WICHITA, KS—WoodSpring Hotels has released the prototype for the new WoodSpring Suites Signature brand, which is targeted to travelers looking for mid-priced, extended-stay accommodations at higher service levels. This brand extension comes on the heels of the company’s rebranding last year from Value Place to its current identity.
A WoodSpring Suites Signature hotel will open in Cranberry Township, PA, later this year, and one will open in Saugus, MA, next spring.
“The Signature prototype has been designed with the business traveler in mind, who has greater needs when on the road for an extended period of time,” said Bruce Haase, CEO of WoodSpring Hotels.
Using multi-functional designs in its public and private spaces, the company has added more amenities to the guest experience and stuck to its core standard of offering value for the stay. “The rates for this lower midscale hotel will be approximately 20% above a standard WoodSpring Suites, typically $300 to $400 per week, market depending,” said Haase.
In the Signature prototype, the hotel’s exterior has a residential-style, as does its new, larger lobby. Amenities offered by the Signature brand include a convenience store, fitness center, 24-hour laundry facilities, in-room dishwashers and stand-up-showers with glass doors.
“This is the first prototype where we’ve had a dishwasher,” said Mike Varner, EVP of brand strategy and management for WoodSpring Hotels.
Offering such amenities while continuing with the value-theme can be challenging from an operational perspective. However, Varner said that keeping operating costs down will be a team effort. “Much of this efficiency comes from our staff being able to cover multiple roles—whether they’re working the front desk and able to do laundry behind the scenes or whether they can prepare carts for housekeepers so, when they come in, all they have to do is focus on cleaning rooms. [The brand] comes with a very versatile staff that works well as a team,” he said.
Another way the company is holding the line on operational costs is by limiting the front desk hours. It found that guests did not require a 24-hour staff member at the desk. “Our guests told us they didn’t need 24 hours. It was a trade-off they were willing to make both in price and in overall experience,” said Varner.
Adaptability within the staff is crucial, while versatility also needs to be present in the hotel’s design. A great example of this is the hotel’s marketplace because of its proximity to the front desk. “These hotels are designed to operate at six-and-a-half full-time equivalents, so everything we’ve done in design has to work very efficiently. That includes the marketplace and front desk.”
As for the rooms, versatility is found in the use of cubby space for storage. The cubbies are built into the guestroom’s front wall as a part of the design scheme. “Our research said it was critical that we provide storage, but they didn’t want the storage to be obscured. They wanted to be able to see their items so they didn’t get lost. The cubbies are a big feature of the design,” said Varner.
Additionally, the Signature prototype is making better use of the hotel’s public spaces. For hotel guests in the extended-stay category, Varner said: “They’re not looking for the hotel to be the center of socializing. When you’re are part of the community for a couple of weeks or longer or you’re there for your job, your purpose is not to be at our hotels.”
According to Varner, many of the customers who use the category had not heard of it before they required extended-stay accommodations. “We get plenty of people who are deliberate; medical professionals who stay every quarter. But, much of the demand for extended stay comes from people who didn’t know they would need it. For example, someone who gets a new job in a new city and doesn’t want to commit to buying a home, or sad things like divorce or separation. A lot of people don’t know they are going to need the category [of hotel]until they need it,” he said.
The Signature prototype also goes back to the initiatives introduced in last year’s rebranding. During the rebranding process, the company changed its name from Value Place to WoodSpring Hotels and created a natural-themed, leaf logo. The company found that its guests wanted a residential feeling throughout the hotel; and also an incorporation of nature, which translates to guests as relaxed experience.
“Our brand, WoodSpring Suites, is all about nature and how that conveys a relaxing experience to our guests,” said Varner.
For the exterior, natural wood beams were used in the entryway and planters were added that integrated more of a natural element. Inside, the company used lighting to enhance the natural element. “The windows are a key way we bring light in,” Varner said.
In a span of 18 months, the company studied 15,000 consumers to create its strategy. Varner called the experience of gathering consumer insight from in-room assessments, focus groups and online surveys “like peeling an onion layer by layer.”
“We feel like we know the value-oriented, extended-stay consumer better than anybody ever has. That gives us great confidence in the building and the features we put into it and, quite frankly, into our brand and operating model,” said Varner.
For franchisees, construction costs will be $50,000 to $55,000 per key, excluding land.
By 2017, the company expects to have nearly 100 newly built hotels. In 2016, it anticipates to break ground on 40 hotels; most will be franchised properties, while a quarter will be corporately owned and operated. There are currently 204 hotels in the pipeline.
In the end, WoodSpring Hotels has found a new way to bring qualified guests into its hotels by changing a few elements of its branding. “We found there were guests who were not staying with us today, but were a fit for our operating model and willing to pay more if we made a few small tweaks to our experience and the amenities we offered. By focusing on those consumers, we were able to come up with a prototype that met their needs and met our needs from an operating model perspective and, ultimately, allows us to grow in a different way,” said Varner.