Wellness Hotels · Profit Improvement · Hotel Development
How can I increase my wellness hotel's profitability without adding rooms?
An article by Dominart Real Estate GmbH featuring the professional perspective of Serhiy Vakhnenko, entrepreneur and CEO
English edition: 25 October 2026
More rooms create additional capacity, but also require capital and increase operating costs. Before expanding a wellness hotel, it is worth examining how much more profit the existing business can realistically generate.
The short answer: Higher profit without new rooms comes from improving net revenue on existing stays, selling additional services profitably, using spare spa capacity selectively and running more efficient operations. The deciding factor is additional profit after costs, rather than revenue or visitor numbers alone. Longevity services can be one component, but they are not essential.
In this article
- Serhiy Vakhnenko's perspective
- Identify where profit is being lost
- Six ways to increase profit
- An illustrative calculation and its limits
- A practical 90-day test
- Frequently asked questions
Serhiy Vakhnenko: connecting hotel development, operations and investment
Serhiy Vakhnenko is an entrepreneur and CEO of Dominart Real Estate GmbH. His team has worked with hotel projects for more than 20 years, particularly on modernisation and attracting investors, including in the wellness hotel sector.
Over the past three years, under his leadership, the team has also been developing longevity and biohacking concepts for medical and wellness hotels. Vakhnenko is pursuing his own healthy longevity and medical hospitality projects in Thailand, alongside project opportunities in Germany and other European markets.
His professional perspective connects property, investment and operating concepts: demand, space and workflows are assessed first, followed by the programme, equipment and financing. Clinical assessments remain the responsibility of appropriately qualified partners.
More about his background and project activities: Serhiy Vakhnenko on LinkedIn.
Where is the wellness hotel losing profit today?
A hotel with strong occupancy can still produce disappointing earnings. Possible causes include low net room revenue, high distribution costs, poorly priced packages, unproductive treatment hours or technical operating costs. The relevant causes can only be identified from the property's own performance.
Alongside occupancy and average daily rate, two broader measures help: TRevPAR considers total revenue per available room, while GOPPAR measures gross operating profit per available room. Both extend the analysis beyond room revenue alone. Definitions: CoStar / STR Benchmark.
GOP is not the same as the owner's final profit. Investment decisions must separately account for capital requirements, financing and owner-level costs relevant to the business model.
The initial review should separate seasons, days of the week and service departments. An annual average will not reveal whether the spa is overcrowded on Saturday while treatment rooms stand empty on Tuesday.
Six ways to increase profit without adding rooms
1. Improve the net return on each existing booking
Room rates and packages should reflect actual demand, length of stay and the services included. Blanket price increases or permanent discounts are no substitute for this analysis.
Review pricing differences between strong and weak days, package components, expensive inclusions and opportunities for optional upgrades. The commercial measure is revenue after distribution and additional service costs.
Direct bookings are not free either: advertising, booking technology, guest support and included benefits belong in the comparison with intermediary channels. The objective is a commercially appropriate channel mix.
2. Make specific spa services bookable before arrival
Guests can plan additional services more easily when duration, price, available appointments and content are clearly explained. A relevant pre-arrival message can lead to a massage booking, a movement session or a structured restorative programme.
The booking process must match delivery capacity. Selling services the team cannot reliably provide creates complaints. Within packages, room, food and beverage, and spa components should be allocated consistently so revenue is not counted twice.
3. Use genuinely spare spa capacity for day guests
Day spa services can generate additional revenue where capacity is genuinely available. Limited reservation windows, controlled visitor numbers and suitable add-on services can provide a manageable format.
The entire service chain matters: changing rooms, loungers, pools, treatment rooms, staff and food and beverage. One available massage slot does not mean the whole spa has spare capacity.
If day guests displace overnight guests or compromise tranquillity and quality, the extra revenue may not compensate for the long-term damage. Day spa access is therefore not a sensible default for every day or every property.
4. Build repeat demand with clearly defined access
For hotels with a suitable local catchment, multi-visit passes, defined memberships or regularly bookable small-group sessions may be worth testing. Willingness to pay, visit frequency and cost per use should be assessed first.
Unlimited access at a low monthly fee can block the most profitable periods. A viable membership therefore needs rules covering access times, reservations and included services. Advance payments initially improve cash flow; they are not automatically fully earned profit.
5. Introduce longevity and prevention as a costed programme
A structured offering around movement, rest and health-supporting habits can complement an existing spa if it suits the target audience. Medical components are planned with appropriately authorised professional partners.
Vakhnenko's team has developed a modular framework covering equipment selection, operating protocols, staff and guest information, and financial modelling. Selection is guided by the specific service and scientific evidence for its intended use.
General interest in longevity does not demonstrate willingness to pay. Equally, research on a technology does not automatically establish the benefit of a hotel package or its profitability.
Major equipment purchases should follow sufficient clarification of service requirements, operation, responsibilities and demand. Purchase, leasing and partner operation are compared on total cost and risk.
6. Improve energy use, staff time and use of space
Improving economics does not mean cutting staff or quality across the board. It can be more useful to align schedules with booked demand, reduce unnecessary handovers, refill cancelled appointments promptly and allocate rooms more effectively.
Technical and energy reviews start with consumption data, operating hours and maintenance condition. Pool, ventilation and sauna operations must remain within applicable hygiene, safety and manufacturer requirements. No credible savings percentage can be promised without assessing the property.
