Redrawing the map

In five years Accome Hotel Apartments has grown into an international chain. Now the next step is being taken. With its new name, StayAt Hotel Apartments is entering the Nordic market as a lead player with an investment of a billion Swedish kronor. This will help the chain double its size in three years. StayAt Hotel Apartments champions the Extended-Stay concept, the fastest growing trend in the hotel industry in the Nordic region. The aim is to have at least 15 hotels by 2010.

StayAt Hotel Apartments opened its eighth hotel in 2006. After Stockholm, Malmö, Helsinki and Prague, Helsingborg saw the introduction of its first Accome hotel in October. That was the first visible step of the expansion plans that will double the size of the chain by 2010.

The chain has decided to establish new hotels in Uppsala, Lund, Stockholm, Malmö, Gothenburg and Copenhagen. The ninth hotel opened during the autumn of 2008 in Espoo, Finland – a financial centre and Finland’s second largest city.

Espoo is the home of Nokia headquarters and the University of Applied Sciences. In 2007 StayAt Hotel Apartments plan to make decisions on establishing a presence in several Nordic cities. Real estate acquisitions and reconstruction worth EUR 100 million are being planned.

StayAt Hotel Apartments is the only chain in the Nordic market to have the Extended Stay-concept. StayAt Hotel Apartments offers apartments with hotel service but where guests can live a little more like they would at home — sleep, cook, work and socialise. The philosophy is to combine the benefits of traditional hotels, including service and accessibility, with the freedom of choice, space and comfort one finds at home. Pricing is simple: the longer you stay, the better the price.

StayAt Hotel Apartments has a high standard and targets both discriminating business travellers and price-conscious families. In Sweden hotel apartments comprise only a tiny fraction of the total hotel market, but there are many factors, such as increased international travel, global business mergers and an increased familiarity with the apartment hotel concept, which support a rapid market growth for this niche.

According to the Swedish Hotel and Restaurant Association, statistics suggest there is more growth room for the StayAt Hotel Apartments concept in Stockholm than for the hotel industry in general. As the market leader, StayAt Hotel Apartments is driving the development of this concept in the Nordic countries.

With expansion into several Nordic cities as the growth engine, StayAt Hotel Apartments will develop its offerings over the coming years to become even more flexible when it comes to reservations and price-setting.