How Extended Stay Hotels Are Pivoting Towards a New Generation of Travelers
Photo Credit: A rendering of one of the communal rooms being piloted at Marriott's Element extended stay hotel brand. Marriott and other extended stay hotel operators are trying to add more communal, co-living-like features to their properties. Marriott International
Skift Take
The extended stay portion of the lodging business continues to see strong demand. But are extended stay brands doing enough to keep up with travelers' evolving tastes and needs? And what about Airbnb?
Extended stay hotels are a particularly bright spot in an otherwise steady hotel industry, especially in the U.S.
These properties, often distinguished by having a kitchenette in each room and taking reservations, instead of requiring a lease, saw room night demand go up 5.4 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, according to a U.S. Extended Stay Lodging Market 2017 report from The Highland Group.
That same report found occupancy for extended stay hotels remains steady at just over 75 percent. To date, there are about 40,000 extended stay properties in the U.S. alone and that number will continue to grow: rooms under construction for this category are up 16 percent compared to 2015, a record high.
"Demand is at a record high," said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group. "More people are staying at extended stay hotels in the U.S. today than there were as ever before but what's also true of the overall hotel industry is that these extended stay hotels are seeing record revenue
