April 30–When William and Dorinda Richardson moved from Florida to Fayetteville for his new job, they decided not to buy or rent a house here.
Dorinda Richardson said they plan to return to Florida one day and wanted to save what they could in the meantime.
So they moved into the Value Place extended-stay hotel on West Rowan Street where their quarters include a kitchenette with a stove-top, a full refrigerator and a sink, along with two double beds, a flat-screen TV and a large bathroom.
“It’ll be three years this October,” Dorinda Richardson said. “I’m adapting pretty good.”
Fayetteville has been fertile ground for the extended stay hotel industry, which caters to travelers and temporary residents who want to be able to cook in their room and have access to amenities like cable TV and wireless Internet service without the bother of arranging those things or signing a long lease.
The city’s first extended-stay hotel — Extended Stay America — opened 18 years ago on Owen Drive. Today, there are 11 extended-stay hotels in the city, with 1,151 units for rent in a range of price points and services.
Now a 12th such hotel is planned — a six-story Homewood Suites by Hilton on Legend Avenue next to the driving range. Candlewood Suites, another extended-stay hotel, sits on the other side of the driving range. Four other extended-stay hotels are less than a mile away.
The Homewood Suites, which will include a “sport court,” an indoor pool and meeting rooms, will hold another 111 studio and suite units, according to plans on file in the city’s planning department. The hotel is being developed by Virginia-based Shamin Hotels, which also owns a traditional hotel in Fayetteville, the Wingate Inn. Jay Shah of Shamin couldn’t be reached for comment.
It’s unusual for a market the size of Fayetteville to have 11 to 12 extended-stay hotels, said Mark Skinner, a partner in The Highland Group, an Atlanta-based hospitality consulting and research firm.
“But you’re unusual,” he said. “You’ve got one of the biggest Army bases in the country.”
Because of Fort Bragg, there’s a constant flow of military members and civilian government contractors coming to the area for temporary work gigs and needing temporary quarters.
“That’s clearly the big driver” of the area’s extended-stay business, Skinner said. “Somebody sees opportunity.”
The hotels also look to capture corporate travelers in town for extended periods to do business at places like Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Eaton Corp., the Logistics Corp. and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
But the hotels also take short-term guests.
“Fifty percent of their guests will be staying for less than five nights,” Skinner said of the average extended-stay hotel.
John Meroski, president of the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he welcomes Homewood Suites but he’s also concerned about over-saturation in the overall hotel market, especially with looming worries about military downsizing. Occupancy and revenues are both down 7 percent this year.
“We’re getting to the point where we’re overbuilt,” he said.
But, he said, Fayetteville is “on the radar” of hotel developers. A Fairfield Inn & Suites, a traditional hotel, recently opened on Ramsey Street. Meroski said it will eventually have competition there. He said new hotels also are likely when the Outer Loop is open all the way between Interstate 95 and Fort Bragg and also along Raeford Road, a hot commercial area.
And while the hotel business is lagging some so far this year, things can turn around quickly.
“When you’re performing well, you’re doomed,” he said of the hotel business. “And when you’re not performing well, you’re doomed.”
Amos Kudakwashe, general manager of the Value Place on West Rowan Street, said most of the guests there stay for at least a week and some, like the Richardsons, are staying long-term.
Kudakwashe said his guests appreciate the price — $199 for a week and $599 for a month — especially since it includes electricity, cable, local phone service and maid service once a week. Internet access is available but costs extra. There are coin-operated washers and dryers in a laundry room at the hotel.
“It’s affordable, clean and safe,” he said. “You can’t beat that.”
Staff writer Catherine Pritchard can be reached at [email protected] or 486-3517.
