Microtel® by Wyndham, the award-winning economy hotel brand under Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, today unveiled its newest prototype, a reimagined interior and exterior concept designed to further elevate the brand, reduce building costs, optimize efficiencies and drive greater returns for developers. The prototype is the first step of Wyndham’s overarching new construction growth strategy focused on delivering long-term value and quality for owners.
The new prototype, Moda, represents the evolution of the Microtel brand emphasizing modern efficiency and minimalism for today’s guest and owner. The new exterior architecture and interior design elevate the brand’s spaces to match the midscale experience it already delivers – now at an even more competitive, efficient cost to build. Moda reduces Microtel’s total footprint by 28 percent versus the prior prototype. The design also delivers more than 70 percent of rentable space – one of the strongest in both the economy and midscale segments.
“Microtel is the epitome of efficiency: it outperforms the segment, offers streamlined operations and leads its peers in guest satisfaction,” said Keri Putera, vice president, Brand Operations, Microtel by Wyndham. “As we build on the brand’s existing model, we’ve identified small, purposeful details which can drive large, incremental savings for developers and create a significant impact on the experience for our guests. Moda – a term symbolizing both style and precision – simplifies operations through design while tapping into the growing trend of minimalism, addressing the changing needs of today’s travelers and owners.”
The first hotels leveraging the new prototype are set to break ground in 2019.
Development disruptor
Microtel’s transformative next step is the first of a multi-pronged growth strategy for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as it builds the foundation for future expansion just over nine months into its tenure as a pure-play hotel company.
Wyndham’s new development strategy prioritizes quality and longevity in the economy and midscale segments via smart investment and partnering with growing entrepreneurs. Taking a page from the industry-leading practices of its newly acquired La Quinta® by Wyndham brand, the company’s strategy underscores new construction growth, design-driven conversions and a redesigned franchisee journey emphasizing added value over the lifetime of the investment.
“Microtel is already a category-killer in the economy segment and is poised to disrupt in the midscale segment where it often competes, making it the perfect first step as we set out to transform the new construction landscape in both these segments,” said David Wilner, senior vice president, New Construction Development, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. “With a focus on streamlined new construction models like Moda, we are paving the way for continued expansion across our economy and midscale brands and creating a foundation of long-term support for entrepreneurial hoteliers growing their businesses.”
A more efficient Microtel by Wyndham
Developed in collaboration with seasoned Microtel owners and award-winning architect firm, Hoefer Wysocki, Moda incorporates modern architecture, smart interior staples like wall-hung furniture and minimalist interior design trends to appeal to millennials and today’s business and leisure travelers.
According to Mayflower, millennials are leading the way when it comes to streamlined living spaces with the bare essentials, with 23 percent significantly more likely to say they’re minimalists when it comes to purging things or belongings. The Moda prototype delivers a sleek, minimalist look and feel contributing to an elevated guest experience while also streamlining costs to develop.
Exterior highlights
The new design includes a four-story exterior facade option and features a new, flat-roof design, elevating Microtel’s visibility, signage and status from its previous pitched-roof design.
The building itself is sleeker, reducing the total number of cut-outs in the foundation by modeling a Bauhaus architectural style – at 34,700 to 35,700 square feet, it’s saving developers significant square footage material costs.
The design changes minimize the brand’s land requirements by 11 percent, affording developers more freedom and flexibility to build.
Interior highlights
The interior design delivers layout and maintenance efficiencies inspired by conversations with owners and operators across the industry.
Leaner and more modular, Moda uniformly positions guestrooms by unit type – suites, doubles and singles – allowing for natural building breaks and flow.
Wall-mounted headboards, desks and televisions help housekeepers turn guestrooms faster, maximize open guest space and appeal to the personal aesthetic of today’s millennial travelers.
Incorporating the franchisee’s fingerprint
Helping to ensure Moda fits the owner and guest bill at each stage of the design process – from first conceptualization to final prototype – is a team of Microtel owners and industry vets, including a 15-person Microtel Developer Advisory Council offering feedback and expertise. The brand tapped owners, operators and general managers from various brands, markets and segments to work hand-in-glove with designers integrating additional operational feedback into the design.
Microtel owner and Franchise Advisory Board member Chad Moore is one of the first to sign executed agreements to build two new Moda prototypes in Milford and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware in 2019.
“I like to keep things simple, especially in business, and Microtel lets me do this,” said Moore, seasoned owner of the Microtel by Wyndham Georgetown in Delaware. “Moda streamlines the development and operations of the hotel – while strongly upholding the defining design and service principles that have made Microtel the economy champion it is today – making the new Microtel an even more attractive, lucrative and valuable long-term investment.”
As of December 2018, Microtel has 82 hotels in the development pipeline – 59 in the United States and 23 internationally.
