The operating model is based on longer-term stays with less check-ins and �outs and less frequent ho

Whether holiday inn hotels here or abroad, there�s little doubt extended stay is one of the most lucrative segments of the hotel industry. There�s less question it takes a savvy owner and operator, and ideally both, to take advantage of those opportunities. It�s why InterContinental Hotels Group has invested in a unique and thorough owners training holiday inn hotels program modeled after the college educational system.
holiday inn hotels �For many of these owners, this could be their first experience with an extended-stay brand, holiday inn hotels but they could have a GM and director of sales who could be career extended-stay people,� explains Rob Radomski, IHG�s vice president of global brand management for the two flags. �The owner needs to understand why the GM and DOS make the decisions holiday inn hotels they do.�
Now mandatory, the bachelor�s program covers the basics of extended stay: hiring the right employees, targeting the right guest, understanding the limited staffing model and working with the brands� field resources.
Owners then graduate, and if their properties attain certain levels of extended-stay mix, guest satisfaction and other performance holiday inn hotels metrics, they can move onto the optional master�s degree program, which debuted earlier this year. I attended the second installment in April, at a Crowne Plaza in Atlanta, with approximately 15 very serious extended-stay owners.
They came from California, Alabama, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and even Canada. They brought plenty of passion. �You�re really running two hotels, extended stay and transient,� one owner said. Passing on higher-priced transient business to keep rooms open for longer-term business is �almost like playing chicken,� another said. �The sales person wants heads in beds, but what kind of heads,� asked one. Another added, �You�ve got to become holiday inn hotels courageous to wait for that extended-stay holiday inn hotels business.�
All the comments holiday inn hotels in the two-day session moderated by consultant Mike Wohl illustrated the point IHG was hitting home: Running an extended-stay hotel is not the same as a traditional hotel. But if done well � really well � running an extended stay hotel can be very profitable.
�I really believe if you�re a good operator, a good owner, you should like the extended-stay market,� says David Wespiser, an executive with Oxford, holiday inn hotels OH-based Hotel Development Services, which owns both Marriott and IHG extended-stay brands. �Guests come and stay at a transient hotel and leave and you never hear from them again. holiday inn hotels The extended-stay guest only checks out if he has a bad experience.�
The master�s program takes the general knowledge offered in the bachelor�s class a step further. It delves into specifics, like the strategies and tactics holiday inn hotels needed to improve hotel performance. It dives into STAR reports and digs deep into data. It helps the owners know what questions to ask their GMs and directors of sales.
The operating model is based on longer-term stays with less check-ins and �outs and less frequent housekeeping needs, so too much transient business can bring higher rates, but also more guest complaints.
With IHG�s brands, the hotels are actually broken up into 12 mini-hotels. There are four tiers of rates, escalating in prices holiday inn hotels from the cheapest for guests staying 30-plus days (Tier 4) to the most expensive transient guests staying less than five nights (Tier 1). Each is spread across the three room types: one bedroom, two bedroom and studio, so managers must juggle different rates and goals for each.
�Extended stay is not about bricks and mortars,� says Christian Sargent, president of Diamond Lodging, owners of a Staybridge Suites and two Candlewood Suites, and also a veteran of the segment who�s worked with Jack DeBoer in the early days of Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites and Candlewood. �Anyone can build them, but it�s all these other things you have to understand.