Extended Stay America CEO on the Brand’s Next Steps After $6 Billion Takeover
Photo Credit: Extended Stay America's new brand is the first big move for the company following its $6 billion takeover by Blackstone and Starwood Capital. Extended Stay America
Skift Take
Extended Stay America's launch of a higher-end brand isn't the sign of new owners Blackstone and Starwood Capital wanting some grandiose push into the upscale sector. It's about appealing to a segment of business travelers who may not have considered the brand as an option in the past.
Brand bloat isn’t a concern for hotel executives in the extended-stay hotel sector.
Extended Stay America launched a higher-end brand this summer with the ink barely dry on Blackstone and Starwood Capital’s roughly $6 billion acquisition of the company. The new brand, Extended Stay America Premier Suites, targets a more premium segment than the economy and mid-scale sectors associated with the current Extended Stay America portfolio.
The brand addition, in the works since before the pandemic, is the latest boost to extended-stay hotels after the sector outperformed the rest of the hotel industry during the pandemic due to its client base of essential workers and people needing temporary housing. It also fuels Extended Stay America’s plans for growth in the coming years.
“It's a very diverse business. Extended Stay customers are not monolithic,” said Extended Stay America CEO Bruce Haase in an interview with Skift. “The interesting thing that we saw during the pande
