Pathologist Prof Guy Rutty said David "Les" Ross, 39, had probably been rolled "in a foetal position" when he was attacked on 17 December 2012 at Corby's Village Inn Express.
Sitting at Kettering Magistrates' Court, coroner Anne Pember recorded a verdict of "unlawful killing".
Mr Ross's family said his death was "a senseless act of violence".
Northamptonshire Police are treating his death as murder and an investigation is ongoing. No-one from the force attended the inquest.
Mrs Pember said Mr Ross was well known in Corby, where he had previously worked as a taxi driver and nightclub bouncer, and had opened the Rubix nightclub in the weeks before he died.
Leanne Martin, who worked at the Village Inn Express in The Jamb, told the inquest Mr Ross had asked to stay in the hotel because his own house in Chelveston Drive had been broken into.
Another worker at the hotel, Paige Lindsay, said she had discovered Mr Ross's body "on his back with his feet towards the door".
Paramedic Michael Rowlatt told the inquest Mr Ross had been wearing boxer shorts and a white vest or t-shirt. He said there had been blood on the carpet and on the bed side cabinet.
Prof Rutty said Mr Ross had injuries to his face, chest and arms. He said some of the wounds might have been from a fight the previous night, but that others were caused by a "ring on a fist".
A statement from his family said they are "torn apart with grief" by an attack "carried out in a cowardly manner".
It said: "There are people still walking around in Corby who know what happened to David, who attacked him and why."
A nightclub owner found dead in his hotel room had suffered injuries to his face, chest and arms, an inquest heard.