Raw maintenance totals can be misleading because hotels vary significantly in room count, occupancy, building age, service level, equipment type, and physical design.

Portfolio operators can normalize metrics using measures such as work orders per available room, work orders per occupied room, maintenance cost per room, or equipment failures per installed unit.

Properties should also be grouped with reasonably comparable hotels when possible. Comparing a newly constructed select-service hotel directly with an older full-service resort may produce conclusions that reflect building differences rather than engineering performance.