Florida Hotel Feasibility Study

A Florida hotel feasibility study shows a lender whether a hotel can pay its debt in the slow months, not just in the winter peak. Every short-term room carries the 6 percent state tax on transient rentals [1], the largest urban counties, including Orange, Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, add a 6 percent local option tax [2], and the federal lodging rate in Miami jumps from $151 in summer to $244 in February and March [3]. A study that averages those swings away will mislead the lender. The work is to model each month, each segment and each tax layer at the exact site.

Why do Florida hotel studies start with the calendar?

They start there because Florida demand peaks in winter and spring, and the gap between peak and trough can decide whether a loan is safe. Federal per diem rates show the pattern in public data. GSA sets Florida rates by season, and in FY2027 Orlando rises from $145 to $178 from January through March, Tampa and St. Petersburg rise from $155 to $212 from February through April, and Naples climbs from $170 to $326 from February through April [3]. Those are the government's reimbursement ceilings, not hotel rates, but they show where each market's high season falls.

Airport traffic tells the same story. Tampa International handled 2,462,255 passengers in March 2025, its busiest month, and 1,712,634 in September, its slowest [4]. By our arithmetic, March traffic ran about 44 percent above September.

For the study, that means a monthly model, not an annual one. Occupancy and rate should be projected month by month, with the slow summer and early fall carrying their full share of fixed costs, payroll and debt service. A lender will look first at the weakest quarter's cash position, because that is where a seasonal hotel runs short.

How does Florida tax a hotel room?

Florida taxes a short-term room at two levels, and both apply on top of the room rate. The state levies 6 percent on the total rent charged for living, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations, including hotels and recreational vehicle parks [1]. The state tax does not apply to a guest under a bona fide written lease for continuous residence longer than 6 months [1]. That line sits far beyond 30 days, so most extended-stay revenue in Florida remains taxable.

Counties then add local option taxes on rentals for a term of 6 months or less [5]. The Department of Revenue's current rate chart, revised October 2026, shows 6 percent in Orange, Osceola, Miami-Dade, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties [2]. Inside Miami-Dade, Miami Beach is at 7 percent and Surfside and Bal Harbour at 4 percent [2]. These local taxes come in addition to the 6 percent state tax and any county discretionary sales surtax [2].

The local rate is built from pieces. A county may levy an original tax of 1 or 2 percent and an additional 1 percent by referendum, plus up to 1 percent for a professional sports franchise facility [5]. A high tourism impact county may add another 1 percent [5]. A county qualifies once its taxable transient rentals exceeded $600 million in the prior calendar year, or reached 18 percent of its taxable sales with at least $200 million in transient rentals [5]. As of September 2026, 14 counties were eligible to levy that tax [6].

Source: Florida Department of Revenue, Form DR-15TDT, revised October 2026 [2]; Office of Economic and Demographic Research, 2026 local option tourist tax rates [6].

Unused authority matters to a long-term model. Where a county has room to raise its rate, the guest's all-in price can rise without any change in the hotel's own rate. The study should name the current rate, the ceiling, and who collects the tax.

What licenses does a Florida hotel need before it opens?

It needs a public lodging license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants [7] before it takes its first guest. Every public lodging establishment must obtain a license from the division, and anyone who plans to open one must apply for and receive it before operations begin [8]. Licenses are renewed every year [8].

Classification also matters. Florida defines a transient public lodging establishment as a property rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 consecutive days, or advertised that way [7]. A hotel, under state law, offers sleeping room accommodations for 25 or more guests and the services generally provided by a hotel [9]. Motels and vacation rentals are separate classes [9]. The license class, the opening date and the time needed to obtain the license all belong in the study's development schedule. A competitive set should also be built from properties of the same class, because a vacation rental and a full-service hotel answer different demand.

How do Orlando, Miami-Dade and Tampa Bay differ?

They differ in scale, in season and in who arrives. The table puts federal rate seasons and Census establishment counts side by side.

Source: U.S. General Services Administration, FY2027 per diem rates effective October 1, 2026 [3]; U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 721110 [10]. Establishments are locations with paid employees, not hotel or room counts.

Orlando and Orange County

Orange County is a market of very large properties. It had 322 hotel and motel establishments with 46,042 employees in 2023, about 143 employees per establishment by our arithmetic [10]. That is roughly three times the statewide figure of about 46, drawn from 3,546 establishments and 162,576 employees [11]. Orange levies a 6 percent tourist tax that includes a high tourism impact piece [6]. With the county at its maximum potential rate [6], a new Orlando hotel competes on room rate and location inside a fixed tax stack. Its season is shorter than the coast's: the GSA peak runs only from January through March [3].

