Toward a Finer Flophouse

摘要

No room service, no daily maid service, no 24-hour front desk—just a bed, a bare-bones kitchenette, a desk, and a TV. This is the economy extended-stay hotel, the new option tailored to today's itinerant professional class. It may look like the place Willy Loman went when he checked out—part hell, part hotel—but it's billed as the lodging industry's hottest property in years. Low-end extended-stay hotels bear little resemblance to well-known brands like Residence Inn by Marriott, which pioneered the concept. But the midprice and economy segment (where rooms rent for between $200 and $400 a week, vs. $650 at Residence Inn) accounts for most of the sector's growth.