Hotel-room ownership is often sold abroad with a fixed yield written into the brochure. Treat any promised return as a claim about the operator, not about the room. In Danang, Vietnam, the Cocobay project developed by Empire Group reportedly stopped paying owners their guaranteed returns, and C9 Hotelworks warned in December 2019 that the sector had promised "unsustainable double-digit returns". The same report said over half of incoming hotel supply in Phuket was hotel-residence product, many with high guaranteed returns.
In the United States the rules push the other way. CondoBlackBook, a Miami condo broker, notes that developers may sell condo-hotel units only as real estate, not as investments, and that the SEC restricts sharing projected data, so buyers of new projects usually get no occupancy or return forecasts. It also says owners typically keep between 35 and 60 percent of rental earnings, and that a smaller share from a strong brand can beat a larger share from a weak one.
For a Japanese resale unit, ask for three things instead of a promised yield. First, the actual payback statements for the last two to three years, because income only settles once the hotel has a track record. Second, the operating contract: master lease, management contract or profit share, what is deducted before the split, and when the contract can be revised. Third, how long any guarantee period runs and what happens when it ends.
Red flags: a yield quoted on the purchase price without the fees and tax deducted; a guarantee paid by the same company that sold you the unit; a guarantee that ends shortly after the handover; no past payback figures for a building that has been open for years; and pressure to sign before you have the hotel lease and management contracts.
Hotel Condo Market shows payback figures only where the operator or broker has published them, and labels yields as stated or estimated. Nothing here is investment advice.