Miami-Dade

Miami International Airport handled 55,314,661 passengers in 2025, of whom 24,850,064 were international [12]. By our arithmetic, that is about 45 percent of the airport's traffic. Miami-Dade counted 480 hotel and motel establishments with 25,860 employees in 2023 [10]. The county's federal lodging rate moves through five seasonal steps in FY2027, from $151 in June through November up to $244 in February and March [3]. Local tax depends on the city: 7 percent in Miami Beach and 6 percent in most of the county [2]. Miami-Dade also levies a 2 percent local food and beverage tax on sales in hotels and motels [6]. The study should confirm whether it applies at the site and carry it in the food and beverage line.

Tampa Bay

Tampa International served 24,811,007 passengers in 2025, up 0.22 percent from 2024 [4]. Hillsborough and Pinellas counties had 177 and 213 hotel and motel establishments in 2023, much smaller on average than Orlando's, at about 37 and 31 employees per establishment by our arithmetic [10]. Both counties levy 6 percent local taxes [2]. The federal peak runs from February through April at $212 [3]. A Tampa Bay study should test spring leisure demand and year-round business travel as separate segments, because the September trough at the airport shows how far leisure demand falls.

What do statewide visitor numbers tell a lender?

They show a very large market that has stopped growing quickly. VISIT FLORIDA estimates that Florida received 143.3 million visitors in 2025, an increase of 0.2 percent from 2024 [13]. It estimates that 40.7 percent arrived by air [13], that overseas visitors numbered 9.3 million, and that domestic visits reached 130.9 million [13]. These are preliminary estimates subject to revision [13].

Flat statewide visitation has a direct meaning for a new hotel. Growth in room nights has to come from taking share from existing hotels, from a demand generator that opens near the site, or from a segment the market does not serve well today. The study should name which one applies and show the evidence for it.

Which SBA and USDA rules apply to a Florida hotel?

SBA treats a hotel as lodging that must serve transients, and as special purpose property in the 504 program. Under SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, a hotel is eligible when more than 50 percent of prior-year revenue comes from transients staying 30 days or less [14]. A start-up must show the same split in its projections [14]. Florida's own definition of transient lodging uses the same 30-day line [7], which helps when a study classifies stays.

In the 504 program, SBA lists hotels, motels and other lodging facilities as Limited or Special Purpose Property [14]. That raises the borrower's minimum contribution to 15 percent of project cost, or 20 percent for a new business [14][15]. A standard 7(a) loan tops out at $5,000,000 [16][17]. Coverage must reach at least 1.15 on historical and/or projected cash flow, with 1:1 on a global basis [14]. Start-ups and construction projects must show 1.15 within 2 years of funding or completion [14].

Buying an operating hotel follows the change of ownership appendix. An initial acquisition requires 1.25:1 coverage [14]. Where the appraised value fully collateralizes the loan, the lender may rely on projections that reach the required ratio within two years, and the SOP gives hotels as an example [14]. SBA may require a feasibility study on its business loans [18]. The SOP lists market saturation, a unique concept, highly specialized property and a project out of proportion to its community among the reasons it may ask for one [14].

USDA Business and Industry guarantees apply outside cities and towns of more than 50,000 people and their adjoining urbanized areas [19]. In Florida that points to inland towns, the Panhandle and smaller coastal communities, subject to the agency's eligibility map. For a guaranteed loan above $1,000,000 to a new business, a feasibility study by an independent qualified consultant acceptable to the agency is required [20].

What goes into a Florida hotel study?

The finished study should let a lender trace every number to its source and every assumption to its reason. For Florida it should include:

• A month-by-month occupancy and rate projection, labeled as assumptions, with the weakest months shown on their own.
• The full tax stack at the site: state transient rental tax, county tourist taxes, any municipal resort tax, and the county's unused authority.
• The license class and the time to obtain the public lodging license.
• A competitive set of the same class, with market-sourced operating history.
• Insurance, property tax and reserves priced for the specific coastal or inland location, with results labeled as the model's output.
• Coverage tests against the SBA ratios that fit the transaction, or the USDA requirements on a rural site.

The national method behind this outline is in our hotel feasibility study guide. Florida programs and other asset types are covered on the Florida feasibility study consultant hub. For a contrast in tax design, the Texas hotel feasibility study page explains a state where the long-stay tax line falls at 30 days instead of six months.