The suite life

The hotel industry probably has more brands in its inventories than Kellogg’s has cereals. No matter what the company, it’s a matter of picking the brand – from luxury to budget – that best suits you.

Not new among the brands, but definitely on the upswing, are all-suite properties.

More and more travelers, not only business types but leisure-seeking families as well, like to feel at home when they are on the road. And that’s what all-suite hotels try to provide – home-away-from-home ambience with room to stretch out.

They often also tout such additional amenities as two TVs, high-speed Internet connections, complimentary breakfasts and evening cocktail hours, as well as fitness centers and swimming pools. What travelers really like, though, are the separate spaces.

All-suite properties fall into two categories that sometimes blur.

There are extended-stay places that cater to people who will be anchored in an area for a week or more and want space akin to a small one-bedroom apartment – a small living room-parlor with an adjacent kitchen equipped with a stove, refrigerator, dishes, pots and pans, a bath and bedroom.

Then there are the one-bedroom, one-bath suites for transient, short-stay folks who also get a living room/parlor (the couch converts to a bed, perfect or kids) that features a niche for a minifridge and microwave. The main difference between the two is the full kitchen versus the minimal kitchen.

Another distinction between extended-stay brands and the other all-suites: Many extended-stay brands are, in industry jargon, “focused” because they don’t have restaurants. All-suites with restaurants often are called “full service” and normally charge higher rates.

Whether you’re a fan of Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental, Choice, Hyatt or others, you’ll find most major chains offer an all-suites brand, maybe more. The brands bear such familiar and not so familiar names as Embassy Suites, Residence Inn, Staybridge Suites, Comfort Suites and AmeriSuites.

“Suites come in all kinds of flavors,” said Jack Corgel, a professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. “The industry has been gravitating toward suites, especially in the last 10 or 15 years. But there’s always a debate about what really is a suite.”

Corgel said some developers – not the name-brand chains that have their own standardized building specifications – “put in makeshift dividers rather than solid walls to give the impression of being a suite, but they may not be as sweet as other suites.”

He described a suite as “two rooms where you have the ability to use one room for living quarters or as a second bedroom for family members.”

Many hotel companies, said Corgel, “are really trying to replicate as best they can the home environment. Suites are an indicator of that.”

According to 2004 figures cited by Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee firm that tracks the U.S.lodging industry, there are 4,661 all-suite properties with a total of 509,406 rooms. That’s about 10 percent of all the hotel rooms in the U.S.

The number of all-suite properties grew by 2.4 percent last year, said Jan Freitag, Smith’s director of client services, and that growth is expected to continue.

All-suite properties have an occupancy rate of 68 percent, up 4.3 percent over 2003, and charge on average about $98 a night.

A 2003 report in Hotel and Motel Management, an industry publication and Web site, noted that 25 to 30 percent of all lodging guests preferred suite accommodations.

The all-suite hotels revolution was launched by Embassy Suites, which opened its first property in 1983. Now part of the Hilton chain, Embassy Suites has 174 upscale locations and a total of 42,513 rooms in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, with 25 to 30 properties in the development pipeline.

Suites contain two telephones with data ports, two TVs, fridge, microwave, wet bar and a coffee maker. Rates at the full-service Embassy Suites (they feature restaurants) average about $130 a night.

Hilton’s other all-suite brands include Homewood Suites, with more than 130 hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Hilton describes Homewood as an upscale extended-stay property (no restaurant), ideal for travelers who stay five or more nights.

Its suites include a fully equipped kitchen: microwave, full-size refrigerator with ice-maker, dishwasher, twin-burner stove, toaster, coffee-maker, and utensils and place settings for four. Rates average about $100 a night, but vary according to length of stay.

Marriott, another big player in the all-suites game, has several brands: Residence Inn, its most upscale brand ($89 to $159 a night) in its extended-stay category, with 500-plus properties; TownPlace Suites, a mid- to lower-priced extended-stay product ($49-$109 a night) with 100 properties in which each suite has a full kitchen; and SpringHill Suites, the newest brand in the Marriott portfolio with 125 properties.

Marriott refers to SpringHill as its style and design brand, intended to attract younger families and travelers. Its amenities include a minifridge, microwave, coffee maker and two phone lines with data ports. SpringHill’s rates range from $90 to $115, which also includes a complimentary breakfast.

Hyatt Hotels just joined the all-suite market this year when it acquired AmeriSuites’ 143 properties. The suites include microwaves, minifridges, high-speed Internet access, and the properties offer complimentary hot breakfasts, fitness centers, pools, business centers and meeting rooms. Rates can be as low as $70 a night.