Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ AmericInn brand has been on a growth spurt over the past year: In the first two quarters of 2024, its 45th year, the brand opened more hotels than in any of the previous years since joining Wyndham in 2017, bringing its total to 228 hotels. Approximately half of the new openings are from existing Wyndham owners.
Brand President Clement Bence described AmericInn’s appeal in its “neighborly” vibe and the way it reflects its Midwestern origins with a “quiet, comfortable” arrival experience.
Wyndham, he continued, now is looking to leverage those elements to help “grow [the brand] out.” To that end, he said, “we're looking at our path and our growth that we've seen—and we've done good.”
Behind the Growth
A “key factor” that has helped the brand gain ground beyond the Midwest is the current owners who are looking to add more hotels to their portfolios, Bence said, noting that some owners who already have several AmericInn hotels call him regularly. “They say, ‘How do we get another one?’”
Brand awareness among travelers also is helpful in driving appeal for new and current owners, and Bence noted that AmericInn’s marketing is targeting younger generations to keep them interested and committed. “We're designing our pursuits around them,” he said. “It's the next generation of guests that are coming through.” According to Wyndham’s numbers, more than 65 percent of the brand’s guests are from Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z.
A good number of these travelers are members of the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program, and are aware of new developments in their preferred markets and are inclined to book direct. “They [know] the brand and they're driving, and that's important for owners,” Bence said. “That member booking direct goes right to the cost of acquisition for reservations.”
The leadership team is “trying to be strategic” with the brand’s growth, focusing on markets that are a good fit for its style, Bence added. “We see this traffic flow back and forth from north to south.” The brand has expanded to Texas, Kentucky, Florida and Georgia as well as further west in North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah. “As we're looking to develop, what we want to make sure we do is we continue to return that value to owners by placing them in the markets where we know our members stay.” The company also is looking to expand into Arizona, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.
Power in Conversions
While the AmericInn portfolio and pipeline include both conversions and new-build projects, Bence emphasized that the team is largely focused on conversion opportunities. Still, he said, the company opened three new-build hotels over the past two years.
The AmericInn team considers several factors when choosing a conversion opportunity, Bence said. “We're looking for two- and three-story interior-corridor [buildings] with pools.” All downtown AmericInn hotels but three have pools, which he argued makes the brand stand out in smaller communities that attract both leisure and business travelers.
The Pursuit of Design
Bence also credits AmericInn’s Pursuit prototype for its appeal among both owners and guests. “Pursuit is a complete renovation,” he said. The design updates the building’s exteriors, guestrooms and public spaces, and Bence said about 60 percent of the brand is already committed and on track for completion, with continued progress across the portfolio.
When the team began developing the prototype, they considered both the cost factor for the owners and the support factor for the Wyndham team. The company also made its Manufacturer Direct program available to AmericInn owners, letting them communicate directly with manufacturers instead of with a network of multiple representatives. This, Bence said, helps keep the total costs of building or renovating down. As an incentive for owners to update their properties, Wyndham earmarked $15 million to help AmericInn owners who complete their renovations. Updated hotels, he added, are scoring approximately 15 percent higher on their net promoter scores than they were before the renovations.
“There's no cap to quality,” Bence said. “We can always go up.”
Stay tuned next week for a profile of an AmericInn owner who invested in an Arkansas community.