DALLAS -- Motel 6, the budget hotel chain, launched an
extended-stay brand called Studio 6, designed to capture a
fast-growing segment of the lodging industry.
Carol Kirby, executive vice president of marketing at Motel 6,
said the chain realized that it would have to go after this segment
more aggressively because many of its own guests already fit the
extended-stay profile.
"We did research last summer and it showed that 20% of [our
guests] were staying five or more nights consecutively," she said.
"We knew we were already in the business. We knew we had to do
something from a defensive position, and we knew we had to do
something from an offensive position."
Studio 6 will be positioned in the middle range of the budget
hotel segment, coming in between $199 and $249 per week, priced
higher than the Suburban Lodge brand but lower than Extended Stay
America.
Guests will include corporate employees who are relocating,
construction workers on temporary sites and vacationers looking for
inexpensive lodging for long-stay vacations.
Studio 6 will feature rooms measuring 280 to 290 square feet,
with fully equipped kitchens and sleeping areas. Kitchens will have
cookware, dishes and utensils.
Other features will include telephones with data ports, voice
mail, free local calls, remote-control televisions with cable
service, and other features. There will be no access charges for
long-distance phone calls.
Studio 6 properties will feature both newly constructed and
existing hotels that are converted to fit the extended-stay
profile. Kirby said the company has not ruled out acquiring
individual properties or small hotel chains to expand the line.
Studio 6 is operating converted properties in El Paso, Texas,
and Tucson, Ariz. The first newly constructed property will be in
Charlotte, N.C., with a scheduled opening in the fall.
Kirby said the chain does not plan many properties for various
large southern and southwestern cities in the U.S., such as Dallas,
Phoenix and Atlanta, because they are oversaturated by other
extended-stay chains. The first Studio 6 properties will be
corporate-owned; however, the company expects to franchise many of
the hotels. Studio 6 is owned by Accor, the French hotel chain.
The chain generally does not pay commissions, but company
officials said it may offer a finders fee for real estate agents
who refer guests.