Sleek, functional look for Motel 6

By Colleen Isherwood
Editor

CARROLLTON, TX—Motel 6 will have a new look starting in 2009.

Motivated in part by the high costs of construction, Motel 6 parent Accor North America decided to look at a total revamp of the way its buildings were designed.  They hired a European company called PRiestman Goode out of London to come up with some creative ways to decrease the cost of construction and increase functionality.

The result is a very innovative, contemporary European design. Although construction costs are highly variable, they hope hold the costs to an estimated $50,000 a room at a time when average new room costs in Canada are in the $77,000-97,000 per room range.  The single room will be slightly smaller than today’s Motel 6 rooms — 195 sq. ft. as opposed to 201 sq. ft. today.  The double rooms will be slightly larger — 242 sq. ft. versus 238 sq. ft. today.  The hotel footprint has been reduced so that a 100-room hotel would be about 34,000 sq. ft. and would require no more than 1.5 to 1.7 acres of land for a new build.  Importantly, it should enable Motel 6 to maintain its position as the most competitively priced national chain in its category.

But before the company rolls out the concept across North America, it has built a prototype in Texas near Accor’s Carrollton offices.  “We want to be sure of what we are building, what we are giving to our franchisees.  We want to test it, make sure it is totally proven,” Bernard Rudler, executive vice-president, franchise and procurement for Accor North America told CLN in an interview. 

Rudler expects that retrofits of existing properties with some elements of the new prototype will begin in early 2009, with new build construction proceeding in the summer of 2009.

“We’re 10 years ahead of our competition,” said Irwin Prince, president & COO of Realstar Hospitality, the master franchisor for Days Inn, Motel 6, Studio 6 and Novotel in Canada.  “It’s an exciting thing Accor has done, with an advanced design throughout the interior and exterior.”

“There are so many new things,” enthused Rudler.  There is the seating area, the combination of the television and closet, with the closet located behind the TV panel. There’s a place to hook up your MP3 player or computer into the TV. 

“Function is what we want to be the signature throughout the room,” said Rudler. Often, when people enter a room it looks great until they try opening their suitcase or finding a place for their hockey equipment.  The new Motel 6 room has storage under the bed.
Bed frames typically never have quite enough light or storage, explained Prince. The bed frame has an area between the frame and the floor so that suitcases slip seamlessly under the bed and are easy to retrieve.  The soft goods package is forward thinking.  The flooring is hardwood rather than carpet, saving time for housekeeping staff and alleviating allergies.

“They’ve taken something small and made it look and feel large,” Prince added. “It was time to invest in a segment that had been traditionally overlooked. It will make this segment much more aspirational than it has ever been.  Rather than having to stay there, they will want to stay there.”

“It’s absolutely a splash!”  said Rudler.