The multiple deals with established developers also expand the extended stay line’s US presence in Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Prodigious pipeline
Continuing Wyndham’s long-term strategy of signing multi-unit deals with established and experienced developers, the additions grow the brand’s global pipeline to 265 hotels and approximately 33,000 rooms.
One of the latest agreements is with MasterBuilt Hotels, one of Canada’s fastest growing hotel development and investment companies. Founded in 2011, it has expertise in site evaluation, project design and project management, having constructed over two dozen Microtel by Wyndham hotels spanning all 10 provinces, with additional hotels currently under development.
Rapid growth
With the latest signings, Echo Suites’ pipeline is one of the largest of any extended stay hotel brand. Multiple projects have already broken ground and are in various stages of construction across Virginia, Texas and South Carolina, with over a dozen more slated to break ground in the months ahead. One of the Texan projects is Echo Suites Plano in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, scheduled to complete in Q1 2024. In the northwest, Echo Suites Meridian will arrive in Idaho in 2026.
Wyndham expects to have 100 hotels open over five years, with the brand’s first locations beginning to make a meaningful contribution to Wyndham’s overall portfolio in 2024.
Purpose-built prototype
The purpose-built, all new-construction, 124-room Echo Suites prototype requires under two acres of land and is designed to have a competitive cost per key.
Coming in at an area of approximately 50,000 sq ft overall, individual rooms average 300 sq ft. The rooms consist of single- and two-queen studio suites with kitchens as well as efficiently-designed public spaces — a lobby, fitness centre and 24/7 guest laundry — that help to limit labour needs.
Unprecedented interest
Chip Ohlsson, chief development officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, said: “Since announcing Echo Suites last year, we’ve seen unprecedented interest from among the industry’s most-successful extended stay developers, helping make Echo the fastest-growing brand launch of 2022.
“Adding MasterBuilt — one of Canada’s premier hotel development companies — to that growing list speaks to the quality of the Echo prototype and its highly efficient, ROI-driven design, which offers among the most rentable square-footage in the industry.”
Experienced input
David Donaldson, president and CEO, MasterBuilt Hotels, added: “The success Wyndham is seeing with Echo is not by chance — it’s a testament to the care that was put into designing the brand.
“From day one, Wyndham made a point of seeking the input of experienced developers and then actioning on their insights. The result is a brand that resonates as strongly with hotel developers as it will with guests. While other brands have since tried to tap into and mirror Echo Suites’ success — Wyndham, with its unmatched scale, owner-first approach and industry-leading support — continues to lead the pack.”
