US: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has announced it has signed 100 hotels for its extended-stay brand known as Project ECHO.
The new brand offers purpose-built extended stay hotels and has been developed with insight from leading hotels brands to get the right mix of design for lower costs and longer stays.
The brand has become Wyndham’s fastest growing in the pipeline and it has already accomplished 100 signed by year-end.
Chip Ohlsson, executive vice president and chief development officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts said: “We expect to continue adding to that total”.
Among the most recent signings are Indianan-based Holladay Properties and Florida-based Gold Coast Premier Properties.
Holladay Properties has 25 Project ECHO hotels signed in key cities across the Midwest as well as Nashville, Savannah and Jacksonville.
Gold Coast Premier Properties has 10 hotels signed in South Florida and New Jersey.
The purpose-built, 124-room Project ECHO prototype requires just under two acres of land and has a highly competitive cost per key. At approximately 4,645sqm, nearly 74 per cent of which is rentable, individual rooms average 27.8sqm.
Rooms offer single- and two-queen studio suites with kitchenettes as well as public spaces including a lobby, fitness centre and guest laundry which reduces staffing needs and costs.
Veronica Garcia, president and chief operating officer, Gold Coast Premier Properties said: “We have extensive extended-stay development experience with established brands, yet we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be on the ground floor building a brand together with Wyndham. Project ECHO’s efficient design paired with access to Wyndham’ negotiated discounts with suppliers will help us reduce costs and simplify operations of our hotels, while introducing a new product to the extended-stay segment.”
Earlier this month, the first Project ECHO hotel broke ground in Plano, Texas.
Wyndham expects to open its first Project ECHO hotels in 2023.
