Extended-stay hotels are by no means a new phenomenon, but the segment’s current popularity is a stark about-face from its former slightly under-the-radar existence. Hoteliers who are not in the segment are racing to stake their claim while new and refreshed brands are popping up across the chain scales. And all the while, those who have been operating in the sphere for some time are having an “I-told-you-so” moment.
Gary DeLapp, the president and CEO of stayAPT Suites, is in the latter camp. Virtually his entire career has been spent in extended-stay hotels and the segment’s strength through the pandemic has been no surprise to him.
“It’s the darling of the industry right now because people saw how well it performed. But for me, it’s been a strong performer from way back. Now it’s more mainstream because of COVID,” he said. “The more people [who] recognize that, it becomes more mainstream in the industry, which is a good thing for everybody. There [are] a whole lot of consumers out there that probably have not experienced an extended-stay product or understand it—and I think the more mainstream it becomes, the better it is for the industry.”
Extended-Stay Guru
DeLapp’s name, without a doubt, should be familiar to those in the extended-stay industry. Before founding stayAPT Suites two years ago, he had served as president and CEO of Homestead Studio Suites, WoodSpring Hotels and Extended Stay Hotels (including the Extended Stay America brand). He also was a partner and SVP at Vista Host, an independent hotel management company, and president of Invitation Homes, a home leasing company.
But before all of these leadership roles came his first role in the industry: busboy at a Holiday Inn. It started as a summer job that convinced DeLapp a career in hospitality was what he wanted. He started in the hospitality program at Florida State University but switched his major to political science with a minor in business. He continued working at the hotel, moving from department to department to get a true understanding of the business.
“Honestly, the practical, hands-on experience I got working at the Holiday Inn was more real-time and more realistic than what I heard in school in the classes of hotel management,” he said. “Doing all aspects of the business—it allowed me to fully understand all components of the business from the operating side to the investment side to the building construction side. Nothing is better than getting the hands-on experience working beside a lot of experts and professionals that have been doing that for a long time.”
DeLapp recognized the strengths of the extended-stay segment early on, when he was recruited by Security Capital Group (which owned Homestead Suites).
“I thought it sounded very interesting. I’d seen a few of these sort of extended-stay hotel brands and I thought it’d be kind of fun to do something different and take advantage of it. Once I got in, I really liked it. It still had all the lodging components, but it had a little bit of the multifamily-side component as well and it was sort of a completely new segment. There were still a lot of unknowns. It was something that a lot of people were not doing at the time, and in that gap I continued to work with other companies and sort of became the extended-stay guru.”
StayAPT Launch
DeLapp launched the stayAPT Suites concept in January 2020. He anticipates having more than 20 hotels open by the end of 2022, with more than 15 additional properties in development. The company is committed to building a portfolio of 100 corporate-owned hotels in addition to franchising.
The timing of the launch was not ideal, coming barely two months before the world shut down as a response to the coronavirus pandemic. DeLapp credits the company’s ability to open doors during the resulting environment to more than just his experience in the industry.
“The team I have is a very experienced extended-stay team in all different functional areas,” he said. “It can’t be a one-man band. Everybody having experience in extended-stay has really been helpful to understanding how to build these—and then, No. 2, how to operate and market this business. We’ve been fortunate in that we have a veteran team that has had experience in multiple brands and that’s really been helpful and adds credibility at the same time.”
Each stayAPT property is new construction, which has been challenging in the current supply chain and labor shortage environment. But DeLapp said he has not considered amending his plan and allowing conversions.
“From my experiences of doing this a couple times now, when you when you launch a new brand, having a consistent product and the consumer expectation of the experience—you don’t get that when you have conversions,” he said. “I’m not saying conversions don’t work. It’s been proven, but from a new brand perspective, having the purity of a new brand and construction and operating everything’s the same, the guest feels comfortable and they know what their expectations are when they get there. Obviously, it would have been easy to pivot … but sometimes you have to stick to your guns.”
DeLapp has complete confidence in the continued success of the extended-stay segment.
“Our products are not revolutionary but certainly evolutionary and I think you’ve seen a lot more blending of the multifamily apartment side with the lodging side, sort of apartment-style living,” he said. “It was [already] going that way, but COVID helped speed up a big part of that. People want the comfort, safety and security of home, so all those things are working together in terms of creating this new dynamic.”