| InTown Suites acquired Suburban Lodges of America,
Inc., effective May 1, 2002. The acquisition included 65 owned hotels,
62 franchised properties and the 73-hotel Guesthouse International, mid-market,
limited-service hotel franchise organization. Shortly after acquiring
the company, InTown spun off the two franchise operations.
�Our interest from the beginning was to acquire the real estate rather
than the franchise organizations,� said David Vickers, president of InTown
Suites. �Our business model has been to own and operate our hotels.
Through these conversions, we more than doubled our size, achieved immediate
critical mass of more than 100 hotels and became the nation�s largest economy
extended-stay hotel brand. On a per-room basis, we paid approximately
one third less to acquire the 65 properties than it would have cost us
to build 65 new InTown Suites.�
�The Suburban Lodges we acquired are a good fit for us. Their
average property size is a little larger than InTown Suites� but their
room size is slightly smaller. We are looking at the FF&E requirements
and will be making some upgrades. When the conversion is complete, our
guests will be unable to tell the difference between an acquired or original
InTown Suites hotel.�
Vickers said that he expects no personnel changes at the property level
for the converted hotels. �We will install our proprietary management
and tracking systems, provide training and get out to meet our new property
managers as quickly as possible,� he said.
�We will spend the next few weeks
analyzing the properties and plan to announce our growth strategies
within the next month,� he said. �Our initial InTown properties continue
to perform at an exceptional level, with systemwide occupancy in April
of 91 percent. Now that we have reached critical mass, we have the
platform from which to accelerate our growth.�
 Founded
in 1989, InTown Suites is the largest economy-segment extended-stay brand.
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InTown Suites Reports
Results for 2001
March 7, 2002 -- Occupancy in 2001 for the chain�s 53 hotels, which
included 13 new properties opened during the year, was 87 percent.
By contrast, occupancy for the extended-stay segment in 2001 was 73.7
percent, according to The Highland Group. Despite the severe downturn
in the lodging industry after September 11, InTown�s revenue per available
room (RevPAR) for stabilized properties declined less than one percent.
�While it was a tough operating environment, our hotels� strong price-value
relationship continued to attract guests throughout the year,� said David
Vickers, president of InTown Suites. �Our occupancy was off only
slightly in the fourth quarter, but we held the decline in average same
store net operating income to less than $500 per property for the 13-week
period. Guest loyalty is at an all time-high with the average guest
staying more than nine weeks.�
InTown Suites recorded 87 percent occupancy chain-wide in January 2002,
compared to 83 percent for the same period in 2001. February 2002
occupancy was 92 percent with 11 hotels posting occupancies of 95 percent
or higher. �We are pleased to see that our hotels continue
to maintain and expand a solid guest base in both a strong and weak economy,�
he said.
Hotels opened in 2001 are located in San Antonio, Texas (two); Indianapolis,
Ind. (two); Phoenix, Ariz. (two); Ft. Lauderdale/ Miami, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.;
Tucson, Ariz.; Dallas, Texas; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Salt Lake City, Utah;
and Richmond, Va. All 13 of the hotels were profitable by year-end
2001.
�Our in-house construction team has delivered all of our new projects
in approximately 10 to 12 months for approximately $35,000 a room, including
soft costs,� Vickers said. |
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