Experience Necessary

What experience is necessary to start your own hotel? Does one need to go to Management school (like the program at Cornell) or would simply having a business degree and real managerial experience be sufficient. Also, are there benefits to having this experience as opposed to just having a general business model to work from coupled with goals for short-term and long-term plans.

One only need to have the money to build or buy their own hotel. If you sign on with a franscise like Hampton, Hilton, Econo Lodge etc., they usually require that an experienced hotel gm go through a short school that they themselves teach. Not all franscises require this however from their owners. I have a Hampton GM Certificate and their school is usually more difficult than most and I have to say it was not that hard.