Wyndham Hotels & Resorts today announced it had awarded
contracts to develop 50 properties for its new economy extended-stay hotel
brand, currently known as “Economy Hotel Opportunity” or ECHO.
Echo, to which Wyndham alluded in its recent
earnings call, is the company’s first economy extended-stay brand. Expected
to launch in 2023, the 124-room Echo prototype features individual rooms averaging
300-square-foot studio suites with in-suite kitchenettes. Public spaces, such
as lobby, fitness center and guest laundry, are designed to limit labor needs. The
project specifically targets the essential worker, relocation and construction
worker segment of business travel.
In launching this new brand, Wyndham president and CEO Geoff
Ballotti noted that the economy extended-stay market has been outperforming “all
other segments, and in 2021, set new records for occupancy, ADR and RevPAR.” Echo has been in development since summer 2021.