Hotel groups make residence compulsory

Is it its resilience compared to the traditional hotel industry, recently highlighted by the pandemic? Or is it the way it responds to new customer expectations? Or is it the strength of its product, aimed as much at business travellers as at families and groups of friends? No doubt a bit of all of these put together, which explains why today the residential accommodation model is attracting more and more interest. In recent months, a number of major hotel groups have made no secret of their desire to diversify their offer by increasing the proportion of long-stay accommodation, either with 100% long-stay establishments, or with a mix of traditional and residential rooms in their hotels.

This competition from the heavyweights of the global hotel industry could worry the pure players in the segment. However, the leaders in long-stay accommodation are not panicking - quite the contrary. When asked whether they are worried, the answer is identical to that given a few years ago in the face of the meteoric rise of Airbnb. That's a good thing, it puts our product in the spotlightNgor Houai Lee. When a sector works, it creates movement. The fact that the hotel behemoths are getting involved means that investors have an appetite for our sector.  "This was illustrated by two mega-deals in the United States: the acquisition of Extended Stay America by Blackstone and Starwood Capital for 6 billion dollars in 2021, followed by the acquisition of a portfolio of 111 WoodSpring Suites franchised residences by the same investors for 1.5 billion dollars last January.

However, while the United States has long since discovered the extended-stay segment, there is still enormous scope for growth elsewhere in the world, with only a limited risk of encroaching on its neighbours' turf. " Extended stay accounts for only 3% of hotel inventory in Europe, whereas in the United States its share is much higher, at around 8%. This shows the growth reserve for this segment of the hotel industrysays Xavier Desaulles, the new Managing Director of Adagio Aparthotels. All the brands that can help to popularise this segment are on our side.  "

It has to be said that there will be no shortage of evangelists of the model to spread the good word urbi et orbi. The Radisson group, for example, has unveiled its ambition to double its long-stay offering in Europe, Africa and the Middle East by 2025, with the idea of opening new flat units in Dubai, Istanbul, Riyadh, Paris and Amsterdam. For its part, at the end of 2020, Accor launched the website Apartments & Villasdedicated to booking its extended stay solutions, and launched the development of a Living declination for some of its brands, with Novotel Living expected this year in Singapore and Bangkok, and a Pullman Living due to open in July 2023 in Accra, Ghana. And that's not counting the growth momentum of the apartment hotel brand. Adagiojointly owned with Pierre&Vacances.

At the same time, another player has recently positioned itself in this segment, Louvre Hotels, with the launch last year of its Tulip Residences brand. With its first establishment due to open in Joinville-le-Pont in 2021, it is expecting another this year in Warsaw, the Royal Tulip Warsaw Apartments, with a more upmarket positioning and housed in the Unique Tower building complex. And we could add to all these competitors international expansion brands such as Hyatt House, which recently appeared in Johannesburg and London, Home2Suites by Hilton, which has made China its priority, and Staybridge Suites at IHG.

Launched in 1997, the long-stay brand, which has almost doubled in size over the last decade, is gradually moving out of its Anglo-American area of influence, with good prospects for growth. in major business centres. In less than a year, from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021, Staybridge Suites has added three addresses in Dubai, in very business locations - Al-Maktoum airport, the Financial Centre and Dubai Internet City. The brand will soon be expanding its footprint in Southern Europewith debuts planned in Porto and Malaga, as well as in Cannes.

However, if there is one player in the traditional hotel sector for whom interest in this segment is not new, it is clearly Marriott. The American group now has more than 1,400 establishments under its various extended-stay brands, in particular Residence Inn, a pioneer of the long-stay model acquired in 1987. While Residence Inn initially expanded across the Atlantic, with more than 600 establishments in the region, the American group has been spreading the brand around the world for some years now. Brussels, near the international airport, but also Bogota, Dubai and Panama: a number of cities discovered the brand last year, and others should soon join them, including The Hague in 2022 and Copenhagen in 2023.

From its merger with Starwood in the middle of the last decade, Marriott has also inherited the Element brand, in the United States. design and sustainability. A brand that focuses on innovation, it was one of the first to move towards coliving in 2019 with its Studio Commons. In other words, flats with several bedrooms grouped around a shared lounge and kitchen. Similar to what the lyf at Ascott and of what will soon be put in place Adagio, A show flat is being prepared at the Paris Bercy residence, an idea that will be extended to the Brussels Grand Place residence this summer. When great minds meet...