Human judgment plays a significant role, added Jinneman. Rood once reviewed a feasibility study another consultant had done for a proposed hotel near a freeway. The report was perfect, except for one thing - the consultant had analyzed the wrong site. Jinneman said some developers rely too heavily on financial analysis rather than market research and judgment. You can learn a lot from people that you can't learn from the Internet or statistics.
Developers rely on consulting firms to provide such information.
Each of the three local companies provides consulting for hotels throughout the Northwest, but differ a bit in their emphasis. Jinneman, Kennedy focuses more on valuation, brokering and sales. Olsen, who has a degree in hotel administration from Cornell, said the Chambers Group is oriented toward hotel operations. Rood, who studied hotel management in Germany and has worked in hotels in Europe, the U.S. and Canada, specializes in market research. But each company has diversified services that help keep them afloat during turns of the cyclical hotel wheel.