Extended Stay America Inc. has launched a new brand—Extended Stay America Premier Suites. The brand will feature new-construction and fully renovated properties with upgraded amenities to target higher-rated extended-stay guest segments, expanding Extended Stay America’s reach. The company will also rebrand the remaining portfolio to Extended Stay America Suites.
“With industry leading brand awareness, Extended Stay America is the brand extended-stay travelers trust to deliver what matters most when they are away from home for an extended period of time,” said Bruce Haase, president/CEO, Extended Stay America. “The new Premier Suites brand builds on our legacy to provide a great value to extended-stay customers that demand more. This is the latest example of our singular focus on the extended-stay customer to create a new product that anticipates what guests want and delivers them unmatched value and service while focusing on our core strength, the extended-stay sector of hospitality.”
Extended Stay America Premier Suites will target ADRs between $80 and $100 per night and feature several additional amenities, including an enhanced healthy breakfast offering, larger TVs, increased storage space and a signature bedding package. The new brand will launch in the second quarter of this year with more than 30 properties across the country.
“Through extensive customer research, we found that the Extended Stay America brand could reach more customers by providing a product that appealed to a large segment of extended-stay travelers who were looking for a fresh product with the amenities they value the most.” said Judi Bikulege, chief investment officer, Extended Stay America. “Extended Stay America Premier Suites is designed to meet the needs of these consumers.
Additionally, Extended Stay America will rebrand the remainder of its core hotels to Extended Stay America Suites over the next several months to better communicate the current product offering. Extended Stay America’s evolution from a single-branded company to a multi-brand portfolio under the Extended Stay America umbrella will better capitalize on the brand’s strength and the company’s expertise in the extended-stay market.
“Rebranding our core hotels to Extended Stay America Suites communicates our current offering more clearly to guests,” said Mark Williams, managing director, franchise development, Extended Stay America. “The core brand will become our primary target for franchise conversions going forward, while Extended Stay America Premier Suites will be the primary growth vehicle for new-build construction and higher-quality conversions. With this new brand architecture, we will be able to offer our franchisees more options, and we anticipate growing our franchise community throughout 2021 and beyond.”
Extended Stay America anticipates this change will best position its existing core brand to grow rate from its current guests and positions the Premier Suites brand at a higher ADR to attract new customers. The benefits of this new brand architecture will allow Extended Stay America to maximize the value of its portfolio, focus renovation investment on assets that will realize the greatest returns, increase the pace of franchise development, and drive improved EBITDA across the entire Extended Stay America umbrella.
Haase told Hotel Business that given the times we are in, he is proud of his company for being able to launch this brand. “A lot of other hotel companies are obviously fighting for survival this year and not really doing a lot of long-term planning,” he said. “In the current environment, we were able to do both and I think that is a testament to our business model, our segment, our people and how we were able to ‘walk and chew gum’ at the same time and make sure we kept all of our hotels open and kept all of our people safe, but we were also able to focus on where this company is going in the next 10 years.”