A waterfront city that sells rooms
Long Beach is known for its waterfront attractions, including the permanently docked RMS Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific. It is also a port city with a large university, California State University, Long Beach, and 466,742 residents (2020 census). Visitors come for the waterfront and attractions, for business tied to the port and the region, and for events connected to the university and the city's venues.
For a hotel, inn, motel or short-stay operator, that is a varied demand base, but it is not a flat one. California's economy is the largest in the country, and tourism is a real part of it, yet any single property still feels slow weeks and busy weeks very differently.
The three cash pressures of a lodging business
Fixed costs that run at 100%
Staffing a front desk, housekeeping and maintenance, paying utilities and carrying insurance cost roughly the same in a half-empty week as in a full one.
Renovation that cannot wait for a good month
Rooms age. Carpet, beds, bathrooms, HVAC, roofing and elevators have to be kept at a standard guests will pay for. A renovation that takes rooms out of inventory costs you twice: the bill, and the room nights you cannot sell.
Payment lag from channels and groups
Online travel bookings, corporate accounts and group blocks often pay after the stay. Meanwhile you pay staff and suppliers on schedule.
An illustrative renovation decision
For illustration only, not our terms: a 30-room property decides to refresh 10 rooms before a busier season. Say the work needs $60,000 and takes those rooms offline for three weeks. The owner has two options: wait and fund it from cash on hand, which may mean slipping the schedule, or use working capital to start now so the rooms are back before demand rises. The comparison to make is the cost of the funding against the room nights you would otherwise lose or discount.
Running that comparison on a napkin before applying is worth five minutes. If the refreshed rooms let you hold a higher nightly rate for the season, the extra revenue is the number to weigh.
Other uses lodging owners cite
- Covering payroll in a shoulder season.
- Replacing laundry, kitchen or HVAC equipment that fails mid-season. Longer-lived purchases may suit equipment financing.
- Marketing and photography before a peak period.
- Bridging a deposit or tax payment due before the next strong week.
For a flexible draw that you can use as needs come up, see business lines of credit in Long Beach.
Terms of our funding
We fund $25,000 to $5,000,000, with funding in as little as 24 hours once your file is complete. FICO 500+ is considered, we ask for about three months of business bank statements, and no tax returns are required. The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull. Apply here.