Tycoon: I Have an Unlimited Modifier

After dropping Tao Ronghui and Xu Huifang off at the Ambassador’s Villa, Qi Sheng got down to business.

First, he listened to Zhou Meng’s report.

Regarding the restaurant renovation budget, the quote from Shengxuan Decoration was 13 million.

It was a moderate price.

For a Chinese restaurant in a luxury hotel like this one, the renovation standard is typically over 5,000 per square meter.

Take the West Lake Four Seasons Hotel, for example, which opened around the same time as the Banyan Tree in Xixi Wetland.

Its Chinese restaurant is the incredibly popular Jinsha Hall.

Back then, the 1,680-square-meter restaurant cost 8.88 million for the renovation alone.

That was back in ’09, so you can imagine how extravagant it was.

Now, ten years later, both material and labor costs have risen.

Shengxuan Decoration’s quote came out to about 6,500 per square meter, which was a very high-spec renovation budget.

”We can work with this price.”

Qi Sheng asked casually, ”What did the property owner say?”

”Xixi Investment is very supportive of us increasing the restaurant’s average customer spend, as long as we ensure our revenue doesn’t drop.”

Zhou Meng immediately bowed and explained, ”The owner we’re partnered with, Xixi Investment, is actually pretty decent. They’ve already delisted several brands that were performing slightly worse than us.”

”Because our hotel has a high price point, our usual occupancy rate is only 24%. It only spikes to 60% for short periods during holidays like the Dragon Boat Festival.”

”During the off-season, including the restaurant, our monthly revenue is only about 3.5 million.”

”During long holidays like May Day, a single month’s revenue might surge to 5 million.”

”But that doesn’t happen often—just May Day and the National Day holiday. On average, our monthly revenue is around 4 million.”

”After deducting the rent for the owner and our operating costs, our annual profit is less than ten million.”

After hearing this, Qi Sheng couldn’t help but frown. ”The revenue is too low.”

”You know as well as I do, the Group’s brand positioning for Banyan Tree doesn’t allow individual hotels to adjust prices on their own. We’re only allowed to lower them for special promotions, and even then, the price has to stay above 2,000.”

Zhou Meng gave a wry smile. ”At that price, there are too many other hotel choices in Hangzhou. Not to mention Aman, which has a huge base of loyal fans and a much more secluded location than ours.”

”The hotels along West Lake alone steal seventy to eighty percent of our potential guests.”

”Especially tourists from out of town. When they come to Hangzhou, their first choice is definitely a hotel around West Lake.”

”The guests who choose our location in Xixi Wetland are almost all local residents. We get very few out-of-town tourists.”

Qi Sheng could understand Zhou Meng’s complaints.

If he were visiting Hangzhou, he would also choose a high-end hotel near West Lake first.

”If I gave you a location near West Lake, are you confident you could increase the hotel’s occupancy rate?”

”I’d stake my career on it, but the hotels by West Lake are all spoken for. They’re mostly state-owned enterprises, so there’s no way for us to get a piece of the pie.”

Zhou Meng was genuinely frustrated.

Even though he worked his team to the bone running promotions during holidays, the buzz was always temporary.

Once the holiday passed, the occupancy rate would drop below 30% again.

After deducting operating costs and the owner’s cut, there was hardly any profit left to speak of.

’With performance like this, when will I ever get promoted to the Group’s senior management?’

”Alright then. I’ll give you that chance. You know of the Sofitel West Lake Hotel, right?”

Qi Sheng said with a smile, ”The Group just completed the acquisition and will be renovating the West Lake Hotel immediately.”

”After the renovation, that hotel by West Lake will be rebranded as a Banyan Tree.”

”This one in Xixi Wetland will be downgraded to a Yuechun, and the other Yuechun in Xixi Wetland will be downgraded to a Yuelian.”

”Huh?”

Just a moment ago, Zhou Meng had just been venting his frustrations.

He just wanted the big boss to know.

It really wasn’t for lack of effort; he just couldn’t make bricks without straw.

But he never in a million years expected the big boss to have actually bought a hotel by West Lake.

’How much must that have cost?’

’You couldn’t pull it off for less than seven or eight hundred million.’

’Plus, renovating the entire building isn’t just about redoing the interior.’

’The hotel’s facade will need to be repainted and remodeled, too.’

’This is a massive project.’

’In other words, this new Banyan Tree Hotel by West Lake will cost close to a billion!’

The big boss was sending him to manage it. This was clearly a sign of great favor.

Looking at Zhou Meng, whose eyes were now shining with excitement, Qi Sheng felt a slight pang of regret.

’Another Elite-level Talent Recruitment Card used up. Only five left.’

’As for the Expert-level Talent Recruitment Cards, I don’t have a single one left.’

Thankfully, the Master-level Talent Recruitment Card still glittered brilliantly, which was a great comfort.

”Boss, if we make a move like this, I’m afraid the property owner will have objections.”

”Objections?”

Qi Sheng waved his hand dismissively.

”Then we’ll just pull all our branding.”

”Ahem, it probably won’t be that serious. As long as our restaurant is popular enough, I imagine the owner will agree even if we rebrand to Yuechun.”

Zhou Meng wiped the sweat from his brow. ’I never expected my boss to be so uncompromising.’

”Banyan Tree will be deeply integrated with Yu Tu and Zifei.”

”Once the West Lake location is renovated, the Yu Tu branding will be removed from there as well.”

”It will be replaced by the Group’s self-operated Baiyun Chinese Restaurant, and the average spend per person will be raised to around 500.”

Qi Sheng explained his strategic positioning for the Group’s future brands to Zhou Meng.

”Even for the next tier down, Yuechun, the room rate will be increased to over 1,500 per night.”

”At the same time, Yuechun, Yuelian, and Yue Garden will all be equipped with a Baiyun Chinese Restaurant, with an average spend of 500 per person, and a Spicy King Hot Pot, with an average of 200 per person.”

Having two delicious, value-adding restaurants would also bring more potential customers to the hotels.