Need some advice regarding compensation!

Hello everyone! My husband and I are very excited about the opportunity to soon talk with the owner of a ~20 room motel about the possibility of taking over as the new managers. We have over a year of experience as innkeepers of our own small B&B and have had good success, but our goal has been to eventually own our own motel or hotel so this would be an amazing chance for us. We also have a strong background in other areas including sales, marketing, employee and project management.
We have many ideas to help make the motel more profitable and improve operation, including website improvements, online booking, property and guest management, and ideas to improve employee retention which has been a challenge for the previous managers. As far as job responsibilities go, the motel employs housekeepers but pretty much everything else will be done by us. We will live on-site and will be responsible for it around the clock.
The thing is, if we're asked what sort of compensation we expect, I'm not quite sure how to answer. We've heard from others through the pipes that the previous managers each made $750 per week which sounds quite generous since housing is also included. I have heard of another motel in the area offering a commission-only monthly compensation. Is $750/wk reasonable for EACH of us to make, or does that seem a little far-fetched?
I know this greatly depends on geographic location, but some sort of idea about this would definitely be helpful. We're just excited about the opportunity to move up and work closer to our dream, but we also don't want to under-cut ourselves too badly or come across as greedy to the owner.
Thanks!

I think someone in another thread just stated that their plan was asking for $65k for a 20 room inn.
Like you said, it depends on location.
Is this place year round? Don't forget to get time off included in your pay.
And don't give away all your ideas while negotiating!
Not a clue what you should ask but you may want to build in an increase in pay based on better revenue for the owners which can include the employee retention part of your plan.

Madeleine said:

I think someone in another thread just stated that their plan was asking for $65k for a 20 room inn.
Like you said, it depends on location.
Is this place year round? Don't forget to get time off included in your pay.
And don't give away all your ideas while negotiating!
Not a clue what you should ask but you may want to build in an increase in pay based on better revenue for the owners which can include the employee retention part of your plan..

Click to expand...

65K for a 20 room inn...they are looking at a 5 room b&b. I can't believe that wouldn't be a serious chunk of change for that b&b?

white pine said:

Madeleine said:

I think someone in another thread just stated that their plan was asking for $65k for a 20 room inn.
Like you said, it depends on location.
Is this place year round? Don't forget to get time off included in your pay.
And don't give away all your ideas while negotiating!
Not a clue what you should ask but you may want to build in an increase in pay based on better revenue for the owners which can include the employee retention part of your plan..

Click to expand...

65K for a 20 room inn...they are looking at a 5 room b&b. I can't believe that wouldn't be a serious chunk of change for that b&b?
.

Click to expand...

They mentioned a 20 room motel.

Madeleine said:

white pine said:

Madeleine said:

I think someone in another thread just stated that their plan was asking for $65k for a 20 room inn.
Like you said, it depends on location.
Is this place year round? Don't forget to get time off included in your pay.
And don't give away all your ideas while negotiating!
Not a clue what you should ask but you may want to build in an increase in pay based on better revenue for the owners which can include the employee retention part of your plan..

Click to expand...

65K for a 20 room inn...they are looking at a 5 room b&b. I can't believe that wouldn't be a serious chunk of change for that b&b?
.

Click to expand...

They mentioned a 20 room motel.
.

Click to expand...

Whoops! My bad, I was thinking of the other thread!! Back to the coffee!

I would think some of it would depend on what you need. If you are closing your b&b and you will live at the motel, or will you have to pay an innkeeper and upkeep there? Do you have health insurance or other loans that need to be paid? We don't know these things...you will have to decide what is right for your needs and if the job can offer that. If the other managers made 750 each, why wouldn't you expect that? Both of you will be managers?

