In late November, Choice Hotels International, Inc. announced it had executed five contracts for its new all-suites, select service brand, Cambria Suites. With the first Cambria Suites to open early next year, William Edmundson (pictured), vice president of brand management and strategy for Choice Hotels, discussed the outlook for the brand with CPN senior editor Eugene Gilligan. CPN: Please talk about what kind of traveler you see Cambria Suites appealing to? Edmundson: We want to appeal to a group that we believe is under served, that is travelers between the ages of 25 and their early 40s, and some who are at the tail end of the baby boom. We're seeing a changing of the guard, as Gen X travelers are passing Baby Boomers. Our exterior looks like an urban loft. Our rooms are suites, and therefore are larger than our competitors, and when you open the suite door, the guest sees two flat panel TVs. We've found that the Gen X traveler wants wired and wireless Internet, which we will have. They want to have Starbucks, and we will have a barista in our lobby. The hotel will have a full-workout center, and our food offerings will offer both organic and standard choices. CPN: What is the cost to develop a typical Cambria Suites property, and where does it fall in comparison to your competitors? Edmundson: The cost is market-dependent. We wanted to do a hotel where development cost is around or below the cost of our competitors. The hard cost is approximately $65,000 per key, with furniture, fixture and electric at about $13,000 a key, and soft goods at about $3,000 a key. Land costs must be added to that. We're asked how we keep our development costs down when we're doing a suites hotel. We really don't have any wasted space. For example, our porte-cochere is very space efficient. CPN: What kind of locations are you targeting for the Cambria Suites brand? Edmundson: We see it fitting into a lot of situations. We've signed deals for hotels in lifestyle centers, airport markets, and suburban office. We've also signed a deal for an urban property, in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. CPN: Talk about some of the key design components in the lobby and the rooms? Edmundson: Our lobby is two stories. We have found that Gen Xers like to be around other people. We have our business center in the lobby. Our Refill area is where our guests can get a salad or soup anytime. The suites have features such as a resort-style bathroom, full-size closet, an ergonomic desk chair, and a clock radio that an Ipod can be plugged into. CPN: Do you have any target number of Cambria Suites that you want to have open by a certain date? Edmundson: We're going to open our first Cambria Suites in Boise, Idaho at the end of January or the beginning of February 2007. As of Sept. 30, we had 33 under contract, and we expect a good finish to the year. Some examples of airport properties will be in Boise; Baltimore-Washington International; Ontario, Calif.; and Newark Airport. We have signed agreements for properties as part of mixed-use developments in Maple Grove, Minn.; Fort Collins, Colo.; and Cathedral City, Calif.
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