Extended Stay Accommodations: Satisfaction, Preferences & Challenges

Earlier this month, GBTA released a study on extended stay accommodations in partnership with WWStay. It looked at usage patterns and preferences finding differences across generations and genders when it comes to U.S. international business travelers and also covered how extended stay accommodations fit into travel policies. This post looks into satisfaction, preferences and challenges for extended stay.

An overwhelming majority of business travelers (91 percent) are very satisfied or satisfied with their lodging experience on their last international trip of 5 days or more regardless of what type of lodging was used. Major differences are revealed however, when looking at satisfaction levels by type of extended stay accommodation, with much higher satisfaction levels at extended stay hotels (94 percent) and corporate furnished accommodations (87 percent) compared to accommodation rentals (74 percent).

The high satisfaction is not surprising, considering the hospitality industry invests heavily to ensure their customers are pleased with their visits. Satisfied customers create both the potential for a return visit and a positive review that could entice a new customer.

With nearly half of U.S. international business travelers staying at an extended stay accommodation for a business trip in the past year, we wanted to know why they preferred non-traditional hotel accommodations. The top reasons are fully equipped kitchens (45 percent), amenities (40 percent), the residential feel (36 percent) and cost efficiency (34 percent).

Many of these U.S. based international travelers, however, noted that they have challenges booking extended stay accommodations. The top challenges are minimum stay requirements (29 percent), limited number of accommodations (21 percent) and lack of guest reviews (20 percent). It’s no surprise in today’s sharing economy that reviews from previous guests would be important. Length of stay is also often dictated by the company, not the individual traveler, so a minimum stay requirement may keep them from booking.

To keep growing demand for extended stay accommodations, companies that provide them should address the challenges noted by becoming more flexible with minimum stay requirements, providing an up-to-date website listing amenities and guest reviews, and increasing the supply of extended stay accommodations available.

To learn more about this study’s findings, you can join a webinar on November 18.