Request native financial and operating files, not just a broker’s summary. Use the following as a proposed data-room index and adapt it with counsel and the operator.
| Folder | Documents to request | Main question |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership and property | Legal entities, parcel details, title materials, surveys, leases, easements and relevant disputes | What rights and obligations transfer? |
| Financial records | Preferably 36 months of monthly P&Ls, balance sheets, general ledger, budgets, tax filings and bank reconciliations | Can reported performance be substantiated? |
| Rooms performance | Property-management-system exports, inventory, rooms sold, room revenue, rate codes, cancellations and out-of-order rooms | Is the rooms-revenue story internally consistent? |
| Sales and distribution | Channel production, commission invoices, booking-engine charges, group contracts, booking pace and deposit schedules | Which demand is profitable, committed and transferable? |
| Payroll and people | Anonymized roster, positions, hours, pay, benefits, agency labor, vacancies, accrued obligations and relevant agreements | What will staffing actually cost? |
| Management and brand | Executed agreements, amendments, side letters, notices, fee invoices and property-improvement plans | What control, fees and exit obligations apply? |
| Food, beverage and amenities | Outlet accounts, POS reports, leases or management contracts, food costs and operating hours | Which amenities contribute cash and which require support? |
| Building and capital | Plans, inspections, maintenance records, warranties, equipment ages, completed works and outstanding projects | What must be repaired or replaced, and when? |
| Environmental and hazards | Prior reports, tanks, spills, remediation, claims and relevant notices | Is further investigation needed? |
| Permissions and compliance | Certificates of occupancy, permits, licenses, inspection notices and correspondence | Can the intended operation continue legally? |
| Insurance and taxes | Policies, loss runs, claims, tax bills, assessments, appeals and payment evidence | Which ownership costs may change? |
| Technology and vendors | PMS/POS/payment contracts, software licenses, domains, interfaces, service agreements and incident history | Can the operating infrastructure transfer safely? |
A current hotel-broker checklist likewise treats financials, benchmarking, building condition, environmental work, surveys, franchising, liquor licensing and staffing as parallel investigations—not substitutes for one another. (matthewshotelmarkets.com)
How should you handle missing or conflicting records?
Use four labels:
- Verified: reconciled against appropriate underlying evidence.
- Provided, not verified: received from seller, operator or broker.
- Assumed: a buyer-selected modeling input.
- Missing: required evidence not obtained.
For each material item, record assumption → source → period → verification method → financial sensitivity → owner → deadline.
Do not silently replace a missing figure with an industry average. Run a range and state whether the uncertainty affects price, equity, closing conditions or willingness to proceed.
What should stay out of the general research workspace?
Keep guest personal data, payment credentials and unnecessary employee identifiers out of the underwriting file. The FTC recommends collecting only necessary information, limiting access and protecting data through its lifecycle. Apply those principles to the data room and to any AI-assisted extraction workflow. (ftc.gov)
Gate 2: do not treat an earnings number as verified merely because it appears in several documents copied from the same original spreadsheet.