They stopped in the kitchen and looked over the three plans.
“I want this to be the lower floor,” Emily explained, pointing at Wayne’s creation for the kitchen and restaurant. “But this for the rooms.” She pointed at Cain’s third-floor plan with just three apartment-style rooms that could accommodate families with space for a living room and separate bathroom in each apartment. “I like how you’ve laid them out so that each one has an ocean view.”
Daniel seemed to agree, though Emily noticed his focus was much more on the cost of things. It hadn’t escaped his notice that she’d chosen the most expensive downstairs option and the least lucrative upstairs option.
“And what about the second floor?” Wayne Erik asked.
“I can’t decide,” Emily explained. More bedrooms as per Shane’s design? Or more restaurant space as per Wayne’s? “What if we were to replicate the third floor on the second?” she said. “A carbon copy?”
Daniel frowned. “But then there would only be six apartments in the whole house,” he interjected.
“I know,” Emily explained. “But think of it in terms of the revenue from the higher price of the apartments. Right now there’s only one place for families to stay, which is the carriage house. But Bryony said there was so much demand coming in from families who want to spend the summer in Sunset Harbor. If we convert this into the family-friendly part of the inn it would be a great selling point. Plus, if we do it this way then every room can be advertised as having an ocean view! That would be an amazing selling point too.”
“I can see what you’re saying,” Daniel said, not sounding even the slightest bit convinced. “But I can’t help feeling like that’s not the best use of the space.”
“We’d only need to have six families each summer to get fully booked,” Emily contested.
“We don’t want to get fully booked from six families,” Daniel countered. “If there’s so much demand, why not double the amount of apartments? Income from twelve families is going to be better than just from six!”
Emily rubbed her forehead. She didn’t just want to pack the inn to the brim. And more people traipsing in and out would mean hiring more staff to care for them. They would cause more damage and wear and tear that she’d need to account for. The costs would be eradicated through the amount of cleaning, reupholstering and towel washing alone!