The DEHOGA energy campaign provides hospitality-specific guidance. Technical measures should be assessed by suitable specialists.
How much additional service volume makes commercial sense?
The calculation starts with contribution margin: net revenue less the variable costs generated by delivering the service. Additional fixed costs and investment are then considered separately.
A simplified example: a new spa service
Hypothetical assumptions, not project results: A hotel sells 600 additional treatments per year at €90 net each. Variable costs, including attributable staff time and consumables, are €45 per treatment.
- Additional revenue: 600 × €90 = €54,000.
- Variable costs: 600 × €45 = €27,000.
- Contribution margin: €27,000.
- Additional annual fixed costs: €12,000.
- Simplified additional pre-tax contribution to earnings: €15,000.
Operating break-even is €12,000 ÷ €45 = 266.7, or at least 267 treatments per year, provided the assumptions hold.
The example assumes genuinely additional sales without displacing existing services. Initial capital expenditure, depreciation, financing and other project-specific costs are excluded. It calculates neither return on capital nor payback period.
At only 200 treatments, contribution margin is €9,000; after €12,000 in additional fixed costs, the result is negative by €3,000. More revenue alone therefore does not make an offering profitable.
Staff costing also requires care: spare capacity has different short-term cost implications from a need for new hires. Long-term decisions must account for leave, absences and the permanent staffing required.
What does a practical 90-day test look like?
- Days 1–15: Review the starting position. Analyse existing data from several comparable months: room and spa revenue, distribution costs, staff hours, visitor numbers and energy consumption. Identify bottlenecks and quiet periods.
- Days 16–30: Select one or two measures. For example, pre-bookable spa appointments or a limited day-spa window. Set prices, costs, responsibilities and minimum performance criteria.
- Days 31–75: Run a controlled test. Record sales, utilisation, staff effort, complaints and displaced services. Defer major commitments until the results have been reviewed.
- Days 76–90: Assess the outcome. Review additional contribution margin and the effects on overnight guests. Use comparable periods or suitable comparison days, and disclose seasonal differences.
A 90-day test is a proposed working framework, not proof of year-round demand. Major investments also require annual planning with weaker scenarios, capital expenditure and liquidity needs.
| What to measure | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Contribution margin per service and per constrained treatment hour | Shows which services make productive use of limited staff and room capacity. |
| Total revenue and operating profit per available room | Connects the room business with additional hotel departments. |
| Utilisation by time of day and day of the week | Distinguishes genuinely spare capacity from periods already under pressure. |
| Complaints, repeat bookings and quality feedback | Helps prevent short-term revenue gains from damaging guest relationships. |
How Serhiy Vakhnenko and his team can support a project
The approach connects hotel development and investment planning with the design of new services. Potential work includes assessing existing space, developing operating and equipment concepts, selecting appropriate partners and modelling the economics of modernisation.
Cooperation is possible in Germany, other European countries and international markets. The scope of work and professional partners are agreed for the specific project.
Would you like to get more from your existing wellness hotel before building additional rooms?
For an initial discussion, the most useful information is the location, room count, guest profile, spa facilities, staffing structure and the property's financial performance to date.
Contact: Dominart Real Estate GmbH.
Professional background and project activities: Serhiy Vakhnenko on LinkedIn.
FAQ: Increasing wellness hotel profit without new rooms
What should a wellness hotel improve first?
First identify the largest profit gap: net room revenue, package costing, spa utilisation, staff workflows or technical costs. Without that diagnosis, the wrong measure can create additional work rather than profit.
Is day spa access automatically profitable?
No. It requires spare capacity across the operation and a positive earnings contribution. If day guests displace overnight guests or extra staffing and cleaning costs absorb the revenue, the offering can be counterproductive.
Are memberships a good solution?
They can work where local demand exists and access rights are clearly defined. Visit frequency, costs and possible displacement of higher-priced services must be modelled.
Do direct bookings always produce more profit?
Not automatically. Direct bookings also incur marketing, technology and service costs. The deciding factor is the net return per booking under comparable conditions.
Does the hotel need to offer longevity services?
No. Pricing, distribution, existing spa services and operational efficiency may already offer opportunities. Longevity is a potential extension for a suitable audience, not a prerequisite for profitable hotel operations.
How much additional profit is realistic?
There is no credible universal percentage. Existing utilisation, prices, spare capacity, costs and investment determine the outcome. A sound plan also tests weaker sales scenarios.
Is leasing better than purchasing equipment?
Not necessarily. Leasing spreads payments but may increase total costs and create long-term commitments. Compare utilisation, service, contract length, exit terms and capital requirements.
What experience does Serhiy Vakhnenko bring?
He connects hotel real estate and investment with the development of his own longevity projects. His team has worked with hotel projects for more than 20 years and develops modular concepts for equipment, workflows and financial modelling.
Sources and context
- CoStar / STR Benchmark: glossary — definitions of TRevPAR and GOPPAR.
- DEHOGA NRW: sustainability and efficiency — hospitality-specific information about the energy campaign.
- Serhiy Vakhnenko's LinkedIn profile — further professional background.
The measures described are options to assess for a specific property, not guaranteed outcomes. The numerical example is entirely hypothetical. Statements about experience, own projects and developed concepts were provided by the company. Serhiy Vakhnenko's professional perspective concerns hotel development and investment, not medical treatment. This article does not replace individual commercial, technical, legal or medical assessment.
