InTown Suites

InTown Suites
Private
Industry Lodging, extended stay
Founded 1988 (Atlanta)
Headquarters Atlanta, GA
Website www.intownsuites.com

InTown Suites is a chain of extended stay facilities in the United States, headquartered in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia.[1] The chain caters to traveling workers and guests in transition between homes or apartments. The suites are also suited to individuals and families that experience loss of a home due to storm damage or other natural disasters. InTown Suites is currently one of the fastest growing extended-stay chains in the United States, with 189 locations in 22 states.[2] The company is known for low weekly rates and apartment style amenities.

Rates and services

Image on InTown Suites location in early morning with new logo featuring the words InTown Suites and an icon depicting two birds one orange and one light blue.
InTown Suites location in Houston, TX

Currently, weekly rates range from $159 to $399, depending on market and seasonality. Rooms are typically sold by the week or longer, but 54 locations also sell nightly rooms. The product offering falls between a traditional hotel and an apartment, with an average length of stay approaching 16 weeks. The chain is the country's largest wholly owned economy extended stay provider, with more than 25,000 rooms in 22 states.

Historically Intown Suites focused on low rates and high profitability, but lacked customer service. To address this shortcoming, the company implemented a program called "Yes to the Guest" in 2013. This program empowers employees to find creative ways to provide excellent customer service within the operating boundaries of a low cost, weekly stay model.

The success of this program lead to the creation of formal statement of Mission, Vision & Values in March 2015. The company's stated Mission is to "Make every guest stay memorable with small gestures that make a big difference". The chain is currently conducting intensive training around this new Mission to ensure that it is living this mission.

The company, which owns and operates all of its locations[3] rather than franchising them, has become one of the most successful extended-stay companies in the United States.

History

Intown Suites was founded in 1988 by David Vickers.[4] During two decades of existence, Intown Suites has proved to be a very successful business, and is currently one of the fastest growing extended-stay chains. In June 2013, the company was purchased by Starwood Capital Group. [5]

In 1998, Intown Suites expanded from 26 to 76 properties in a $150 million investment, an alternative to going public. In 2001, Intown Suites had a room occupancy rate of 87%, compared with a 73% average for the entire industry.[6] In 2002, Intown Suites expanded by purchasing Suburban Lodges of America for $99 million,[7] four years later they acquired SuiteOne hotels.[8] In 2007, InTown Suites purchased another 12 Suburban Lodge locations in Georgia, Florida and Alabama, plus two additional Suburban Lodge locations in Houston, Texas a year later. In 2014, the company purchased four Savannah Suites location in Hampton Roads, Virginia. In May 2015, the company added another 50 locations.

Criticism

While Intown Suites strives to provide quality lodging and temporary housing at a cost as low as possible, the company has been criticized over various issues for not doing enough to address the issues and clean up the image of the company. According to Collier Daily, VP of Sales and Marketing for Intown, the company is addressing these issues with a robust renovation plan that will see significant improvements throughout the chain in the coming three years. The company has also undertaken a customer service improvement initiative and is working to refresh the brand.[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ "Low Weekly Rates!." InTown Suites. Retrieved on November 18, 2009.
  2. ↑ http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4070313.html
  3. ↑ Remco Software, Inc. Case Study (n.d.). "InTown Suites Manages Data from 100+ Properties with the Corporate Reporting Module" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Wilbert, Caroline (August 20, 2002). "Extended-Stay Hotels' Business Remains Sweet in a Sour Economy". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ "InTown Suites Completes Suburban Lodge Acquisition; InTown Suites Becomes Largest Owner/Operator of Economy Extended-Stay Hotels". Business Wire. May 1, 2002.
  7. ↑ Poole, Shelia M. (January 30, 2002). "Atlanta-Based Hotel Companies to Merge". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  8. ↑ Extended Stay Hotel Chains Compared - Biz-stay.com
  9. ↑ http://www.dailypress.com/business/dp-tidewaterbiz-intown-suites-20151109-story.html
  10. ↑ http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypresscreek/news/intown-suites-celebrates-new-look/article_95906790-6b00-54ca-bef9-a7fd65dbca3f.html
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