ECHO Suites Spartanburg opening
THE FIRST PROPERTY representing Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham brand opened recently in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Among the attendees at the grand opening, along with executives from Wyndham and more, were the first two Indo American developers who are building upcoming ECHO hotels.
Wyndham also brought on Mandeep Singh as vice president for extended stay operations, overseeing ECHO Suites and the new Waterwalk Extended Stay by Wyndham brands. Singh has a more than 20-year background in extended-stay hotels, corporate housing, serviced apartments and multi-family properties.
The 124-room ECHO Spartanburg is owned by Cox Universal Group, led by Philip Cox as co-CEO and co-founder and is managed by Sandpiper Hospitality. The prototype for the all new-construction brand is designed to fit on less than two acres at 50,000 square-feet, 79 percent of which is designed for generating revenue.
Kalpesh Patel of VKB Management in Des Moines, Iowa, and Amish Patel of Precision Hospitality in Chattanooga, Tennessee, created NXT Development to build at least 10 ECHOs over the next few years in markets including Chattanooga; Mobile, Alabama; and Columbus or Athens, Georgia. Both partners, who expect to complete their first ECHO Suites in Omaha, Nebraska, some time next year, attended the grand opening in Spartanburg.
“First off, it’s a beautiful box. It looks great physically now you can see it. And it’s what we want. It’s what the drawings envisioned,” Kalpesh said. “We’re learning little things. You’re always going to learn something. It’s the first one, it’s almost like a prototype. Philip Cox and Chris Cox, they’ve been a little guinea pig for us, and we’re learning from some of the things they had to do. There’s always a few modifications that we can get and maximize some value, maximize space, both for the developer and for the guests.”
Amish learned similar lessons from the opening.
“Pay attention to detail, running and construction, the little things, they matter,” Amish said. “It was a wonderful build, terrific for our first time, first product. You don’t know what to expect, right? I’m glad they did it. Now, we get to learn from them about our public spaces, our room layouts, little key things to pay attention to. It’s very exciting.”
Infrastructure bill driving extened-stay
A major driver for ECHO Suites and other extended-stay brands is the the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in 2021 as well as $280 billion as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 that funds new chip manufacturing plants across the U.S. Work crews for the projects are expected to bring in $3.3 billion in additional room revenue to Wyndham franchisees over the multi-year period of spend.
“I think [ECHO Suites] will remain our fastest growing brand for some time, given the interest that’s out there in the development community for this type of product, the demand for extended-stay productS continues to outpace the supply,” said Geoff Ballotti, Wyndham president and CEO, during a press conference at the Spartanburg opening. “These developers believe that building right now, in the face of the most historic piece of legislation this country has ever seen since the Eisenhower administration, is going to reap, from a cash-on-cash return standpoint, significant benefits given the demand that’s out there and the lack of supply, especially new construction economy extended stay.”
Kalpesh agreed that the Infrastructure Bill will be a big driver for his ECHO Suites.
“That money’s being spent and spent everywhere, right across this country, large towns, small towns,” Kalpesh said. “In Iowa, we’ve got a ton of that money coming to improve roads and bridges. It is definitely a piece of what we’re looking at that is that clientele working on those projects. They are a huge customer for us. They stay at our hotels.”
Cox said the Spartanburg ECHO Suites expects business from various projects in the growing city, including a battery production facility.
“Spartanburg, like many other cities around the country, is booming with projects that require long-term, comfortable and affordable stays,” he said. “ECHO Suites is the answer with a well-designed prototype created with the operator in mind. Plus, when you add in the collaboration with the world’s largest hotel franchisor, it’s a perfect match.”
Krishna Paliwal, president of Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham and Wyndham’s head of architecture, design and construction, said he expects Singh to further ECHO Suites’ expansion.
“With the addition of Mandeep Singh, we’re reinforcing our commitment to our owner first philosophy as we continue to grow ECHO Suites to meet the needs of today’s guests,” Paliwal said.
