savings.

So we fix two or three things.

Or we don’t.

At some point, you also have to know how to spot the guests who simply didn’t grasp the sheer ingenuity of the project.

In meetings, we call that “putting guest feedback in perspective.”

Online, I think the expression is:

“They’re just haters.”

Comic transcript (English translation)

Panel 1 — The project is over budget

“We’re over budget.”

“Do some value engineering.”

Screen: Hotel project.

Panel 2 — Simplify to save money

Labels: one fewer outlet; simpler lighting; less storage; replacement armchair.

€1,800 saved per room.

“Excellent work. We’re on budget.”

Panel 3 — Six months after opening: the guest complaints

“We’re getting a lot of comments about the rooms: not enough outlets, nowhere to put suitcases, an uncomfortable armchair, confusing lighting…”

Guest reviews on screen: “No outlet by the bed… Very inconvenient.” “Where do we put our suitcases? Not enough storage.” “Uncomfortable armchair.” “The lighting is very difficult to figure out.”

Panel 4 — We fix only some of it… and manage the reviews

“Fixing the main issues comes to €2,600 per room.”

“We’re not redoing everything. We’re keeping the savings.”

“And the guest reviews?”

“We’ll delete the ones from guests who didn’t grasp the sheer ingenuity of the project.”