Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has signed 60 new properties for its rapidly expanding ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham economy, extended-stay brand across the U.S. and now in Canada, in further partnership with MasterBUILT Hotels, which has already developed more than 24 Microtel by Wyndham hotels across 10 provinces in Canada.
ECHO Suites’ pipeline now stands at 265 hotels and 33,000 rooms in the U.S. and Canada.
“The success Wyndham is seeing with ECHO is not by chance — it’s a testament to the care that was put into designing the brand,” said David Donaldson, president and CEO, MasterBUILT Hotels. “From day one, Wyndham made a point of seeking the input of experienced developers and then actioning on their insights. The result is a brand that resonates as strongly with hotel developers as it will with guests. While other brands have since tried to tap into and mirror ECHO Suites’ success — Wyndham, with its unmatched scale, owner-first approach and industry-leading support—continues to lead the pack.”
Since announcing ECHO Suites in 2022, there has been unprecedented interest among developers, said Chip Ohlsson, chief development officer at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
“Adding MasterBUILT—one of Canada’s premier hotel development companies—to that growing list speaks to the quality of the ECHO prototype and its highly efficient, ROI-driven design, which offers among the most rentable square footage in the industry,” Ohlsson said.
In the U.S., the newly signed deals for the ECHO Suites properties will grow ECHO Suites Extended Stay’s presence in Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. Several projects have already broken ground and are in various stages of development in Virginia, Texas and South Carolina. Many more projects are scheduled to break ground in the coming months.
Wyndham is aiming to have 100 hotels open in five years, with the brand’s first locations starting to contribute to the company’s overall portfolio in 2024.
Launched last year, ECHO Suites is Wyndham’s 24th brand. With ECHO Suites, Wyndham tapped into the continuing popularity of the extended-stay segment, which became a favored option for travelers during the pandemic.
The purpose-built, all-new construction hotels feature 124 rooms in under two acres of land with what Wyndham calls “a competitive cost per key.” With a total of 50,000 square feet, of which around 74% is rentable, the size of individual rooms averages 300 square feet.
Development costs are expected to range between $70,000 and $75,000 and projected RevPAR will be between $50 and $55, Wyndham had told HOTELS when the brand was launched.
ECHO Suites rooms comprise single- and two-queen studio suites with kitchens and public spaces (such as a lobby, a fitness center and a 24×7 guest laundry), which will lower labor needs.
The first ECHO Suites-branded property broke ground in Plano, Texas, with Dallas-based Gulf Coast Hotel Management in September 2022.
According to the latest HOTELS’ ranking survey known as “The List,” Wyndham Hotels & Resorts trails only Jin Jiang International for total number of hotels in the world.