Writing the Motel 6 story earlier this week made me recall a conversation I had with Accor CEO Gilles Pelisson and Accor North America CEO Olivier Poirot at last month's Americas Lodging Investment Summit. The Motel 6 in Biloxi was Accor's 1,000th Motel 6/Studio 6 property to open, but 95 percent of those are Motel 6s. The two execs said a major focus this year and beyond would be growing Studio 6, the company's economy extended-stay brand.
What was interesting was both admitted they might be interested in purchasing a smaller chain or regional player with a handful of properties to grow the brand. Interestingly enough, 75 percent of the current portfolio, they said, was made up of former Homestead Studio Suites, one of Extended Stay America's current brands. ESA was rumored to be in in trouble in December (see here), but nothing further has developed. The Accor execs were clear they wouldn't be interested in the entire chain or a huge chunk of ESA if it became available, but if there were regional batches of Homestead properties available, it might be enticing.