Tips on setting up a Second Life Hotel

*The Lotus Palace, a fantastic resort that’s sadly no more*

At the end of last week, I heard that the Lotus Palace Resort had shut.

That’s sad, as it was a really special place. However, despite the sim being a popular destination, this wasn’t being reflected in bookings.

*The Lotus had the best hotel spa in SL (in my opinion)*

Why not? The suites in particular were stunning, and the spa is the best I’ve seen in a Second Life Hotel or Resort.

I’ve now (at time of writing) reviewed and stayed in 16 Second Life hotels.

Though I’ve never built anything in SL, that has given me some idea about what seems to work in making a Second LIfe resort a commercial, as well as a critical success. I also have some insights from my RL work, which is travel-industry related.

As a result, here’s some advice for anyone thinking of becoming a virtual hotelier:

1 - Awareness is the first hurdle to cross

*The Essencia, six months ago it was one of the only places I’d heard of*

Rewind to the Summer of 2020. I was only aware of the existence of two Second Life Hotels - The Essencia, and the (now closed for the Winter) Timor Isles.

I now know of 35 and I’ve almost certainly missed some. But my guess is that 90% of SL users are like I was. They haven’t a clue that SL resorts or hotels are even a thing.

Promotion and awareness is therefore key. And here, one of the benefits is that Second Life hotels can fill some of the gap caused by the pandemic.

For many of us, staying in RL hotels is no longer possible thanks to COVID. I miss it, and so I loved the fact that the first two places I reviewed - The Essencia and Rizzi on the Beach - triggered some of the same sensations I got from staying in a great RL resort.

Both are pretty good replicas of 4-5* RL resort hotels, which brings me onto my next point:

2 - Reality works

Both the Essencia and the Rizzi on the Beach do well in terms of filling up their rooms and suites. For example, on a recent visit I noticed that the Essencia had filled 7/10 of its Deluxe Rooms - and that was mid week.

As I mentioned, both very much have the look and feel of an RL Hotel. They remind me of places I’ve stayed at.

Both have a beach, a restaurant, a lobby area, a spa, an outdoor cafe, a bar and a swimming pool (as an aside, the Rizzi has my favourite hotel pool). The Rizzi also has lobby shops, much like you’d get in a large RL five star hotel.

Similarly, the new Winter in New York Experience (from the Timor Isles team) seems to do well. There’s a pretty true to life New York cityscape, with restaurants and hotel rooms dotted around the sim. The hotel rooms look and feel real.

3 - People will always go for free stuff

Imagine that Disneyland were to make the amusement park free, but encourage people to stay in the resort hotels overnight.

The chances are many people would just pitch up for the day, take advantage of the free entry and leave again.

And so it is with Second Life hotels attached to amazing sims. In SL of course, you don’t even have the hassle of a journey to a destination. You can TP in and out at will.

*The Indian village by the Lotus (now shut)*

Hence the Lotus had a pretty incredible Indian village and rainforest around it. It was perfectly possible to go and see the sim, and not stay in the resort and that’s what many people did.

Popularity is also no guarantee of commercial success. The first time I visited the Lotus, it had received a lot of publicity.

As a result, it was pretty full, including a small number of idiots on the terrace making the WOO-WOO noises, and walking into the lakeside villas (the owners told me they changed the security orbs after that). My guess is that few of them paid to stay.

4 - Think about creating a restricted sim

And so, some Second Life resorts are restricted sims, you pay to get in. New York works like this, as does another personal favourite, Lush Tulum.

*The Mayan Ruins at Lush Tulum, a restricted sim*

You book via a website (payment is made in-world) and you then get a group tag for the duration of your stay.

That has a few advantages. It gives the place a feeling of exclusivity - only those who paid get in. It helps with lag, as anyone on the sim is a guest or staff. Then you can create a bit of check-in theatre, read the Winter in New York review to see what this involves.

The private bar at a suite in the Dinzel Hotel, Winter in New York

That means there’s extra admin work, but you can also charge more, in New York the cheapest room for example is 2500L a night.

Or, you could do what the Essencia does and make the Hotel part free and part restricted. The bar and reception is free for all, but to get to the swimming pool, spa and beach you have to be a guest (or buy a day pass).

Having lived in hotels now for three months and having got a little bit more of an understanding of the SL hotel ecosystem, I fully support resort owners who take this approach.

Why give it all away? Especially when there are people who will pay for the experience and exclusivity

5 - Think seasonal

As mentioned, the Timor Isles team shut down their tropical resort for the Winter, and opened Winter in New York, which also includes a separate Mountain resort and ski area.

Similarly, the owners of the Australian beach themed Oasis recently opened the Aurora Ski Resort. It’s Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, so of course ski / winter resorts make sense.

Last I checked, the Aurora was almost fully booked for December, with the average nightly rate being 3000L.

6 - The importance of social media

This is an obvious one, there’s the Second Life staple of Flickr, but I understand from Rizzi’s owner Lana Milos, that Instagram also works well for her.

Then there is Facebook, and the ‘restricted’ sims have active Facebook groups with hundreds of users.

Much like in RL, getting social media influencers, people who endorse you to their followers, matters, which brings me onto:

7 - Know your audience

A large number of Second Life users go through their SL existence spending as little money as possible. That’s fine, but of course that’s not your audience as you are asking people to pay for a night what they often pay in rent for a week.

Targeting people who spend money in SL matters, hence getting influencers (major Flickr / Instagram users) and bloggers on board is important.

Then there’s the African American community in SL. From observation, many resort owners are African American, as are many guests. There’s a whole sub-community there that appreciates luxury living.

On that, think about what you can do to make their visit a little more special.

The Essencia for example has in its bathrooms a free amenity kit with everything from a bathrobe to cosmetics. The Lotus had, and the Essencia still has, a room service bot.

At Cheri Noel, you are given a welcome pack including little reindeer figures. In New York, someone calls your room asking if you would like brunch. Little touches like that matter.

Just like in RL, running an SL hotel is hard work, and it’s not easy to make a profit. It’s possible though, and I have seen resorts do it, and charge (for SL) quite a high price.

If you are thinking of setting up an SL hotel, I’d be more than happy to share more of my experiences with you. Or, if you run one right now, and would like to know what more you can do, I can help as well. Send me an email, or message me in world.

The Lotus may be no more, but it’s sister resort, the Kidaka is still open. I recommend giving it a visit and staying there!