Hotel communal living

Question

I want to purchase a hotel and sell rooms that have been renovated into tiny apartments that can accommodate one couple.

Living together will reduce costs for all and the rent can reinvested in green tech for the hotel.

Are there any obvious downfalls to this style of living besides being so close to others?

Also, are there any environmental costs associated with hotels specifically?

Edit1: the type of hotel i am looking for is something multistory to take advantage of as much vertical space as possible.

I plan to start this in the united states possibly California due to high need for low cost residences. If i start it in california i will use solar panels for electricity.

the kitchens in each apartment will have to be tied into the bathroom plumbing. i was thinking a kitchen in a cabinet design.

i will use the food service kitchen as a food delivery service for the residents, having one kitchen serve many residences will reduce electrical waste. the main kitchen will use gas ideally methane produced on-site by anaerobically digesting organic and black water waste produced by each unit and the aquaponics system installed on-site.

If enough methane can be produced I would like a generator(cut the cord and sell some back maybe).

the aquaponics system was intended to feed the kitchen but could accommodate seating and act as a green space. i also want to pipe the oxygenated air into the units but, that would disturb individual hvac.

the heating and cooling solution that i would like involves a ridiculous renovation and complex automation which would require many expensive prerequisites and resemble the thermal management of an animal.

Answer 1

Since you don't indicate in which country you're thinking of implementing this plan, I'm going to write from my perspective in the US, considering chain hotels (Marriot, Holiday Inn, Hilton,, etc) that make up the majority of hotels here.

I can think of several ways in which a building constructed as a hotel would have greater environmental costs than a building constructed as a multi-family apartment building:

• No gas lines for cooking. You'll either need to provide electric stoves/ovens, which are less efficient, or have gas lines installed, which would be costly (both the installation of the lines, and the measures needed for safety compliance).
• Unsustainable heating/cooling system. Typical hotel rooms have low ceilings and a single window (restricting natural ventilation), and an individual HVAC system that must be able to provide heating and cooling during all seasons (to cater to the desires of guests from both the tropics and the arctic). Depending on the vintage and vendor of the system, converting it to a centrally controlled or zoned system (at least to control heating/cooling seasons and max/min setpoints) may be costly.
• Lack of green space. Most hotels would not have any sort of garden or courtyard space, except for some landscaping in the front.

I can also think of a few ways in which a hotel would be more sustainable than the average apartment building:

• Well insulated. It has to be soundproof, so the walls will be thick, forming thermal buffers.
• Industrial strength fixtures. Plumbing, doors, appliances, fixtures, etc will be built to withstand the abuses of a large volume of guests who have no stake in the hotel's longevity. This would reduce maintenance costs.
• Uniform construction. There will be a limited number of floorplans, and each room will be pretty much the same. This will reduce costs during renovation.
• Flat, well-drained roof. This could be turned into a green roof and/or solar array.

Of course, these points cover hotels in general - if you have a specific hotel in mind, there may be more (or fewer) considerations.