Why Extended-Stay Hotels Are Smart Choices for Business Travelers & Corporate Programs

While a significant portion of the corporate travel industry comprises professionals enjoying the accommodations of a traditional hotel for a few days at a time, a growing segment of business travelers require more space and amenities due to the nature of their work.

These travelers often find themselves on the road for weeks or even months at a time, tackling long-term projects or assignments that demand a different kind of lodging solution.

That's where extended-stay hotels come in. Offering a unique blend of home-like comforts and hotel conveniences, these properties cater specifically to the needs of long-term guests generally in town for business.

Extended-stay hotels offer numerous benefits for corporate travel, particularly when it comes to balancing accommodation costs with the need for comfort over longer durations.

From spacious suites to money-saving amenities, these accommodations potentially enhance your travel program, so long as policies are clearly outlined to ensure prolonged trips aren’t budget busters.

Given the unique considerations for these types of business travelers, let’s examine the benefits of extended-stay hotels and how they impact your corporate travel program.

Key Takeaways

• Extended-stay hotels offer home-like amenities such as kitchenettes, workspaces, and laundry facilities.
• With discounted rates, they often provide a cost-effective lodging option for business travelers on long-term projects or relocations.
• Simplified expense management and the potential for blended travel make extended stays appealing.
• A robust travel management platform simplifies booking and expensing extended hotel stays for businesses.

What Are Extended-Stay Hotels?

An extended-stay hotel is tailored for guests needing accommodations for business trips often exceeding 30 days.

Unlike traditional hotels, they provide unique amenities that make them perfect for lengthy business trips.

Here’s what these services often entail:

• Kitchenettes or full kitchens for cooking meals—possibly enabling you to save on meal costs
• In-room workspaces for employees who need a quiet place to get work done
• On-site laundry facilities so travelers can limit baggage
• Comfortable, roomy suites with separate living and sleeping areas—a huge advantage over typical overnight hotel rooms, which average around 325 square feet

One of the biggest perks of extended-stay hotels?

They often take a lot of the hassle out of expense reporting by offering all-inclusive rates that cover a range of services including utilities, laundry, and Wi-Fi.

In practice, that means your travelers submit one simple receipt instead of a whole stack of charges for every single thing.

Compare that to a traditional hotel, where each meal, load of laundry, or other service means yet another line item to explain.

It may seem like a minor element of an extended stay, but when you're managing expenses for team members who are out there for weeks at a time, simplified billing is a real lifesaver.

Discounts & Flexible Booking

Extended-stay hotels often provide discounted rates for longer bookings.

They also grant more flexibility with check-in dates and lengths of stay compared to traditional properties. The best extended-stay hotels for business travelers are typically those that balance affordability with the necessary amenities for comfort and productivity throughout extended periods.

This makes them ideal for:

• Consulting, IT, and engineering firms with employees on long-term projects
• Healthcare companies with traveling medical staff
• Businesses relocating employees to new cities
• Construction crews that spend a significant amount of time on the job

By promoting a more residential vibe, extended-stay hotels help business travelers feel at home even when they're far from it.

Traditional Hotels vs. Extended Stays

So, how do extended-stay properties stack up against traditional hotels for business travel?

Whether for personal or business trips, most of us are familiar with the services a typical overnight stay hotel provides: basic amenities, possibly on-site eating options, a selection of exercise equipment, Wi-Fi, pool, and housekeeping, among others. Most of all, the rate you pay is generally a nightly fee and typically doesn’t include additional amenities besides a complimentary breakfast.

While both offer a place to hang your hat while on the road, some key differences make one a better choice than the other, depending on the length and nature of your trip.

Let's take a closer look.

Expense Management

With extended stays, expense reporting is simplified. Travelers submit fewer receipts, since most major expenses are consolidated into the room rate. Companies also negotiate long-term rates to reduce cost variability.

Space & Amenities

The additional space and home-like amenities of extended-stay suites make them more comfortable and practical for longer trips. Kitchen and laundry access also helps travelers maintain their routines.

Compliance Considerations

Corporate travel policies for extended stay accommodations may need to be more detailed to manage elements such as per diems, meal allowances, and overall trip budgets, but the flexibility and predictability of long-term bookings makes compliance easier.

Bleisure Travel & Extended Stays

Business travelers are increasingly tacking on a few extra days to their corporate trips to relax, see the sights, or connect with friends and family, giving rise to blended travel, or “bleisure.”

For extended-stay travelers, the longer durations make bleisure an even more appealing option.

Think about it: When travelers are already going to be in a city for weeks at a time, why not take advantage of the opportunity to explore and get to know the area like a local?

That might mean taking in the must-see tourist spots throughout the weekend, checking out up-and-coming areas, spending the day seaside, or even inviting local family members or friends to join you for a few days of quality time in between meetings.

Of course, it's important to keep in mind that bleisure travel does require some careful planning and communication to ensure it aligns with your company's policies and expectations.

For savvy travelers and forward-thinking organizations, the benefits of blended travel are hard to ignore—and with extended-stay hotels leading the way in terms of flexibility and home-like amenities, it's never been easier to make the most of your time on the road.

For travel managers, the rise of bleisure travel presents an opportunity to enhance your corporate travel program in ways that benefit both your organization and traveling employees.

By embracing and enabling bleisure trips, you can:

• Boost employee satisfaction and retention by promoting better work-life balance and making business travel feel more rewarding.
• Improve productivity by giving road warriors the chance to recharge and return to work refreshed and refocused.
• Reduce burnout and travel-related stress, leading to a happier, healthier, and more stable workforce
• Potentially save on travel costs by encouraging employees to cover their own leisure expenses and optimizing flight bookings.
• Offer greater flexibility and customization in your travel policies, showcasing your company's commitment to employee well-being.

Managing Extended-Stay Expenses

There’s a lot to think about regarding extended-stay business trips.

To keep costs in check while empowering travelers, you’ll want to implement a range of strategies to ensure your travel program helps boost your business rather than creating a budgetary nightmare.

With that in mind, here are a few helpful tips:

• Partner with preferred extended-stay brands to secure discounted rates.
• Provide realistic meal per diems that account for potential grocery expenses.
• Educate travelers on policy nuances for long-term stays, especially around “bleisure” excursions.
• Use a travel management platform to track bookings, centralized invoicing, and analyze spending data.

Simplify Extended Stays With Business Travel

“Extended-stay travel is also having a moment,” declared Skift, a travel industry news site, in a post about business travel trends.

Among the new trends, major hotel chains are creating brands that appeal directly to extended-stay travelers. Such investments have had real impact on the travel industry, with the extended-stay hotel market expected to experience a 9.4% annualized growth rate from now to 2030.

The Promise of Our Robust Travel Management Platform

At Business Travel, our intuitive platform takes the headaches out of managing extended-stay trips by providing easy bookings, simplifying expense management, enabling corporate travel policy integration, and providing blended travel options.

Efficiently track all booking and expense data in one place. Think of it as your exclusive travel management co-pilot.