US: Red Lion Hotels has relaunched its GuestHouse International brand as GuestHouse Extended Stay, an upper-economy flag suitable for conversions.
At its 2020 virtual conference, RLH revealed it had been working on the concept before the pandemic. CEO John Russell said: “We saw an opportunity in a category that we weren’t in. We felt that there’s a lot of conversion opportunities out there to take existing hotels and convert them into extended stay in certain markets.”
The company has six new-build GuestHouse properties in various stages of planning as well as 15 conversion prospects in the pipeline. The first hotels will open with hoteliers with whom RLHC already has existing relationships, said Harry Sladich, EVP of lodging development and franchise operations at RLH.
“Some developers we’re working with were looking specifically for this product. We wanted to create something that was easily convertible, that you could take your existing property and swap it out for an extended stay with a reasonable cost. It was done with practicality in mind. So the kitchenette or the kitchen, depending on what you want in your hotel, is on the wall with the bathroom, so the plumbing is all on the same wall,” said Sladich.
The prototype is designed to work with conversions from both traditional guest rooms or extended-stay rooms.
