Extended Stay America is launching a new brand and changing the face of its entire portfolio.
On Thursday, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company announced the launch of Extended Stay America Premier Suites, a new brand with an initial footprint of more than 30 properties concentrated in the Southeast U.S. and West Coast. In a news release announcing the brand, Extended Stay America said the Premier Suites portfolio will include new-build assets and fully renovated properties "with upgraded amenities to target higher-rated extended-stay guest segments." The launch will formally begin in the second quarter of 2021.
The company also plans to rebrand the remaining hotels in its portfolio — which totaled 625 franchised and company-owned properties as of Dec. 31 — as Extended Stay America Suites.
Extended Stay America President and CEO Bruce Haase said the Premier Suites brand is evidence the company is investing in its core extended-stay guest segment, a goal he set since taking the helm of Extended Stay America in November 2019.
"The new Premier Suites brand builds on our legacy to provide a great value to extended-stay customers that demand more,” Haase said in a statement. “This is the latest example of our singular focus on the extended-stay customer to create a new product that anticipates what guests want and delivers them unmatched value and service while focusing on our core strength, the extended-stay sector of hospitality.”
By adding "Suites" to the core portfolio, Managing Director of Franchise Development Mark Williams said Extended Stay America will have clearer offerings for both guests and potential franchisees.
“Rebranding our core hotels to Extended Stay America Suites communicates our current offering more clearly to guests,” Williams said in the release. “The core brand will become our primary target for franchise conversions going forward while Extended Stay America Premier Suites will be the primary growth vehicle for new-build construction and higher-quality conversions. With this new brand architecture, we will be able to offer our franchisees more options, and we anticipate growing our franchise community throughout 2021 and beyond.”
The announcement comes as the hotel industry at large has suffered significant demand declines since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extended-stay segment, however, has performed better than other hotel types.
In August 2020, Haase expressed confidence in how well Extended Stay America's portfolio was performing during the pandemic months while speaking with analysts on the company's third quarter conference call.
“I believe investors should not consider our recent strong performance to be something that will fade when the pandemic ends, but something that will instead become the basis for improved performance post-pandemic — improved of course not only from current levels of profitability, but also improved relative to our pre-pandemic performance,” he said. “Our recent performance during the pandemic demonstrates the depth of the extended-stay market. In the midst of the current disruption of the lodging industry, we’ve been able to operate at nearly 80% occupancy. And when the pandemic ends, most of those current demand drivers will remain.”
Extended Stay America reports its fourth quarter and full-year earnings on Friday.