# Build your lender relationship before you need it Canonical-URL: https://notitur.com/en/digest/hotel-lender-relationship-before-need Text-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/hotel-lender-relationship-before-need.txt Markdown-Version: https://notitur.com/en/digest/hotel-lender-relationship-before-need.md Language: en Published: 2026-09-22T05:30:56.387Z Modified: 2026-09-22T05:30:56.387Z Author: Joan Sanz Topics: Investment & M&A Summary: A hotel owner and operator with 30 years in the business puts it bluntly: lenders hate surprises. So the relationship has to be built when you don't need the money. ## Article After **30 years as a hotel owner and operator**, the takeaway that sums it all up is simple. Lenders hate surprises. That is what a seasoned industry professional writes in an analysis published by [eHotelier Insights](https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2026/09/22/the-best-time-to-build-a-lender-relationship-is-before-you-need-one/?utm_source=rss&, utm_medium=rss&, utm_campaign=the-best-time-to-build-a-lender-relationship-is-before-you-need-one), and honestly, it is the cheapest lesson any hotel owner can learn. Show up at the bank with the water up to your neck and the negotiation is already lost: they set the rate, the covenants and the collateral. Show up with clean books and a clear story about your asset, and the conversation feels a lot more like a peer-to-peer one. In travel this matters twice as much. A hotel is a long-cycle business with seasonal revenue and assets that do not move. A bank that already knows your ADR, your channel mix and your occupancy peaks will not demand basic explanations right when you need to refinance a renovation or ride out a slow winter. The relationship gets built in advance: - Sending monthly reports nobody had to ask for. - Introducing the revenue and operations teams, not just the owner. - Sharing the bad months too, along with what you are doing about them. My reading is blunt. In a sector where distribution shifts every season and financing costs keep biting, the owner who treats the bank as a partner rather than an emergency cash machine has an edge. And you do not need a big portfolio to start: one quarterly call and a decent report already open doors. Build it now, because later there is no time. ## Sources - eHotelier Insights: https://insights.ehotelier.com/insights/2026/09/22/the-best-time-to-build-a-lender-relationship-is-before-you-need-one/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-best-time-to-build-a-lender-relationship-is-before-you-need-one ## Citation Build your lender relationship before you need it. Notitur. 2026-09-22. https://notitur.com/en/digest/hotel-lender-relationship-before-need