Thanks for the input! Really good things to think about and this gives me a bit more confidence than I had before about approaching this topic!
I think the current managers are making $750 a week, but since it's also news passed through the grapevine, I'm not sure how well I believe it. The current managers have also been there a number of years.
The place is year-around, and is one of the few places that is open during the winter in that area. We have thought about health insurance- we've been paying for our own plan for years now, even though my husband had a professional full-time position outside the B&B. We'll probably keep doing the same, but it would be nice to have the money to cover that expense! And asking about time off is very smart... I don't think the current managers got a lot of time so that's definitely something to negotiate.
And I do really like the idea of having an increase in pay for better revenue. That way, if he wants to start us out a little lower because we are less experienced than the previous managers, at least then we have an opportunity to increase our earnings by doing a good job and proving ourselves. I have no doubt that we're going to raise revenue, just simply with some oft he basic improvements we have in mind!

JbytheBay said:

Thanks for the input! Really good things to think about and this gives me a bit more confidence than I had before about approaching this topic!
I think the current managers are making $750 a week, but since it's also news passed through the grapevine, I'm not sure how well I believe it. The current managers have also been there a number of years.
The place is year-around, and is one of the few places that is open during the winter in that area. We have thought about health insurance- we've been paying for our own plan for years now, even though my husband had a professional full-time position outside the B&B. We'll probably keep doing the same, but it would be nice to have the money to cover that expense! And asking about time off is very smart... I don't think the current managers got a lot of time so that's definitely something to negotiate.
And I do really like the idea of having an increase in pay for better revenue. That way, if he wants to start us out a little lower because we are less experienced than the previous managers, at least then we have an opportunity to increase our earnings by doing a good job and proving ourselves. I have no doubt that we're going to raise revenue, just simply with some oft he basic improvements we have in mind!.

Click to expand...

Being employed innkeepers and not owners (though we were owners in the past) the salary that is stated depends on what it is you will be responsible for. If it is a hotel/motel that means you will get all kinds of people at all hours-maybe not too many but a few 3AM ers ruin it for me...but that's me. Will you have to be on call 24/7? do you have enough staff to care for the place? are you gonna have the power to fire and hire? its a large place as far as I can tell. I don't think that is enough salary for a large place like that, don't cut yourself short-Just my two cents.
If you will be responsible around the clock for such a large Inn -that's a lot of responsibility for just two people. Housekeepers come and go, how bout the maintenance, lawn care etc? 20 rooms is a lot of rooms

birdwatcher said:

JbytheBay said:

Thanks for the input! Really good things to think about and this gives me a bit more confidence than I had before about approaching this topic!
I think the current managers are making $750 a week, but since it's also news passed through the grapevine, I'm not sure how well I believe it. The current managers have also been there a number of years.
The place is year-around, and is one of the few places that is open during the winter in that area. We have thought about health insurance- we've been paying for our own plan for years now, even though my husband had a professional full-time position outside the B&B. We'll probably keep doing the same, but it would be nice to have the money to cover that expense! And asking about time off is very smart... I don't think the current managers got a lot of time so that's definitely something to negotiate.
And I do really like the idea of having an increase in pay for better revenue. That way, if he wants to start us out a little lower because we are less experienced than the previous managers, at least then we have an opportunity to increase our earnings by doing a good job and proving ourselves. I have no doubt that we're going to raise revenue, just simply with some oft he basic improvements we have in mind!.

Click to expand...

Being employed innkeepers and not owners (though we were owners in the past) the salary that is stated depends on what it is you will be responsible for. If it is a hotel/motel that means you will get all kinds of people at all hours-maybe not too many but a few 3AM ers ruin it for me...but that's me. Will you have to be on call 24/7? do you have enough staff to care for the place? are you gonna have the power to fire and hire? its a large place as far as I can tell. I don't think that is enough salary for a large place like that, don't cut yourself short-Just my two cents.
If you will be responsible around the clock for such a large Inn -that's a lot of responsibility for just two people. Housekeepers come and go, how bout the maintenance, lawn care etc? 20 rooms is a lot of rooms
.

Click to expand...

Very true. We will be responsible 24/7, although the office is closed at night. Fortunately, I'm a late-nighter and my hubby is an early riser so I'm sure we can work that out between us pretty well.
In the past, they have had 3 housekeepers, and we would be doing the hiring/firing of them. We would be responsible for maintenance, lawn care (although it's mostly mulched beds and bushes needing pruning). Most of the heavy-duty accounting is done by someone else, but we would be responsible for some basic accounting and managing a cash drawer.