The uniqueness of offering unfurnished rooms sets WaterWalk apart from other extended-stay brands being debuted in the market , said Oliver , who doesn ’ t consider any other extended-stay brand as WaterWalk ’ s competitor because of the offerings , but does count some of the traditional multifamily and residential buildings as competition .
The first WaterWalk hotel opened in Wichita , Kan ., in November 2014 and has since grown its collection and presence in more than 12 locations across the U . S . Responding to increasing demand for extended-stay rooms , the company has opened five hotels so far this year and plans to double its portfolio by 2024-end . The company already has two properties under development in Jacksonville , Fla ., slated to open this fall , and Huntsville , Ala ., expected to open this winter .
The demand for both the room types has been healthy , with furnished rooms recording around 80 % occupancy in the past 12 months and unfurnished rooms posting nearly 90 % occupancy , Oliver said .
Occupancy of the room types really depends on the market and that ’ s the beauty of WaterWalk ’ s flexible model , she said .
Under the company ’ s new Gen 2.0 prototype , all hotels consist of a single four-story high building comprising 126 rooms — 76 fully furnished suites and 50 unfurnished units . Fully furnished Stay units range from studio suites and one- and two-bedroom suites ; while unfurnished Live units are available in one- and twobedroom suites .
“ We ’ re looking for sites across the U . S . with similar market strategies , but we ’ re looking for about three acres in a dense suburban market to develop the Gen 2.0 prototype . Our baseline model is 60 % of Stay and 40 % Live units . But of course , we can be flexible to market conditions and global demand conditions ,” Oliver said .
Besides new-build properties , WaterWalk is also focusing on conversion projects . The company converted a building in the Atlanta market , which opened this March .
“ We are actively pursuing a couple of other conversion projects , but we have not purchased any others at this point ,” Oliver said . “ We ’ re looking at another one in Atlanta , one at Minneapolis and a couple across the country . We plan to start developing and renovating a couple more conversion projects within the next year .”
WaterWalk aims to have at least three more conversion projects in 2024 , she added .
The company is mostly looking to ramp up its presence in high growth markets across the country , especially in southwest areas of the U . S . and is focusing in South Carolina , Florida , Texas , Alabama and Georgia .
WaterWalk ’ s Live rooms are unfurnished rooms that guests can furnish and decorate as per their needs .
The Living Room , or the lobby area in WaterWalk hotels , includes an espresso station , workstations with a printer , oversized wallmounted board games and a television .
The interior of a Stay room at WaterWalk Tucson Extended Stay Suites .
Jan / Feb 2024 hotelsmag . com 61