US: Extended Stay America has announced the launch of Extended Stay America Premier Suites, a new brand with a higher price point than its existing portfolio.
The new 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 travellers trust to deliver what matters most when they are away from home for an extended period of time. The new Premier Suites brand builds on our legacy to provide a great value to extended-stay customers that demand more,” said Bruce Haase, president, and chief executive officer, Extended Stay America. “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 average daily rates 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 Q2 2021 with more than 30 properties across the country.
Chief investment officer Judi Bikulege said: ”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 travellers who were looking for a fresh product with the amenities they value the most. Extended Stay America Premier Suites is designed to meet the needs of these consumers.”
Extended Stay America will also rebrand the remainder of its core hotels to Extended Stay America Suites over the next several months “to better communicate the current product offering”.
“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 says the changes “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 maximise the value of its portfolio, focus renovation investment on assets that will realise the greatest returns, increase the pace of franchise development, and drive improved EBITDA across the entire Extended Stay America umbrella”.
