Many Hotels In The United States Enter The Long-stay Field By Rebranding

- Apr 26,2024 -

In the United States, the long-stay hotel industry remains a bright spot in the troubled hotel industry.


This week, RLH Corp., the owner of the famous American hotel group Red Lion Hotels (hereinafter referred to as "RLH") and Americas Best Value Inn, announced that it has repositioned its GuestHouse International chain as a permanent residence brand GuestHouse Extended Stay. . The brand’s target customers are those who want to focus on long-term stays at economical prices, and existing hotel owners who are considering new brand affiliation. This process is called conversion.


RLH executives said that before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the global hotel industry, the brand transfer was already in progress, but as the epidemic spreads to the world, it is also at the time of the rebranding, and investors are clearly increasingly favoring long-term accommodation. .


It is reported that RLH leaders decided to move GuestHouse to the long-stay field because the company lacks a brand in the long-stay market. Company executive Russell said: Compared with other industries, long-term accommodation hotel revenue per available room is 14% to 20% higher, which is also a key performance indicator of the industry, and these properties require less labor, and These full-service hotels are usually equipped with expensive amenities and therefore higher performance.


But in the United States, RLH is not the only company that has been deeply involved in the long-stay field. In the worst period of the pandemic, companies such as Extended Stay America (long-stay hotel industry) performed significantly more than the entire hotel industry and attracted Blackstone and Starwood Capital. High-profile investment of other companies. The company’s leadership team sees the brand renewal as an important step in signing a new franchise agreement with existing hotel property owners.


Russell, CEO of RLH, once said to the public that a similar conversion advantage has been seen around its Signature Inn brand, which is aimed at roadside hotels with external corridors. RLH estimates that there are more than 500,000 US hotel rooms in this area, and many of them are also looking for new brand affiliations.


Russell said: "Many traditional brands try to move them out of their systems because they are older. So we can provide a cost-effective conversion process for Holiday Inn, Days Hotel or Motel 6."


When the loan environment for newly-built hotels is tightening, from Marriott Hotels to Wyndham, many larger brands believe that this conversion process is an important growth mechanism promoted by the new crown epidemic. The conversion trend of big brands will be more favored by them, because travelers and investors will be eager to own bigger brands.


RLH also believes that in an economic environment where cash is scarce, the number of conversions will increase. Although larger brands may determine the layout of the entire hotel, RLH’s GuestHouse brand standard mainly revolves around furniture and equipment. Depending on the hotel’s market conditions, areas such as the hotel lobby may have a more local flavor.


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