DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 9:02 p.m. December 09, 2008
Staybridge Suites still going strong
Atlanta-based extended-stay hotel expanding, adding features to remain competitive
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Ten years ago, Staybridge Suites was a concept to get InterContinental Hotels Group — owner of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo — into the extended-stay game.
Extended stay, designed for travelers who need a suite with a kitchen and living room often for a week or more, was a growing market. After all, the booming tech economy kept IT professionals and consultants on the road and in high demand.
Photo courtesy of InterContinental Hotels Group Americas
The ‘outdoor living room’ at the Alpharetta Staybridge Suites.
Photo courtesy of InterContinental Hotels Group Americas
The gathering table is meant to get guests out of their rooms and into social settings.
A decade later, Atlanta-based Staybridge is still strong. That comes despite the bursting of the tech bubble and the implosion of the homebuilding boom.
Today, Staybridge — an upscale, franchised brand whose competitors include Residence Inn by Marriott and Homewood Suites by Hilton — has 141 hotels nationally and hopes to double that number over the next few years. IHG also owns sister extended-stay brand Candlewood Suites, which the company bought in 2003.
“There is a big difference between our brand today and where we were 10 years ago,” said Robert Radomski, vice president brand management of extended-stay brands for IHG. “We have critical mass now.”
Critical mass — enough hotels to have a track record — is important to Staybridge. It allows the brand to attract franchisees who are willing to invest and build the hotels to help Staybridge grow, Radomski said.
One such hotel is planned for 555 Courtland St., near Linden Avenue, in downtown Atlanta. The 15-story mixed-use building, to be constructed in late 2009, will be the company’s first high-rise hotel in the city. It will have 160 rooms, four penthouse condominiums and ground-level retail. The company also plans four other traditional suburban Staybridge hotels in metro Atlanta in the coming years.
“That market down there is underserved,” said Brian Glass, who is building the Courtland Staybridge with partner William Cleveland. “There are extended-stay hotels down there, but they are all Marriotts.”
Demand for extended stay hotels — especially the upscale segment — was still strong in the third quarter of 2008, according to Atlanta-based The Highland Group Report, which studies the extended-stay industry. But the recession is expected to put a dent in efforts to build more hotels to fill the need.
“Supply growth is projected to decline significantly in the wake of the deteriorating economy and tightening credit,” the report said. “Consequently, we expect that 2008 will be the peak of the supply growth for the foreseeable future.”
IHG acknowledged in its third-quarter earnings that the economy was having an impact on growth plans, including less available debt financing.
Radomski said the industry always goes through cyclical periods of supply and demand changes and that he is confident Staybridge Suites will continue to flourish.
He said consultants, project leaders and experts in fields like medicine, education and government are still spending time on the road and need a place to stay.
“On a general basis, extended stay weathers the ups and downs better than most of the industry,” he said.
To remain competitive, the company has added new elements to get guests out of their rooms and into social settings like a gathering table in the clubhouse designed to mimic family sitting around the kitchen, and an outdoor living room complete with TV and fireplace.
The brand, which builds mostly in the suburbs, also is moving more into urban construction, with projects also in Cleveland, Manhattan and Chicago.
“The construction time is lengthier in those urban projects,” Radomski said.
The milestone for the company came in 2006 when it reached its 100th hotel, he said.
“Along with getting to 100 hotels you have a bit of a track record,” he said. The track record says that these hotels are performing and exceeding expectations.”
Mark Skinner, partner with Highland Group, said Staybridge has thrived because it’s one of the fastest growing brands in extended stay.
“They’ve developed a very good product and they have a good reservation system within a family of brands,” Skinner said.
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