Wayne Androliakos, general manager at Staybridge Suites London Stratford City, revealed the UK-based hotel firm was planning to open two more venues under the concept within the next two years.
“We are probably two years ahead of where we should be with the brand as it’s doing so well in the UK,” Androliakos told BigHospitality.
Androliakos, who helped launch Staybridge Suites in this country in 2008 when he served as GM of the first venue in Liverpool, said the UK growth of the concept had been ‘phenomenal’.
“We already have Liverpool, Newcastle and London and have another two in the pipeline; Vauxhall, which is due to open next September, October time and Staybridge Manchester which will open in 2015.”
Staybridge Suites was launched by IHG in Georgia in 1998. Since then the company has opened more than 100 hotels under the brand which specialises in ‘home-like comforts’.
All the suites are fitted with fully-equipped kitchens, workstations and a free hot breakfast buffet.
Resilient
The news of the UK growth of Staybridge Suites comes on the same day IHG revealed its results for the first half of the year.
The Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza operator delivered what it called a ‘good performance’ in the first half to 30 June 2013 – worldwide revenue rose by seven per cent to reach $936m, while operating profit jumped by 20 per cent to top $330m.
IHG reported a 3.7 per cent growth in worldwide revenue per available room (RevPAR) although the figure was much lower in Europe - up just 0.4 per cent. UK RevPAR was up 1.6 per cent.
IHG chief executive Richard Solomons said the gains had been led by the firm’s Americas region although trading remained ‘resilient’ in tricky markets like Europe.
“We continue to strengthen our foundation for future growth, signing more than 200 hotels into our pipeline, a notable increase on H1 2012 reflecting our owners' confidence in both IHG and the industry demand drivers,” he said.
“Our high quality pipeline, broad geographic spread and fee based model give us confidence in the outlook, despite the on-going challenging economic conditions in some of our markets,” Solomons added.
In the second quarter of the year RevPAR grew by 4 per cent across the globe and by 2.2 per cent (with 0.3 per cent average room rate growth) in Europe.
Meanwhile, cash from disposals, such as the sale of the InterContinental London Park Lane hotel, have helped IHG reinvest in the business and pay a $350m special dividend to shareholders.