An independent hotel director does not sign an audit for an idea; they sign it if they can see how the money comes back.

Why it matters

It is the first question we are asked, and it is the right one. A small hotel has neither a finance department nor a research budget. Every euro committed must be traceable to a revenue line.

We answer here with what is published, what remains to be confirmed, and what we refuse to promise.

What is established

Here, "established" refers to published market figures and our written commitments. These are not health results.

Wellness weighs more than its share of guests. According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness travellers account for less than 8 % of trips, but nearly 19 % of spending. A small clientele with a high spend per head.

Hotels with a strong wellness component take in more per room. Over the first half of 2025, RLA Global and HotStats measured total revenue per occupied room of $561 in these hotels, against $335 elsewhere, i.e. +67 %. They are mostly establishments with large spas. The figure describes a market gap, not what a small hotel will achieve.

The price of an in-room device is public. Four Seasons Los Angeles charges $50 to $75 per day per device for its in-room recovery devices. The 50 € per night supplement we use is therefore a market price, not an invention.

Our commitments. The audit costs 3,000 € excl. VAT per venue, one to two days on site, with a written report within two weeks. Each recommendation in it carries its cost, its target gain and its payback period. The report contains quick actions under 10,000 €, useful even if the hotel buys no equipment.

What is emerging

The gain for a small hotel has not yet been measured at scale. Three mechanisms are plausible; none has been demonstrated in an independent hotel of a few dozen rooms.

The margin per night. In our model, a device made available at 50 € per night, against a card pre-authorisation, pays for itself in around fifteen nights at catalogue price, in fewer than ten at the volume rate. Beyond that, it is margin, and the device stays with the hotel. This calculation depends on the actual take-up rate, which only the field will tell.

Attraction. A segment of guests already optimises their own home: light, air, sleep, strength. They choose their hotel on these criteria. A venue that measures its rooms and publishes its readings becomes legible to them. How many nights this shifts in a given city remains to be measured.

Seasonality. A small hotel often lives on a few strong months. A longevity menu, around ten services at 60 to 150 € per session integrated into the existing spa, can carry part of the low season. This is a working hypothesis, not a finding.

What is unsupported

We promise no revenue figure. The +67 % is a gap observed between two families of hotels, not a transferable result.

We do not say that a longevity room necessarily sells for more. We say that it is described by readings, and that these readings give the hotel an argument it does not have today.

We do not present our sample report as proof. It concerns a fictitious hotel: its figures show the shape of the calculation, not a result. For a resort of that size, its financial module concludes on a return on investment of the order of a few months. A small hotel will have its own orders of magnitude, calculated on its own data.

What a hotel can do

Start with what costs almost nothing. Blacking out standby lights, a door-bottom seal, setting the night-time temperature, filtered water. From a few tens to a few hundred euros per room. Target gain: a darker, quieter, cooler room, which is what the advanced guest notices first. Return: satisfaction first, then price.

Measure before investing. A few sensors are enough to know where each room stands. The values we aim for: CO2 below 800 ppm at night, noise below 30 dB, evening light below 2,700 K, 18 to 19 °C, filtered water, morning light above 1,000 lux. Each room can publish its readings.

Equip one or two rooms, not the whole hotel. A longevity room keeps its floor area, is better equipped and sells for more. Starting small makes it possible to read the take-up rate before extending.

Offer devices by the night in every room. This is the most direct line: the guest pays for use, the hotel remains the owner of the device. The IO8 stack is in the catalogue at 750 € per device, with discounts from 10 units.

The audit serves to rank these actions in the right order for that particular venue, with their cost and payback period, rather than in the order of a catalogue.

What the Living Lab measures

Measurement planned. The Living Lab, near Lisbon, is being equipped in waves; part of the equipment is being delivered.

What the Living Lab will test: the real use of the stack's devices, their maintenance and their lending procedure between two users, as well as environmental readings of its rooms according to the audit protocol. These readings will be published here, dated.

A hotel's profitability, however, will not come from the Living Lab. It will come from the first audited venues, published with their agreement.

Sources

• RLA Global and HotStats, total revenue per occupied room of hotels with a strong wellness component, first half of 2025. Hospitality Net
• Global Wellness Institute, share of wellness travellers in trips and spending. Hospitality Net, The ROI of wellness
• Four Seasons Los Angeles, in-room wellness menu. fourseasons.com

Also from the founder

Question 61 · Can the return on investment be measured?

The longevity audit for venues  ·  The Research Journal

IO8 Living Lab, near Lisbon. Measured, never promised.

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