Hotel Property Loans

Most hotel finance lenders expect a deposit of 30% - 50% of the purchase price, depending on the property type and how the loan is structured. From the deals I write, freehold gaming venues typically sit at the lower end of that range, while leasehold purchases and venues without gaming generally need more. Your operator experience and the strength of the trading figures also influence where you land.

A deposit doesn't have to be cash. I regularly structure hotel finance applications using equity in another property, or a mix of cash and equity. Where you've got an experienced general manager in place but limited personal hospitality experience, several specialist lenders will still consider the application with a stronger deposit position. We work through the deposit structure with you before approaching any lender, so the application is positioned for the best outcome possible. If this is your first commercial purchase of any type, our first-time commercial buyer guide covers the wider deposit landscape, or book a free consultation to talk through your specific deal.

Most specialist hotel lenders prefer to see three or more years of relevant operating experience in hospitality, particularly for freehold going-concern purchases of pubs and licensed venues. Lenders want confidence that you can run the venue once the previous owner walks out the door.

That said, first-time buyers can absolutely secure hotel finance. I've written deals for buyers with no direct hospitality experience by naming a credible general manager in the application and demonstrating relevant adjacent experience, like multi-site retail or operations management. The application has to address the experience gap directly rather than hope the lender doesn't notice.

For investor purchases where the property is leased to an experienced operator, your personal hospitality experience matters far less. In that case, lenders focus on the lessee's trading history and the strength of the lease covenant. Your background determines which path of hotel finance you fit into more naturally; we cover the owner-occupier versus investor distinction in detail above, and our dedicated owner-occupier loan and commercial investment loan pages walk through the broader implications of each.

Hotel lenders expect a clean credit history, with no recent defaults, court judgments, or current ATO arrears. Minor historical issues that have been resolved are usually fine if you can explain them clearly; the cleanliness of your business and personal banking, including ATO and superannuation compliance, is one of the first things a credit assessor looks at. For more complex credit positions, I work with several non-bank and private capital lenders who bring far more flexibility than the major banks, and I structure the application to address concerns upfront rather than letting them surface mid-assessment. Some clients also explore secured or unsecured business loans as a working capital bridge if hotel finance terms tighten.

Yes. Pubs with gaming entitlements are one of the most actively financed hospitality categories in Australia, and several lenders consider them their preferred segment. Gaming venues generally attract better LVR treatment than non-gaming pubs because the gaming revenue is a relatively predictable cash flow stream once licence conditions are met.

Gaming finance does bring extra layers though:

• Gaming machine entitlements (GMEs): how many you're acquiring, their value, and any transfer restrictions.
• Liquor licence conditions: trading hours, harm minimisation requirements, and whether the licence transfers cleanly with the venue.
• State-specific transfer requirements: Queensland, NSW and Victoria each handle gaming licences and entitlements differently.

The timing dependencies between settlement and licence approval need careful coordination. Information on state regulators including Liquor & Gaming NSW and the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission is publicly available, and I coordinate the regulatory work alongside your solicitor as part of the application.

Management rights finance is a hybrid property and business loan. You typically buy the manager's residence (or office unit) plus the right to operate the letting pool for a set term, and lenders assess both components together. The composition of the letting pool, the remaining term of the management agreement, and your accommodation management experience all feed into the assessment.

Specialist lenders for management rights often offer better terms than generalist commercial lenders, because they understand the unique cash flow profile and the body corporate dynamics. I work with several lenders who specifically target the management rights segment along the Queensland Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, where most of the national management rights market is concentrated.

Yes, although regional hospitality property attracts narrower lender appetite than metropolitan equivalents. Lenders weigh location, catchment, and economic stability heavily for regional hotels, and properties dependent on a single industry or seasonal tourism get scrutinised more closely. Motels in solid regional centres with consistent occupancy are well supported by specialist lenders.

For more remote properties or those reliant on international tourism, the lender pool narrows further, and non-bank or private capital options may suit the deal better. Tourism Research Australia publishes regional visitor and occupancy data that's worth reviewing alongside the property's trading history; lenders take this kind of independent context into account when assessing the deal.

I track which lenders are actively writing regional hospitality each quarter, so we approach the right ones rather than wasting weeks on lenders whose appetite has tightened. Our commercial property market reports track lender appetite and yield trends across major Australian markets.

Most specialist hotel lenders want to see two to three years of trading figures for the property you're buying, presented as both the vendor's reported P&L and a normalised view. Consistent or rising RevPAR, ADR, occupancy and EBITDA across that period is the strongest signal of a well-run property.

Where trading is shorter or has been disrupted, a credible explanation and a forward forecast carries weight. I've placed deals with as little as eighteen months of trading where the buyer brought genuine operator experience and a clear forecast that lenders could pressure-test against industry benchmarks.

The way the trading figures are presented matters as much as the figures themselves. I work through the vendor's numbers with you, prepare a defensible normalisation, and submit both views side by side so the lender's serviceability calculation runs on the right figure. To stress-test how trading figures translate into deal economics, our commercial property cash flow calculator and yield calculator can help you model scenarios before submission.

Seasonal trading is well understood in hospitality lending, particularly for motels in tourist regions and holiday parks. Lenders look at the full annual cycle rather than peak-month performance, and assess whether the trough months still service the loan comfortably. Properties with strong shoulder seasons and diversified revenue streams typically receive better treatment than those with extreme peak-and-trough patterns; properties that depend almost entirely on a short peak season are scrutinised more carefully, and the LVR offered is usually lower. I help model the seasonal profile properly before the deal is submitted, so the lender sees a clear picture of cash flow timing, and operators managing seasonal cash flow alongside the property loan often benefit from complementary facilities like invoice finance or equipment finance for refurbishment work.

A typical hotel finance application runs six to twelve weeks from initial conversation to settlement, although the timeline varies considerably by lender type and deal complexity. Major banks generally take longer due to their formal credit committee processes, while specialist non-bank lenders can move faster on straightforward deals. Private capital can settle in as little as two to three weeks where the deal genuinely demands speed.

The timing of any liquor licence transfer or gaming entitlement approval can be the constraining factor rather than the lender. Coordinating those timelines with the lender, your solicitor, and the relevant state regulator is part of what I manage on your behalf throughout the process. The detailed step-by-step is in the how to apply section above; if you're weighing up which type of facility suits your deal best, our commercial property loan types page covers the trade-offs.

Hotel finance fees typically include an application fee, a valuation fee, legal fees, and lender establishment costs. The total upfront cost generally runs between 1% and 2.5% of the loan amount, depending on the lender and the complexity of the deal. Specialist hospitality valuations tend to be more expensive than standard commercial valuations because the valuer is assessing both the property and the operating business.

For ongoing costs, most hotel loans carry annual review fees and may include line fees on any unused facility. I provide a full cost comparison across the lender panel before you commit, so the headline rate isn't the only number driving your decision. If you're refinancing rather than purchasing, the fee structure looks different again — see our commercial property loan refinance page for the breakdown, or get in touch to walk through your specific deal.