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NATIONAL REPORT-Extendedstay hotels claim to provide all the comforts of home-but what about security? When there is no staffing during the night, are guests really safe at extended-stay properties? Operators seem to think so.
"We don't perceive ourselves as having any major security problems;' said Michael Wilson, v.p. of marketing for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Extended Stay America, which owns and manages Extended StayAmerica, Crossland Economy Studios and StudioPLUS hotels. "Part of the reason is that the guest mix is so different than other hotels."
An extended-stay guest, Wilson said, is typically a business traveler who may be relocating and needs housing until a home is bought or built, someone who is going through a lengthy training program or who is providing ongoing consulting services and commutes on the weekends.
"Our guests are residential," Wilson said. "They're at the hotel to work, not to party. Their entire attitude is different."
Where some hotels see upward of 17,000 to 20,000 guests a year, a typical extended-stay property will see only 1,500 to 2,000 guests a year, Wilson said. In addition, extended-stay properties are typically built in suburban communities where crime is lower than at rural or downtown hotels, he said.
"The environment at an extended-stay hotel doesn't encourage high traffic," Wilson said. "Our hotels don't have restaurants and bars that attract local patrons or facilitate rowdy situations, and they don't have convention facilities which sometimes make it difficult to know who's coming and going from the hotel. There's simply not a lot of activity at night."
StudioPLUS properties feature VingCard electronic door locks, closed-circuit security cameras and monitors, and have an attendant on duty around...