The Highland Group: Often featured in the press for more than 20 years.
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Atlanta Business Chronicle April 19, 2013– Clermont to be reborn as upscale, boutique hotel – by Amy Wenk. “That’s going to be huge for [the Clermont] development, ” said boutique hotel consultant Kim Bardoul with The Highland Group. “You’ll be able to walk to the Ponce City development. That will certainly support it.”
Hotel News Now March 27, 2013– 5 things to know: 27 March 2013 - by Ed Watkins. In 2012, extended stay nominal revenue per available room was above its 2007 level in more than half of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., according to a new study from The Highland Group.
National Real Estate Investor March 13, 2013– Hotel Buyers Have No Reservations About Extended-Stay Segment - by Beth Mattson-Teig. “I think, nationally, it is going to be another good year with an increase in demand and increasing average rate and RevPAR,” says [Mark] Skinner.
Lodging Hospitality Online September 3, 2012– Extended Stay Hotel Lead the Industry – by Ed Watkins. Mark Skinner, partner with The Highland Group [said]; “I think, nationally, it is going to be another good year with an increase in demand and increasing average rate and RevPAR,” says Skinner.
Hotel News Now August 28, 2012– “Very Good’ Timing for ES Sonesta Launch by John Buchanan. And by converting existing assets, Mark Skinner said, Sonesta has chosen “a good way to kick off a new brand.”
Hotel Management.net August 10, 2012– Growth in rates fuels extended-stay segment increases by Elaine Yetzer Simon. Mark Skinner, of The Highland Group, said “They’re getting close to their previous peaks. When that happens, with low supply growth, we should get greater increases in room rate.”
Wall Street Journal July 8, 2012– Long-Stay Hotels Settle In by Alessia Pirolo. According to the consulting firm The Highland Group, only 2.7% of all U.S. extended-stay hotel rooms are in the New York state and northern New Jersey area. “There would be opportunity to develop the product,” says Mark Skinner, a Highland partner.
Lodging Hospitality July 6, 2012– Evolving Extended-Stay Lodging Continues to Thrive in U.S. by Eric Stoessel. “Typically the percent of transient business goes up over expansionary times, but there’s been an increase in extended-stay business overall,” says Highland Group Partner Mark Skinner.
Lodging Hospitality July 5, 2012– Extended-Stay Lodging Goes Global by Ed Watkins. “There’s definitely a market in Europe for extended stay. The segment is critically under served on a pan-European basis,” says Mark Skinner.
Atlanta Business Chronicle June 15, 2012– Loudermilk seeks boutique hotel in Buckhead Village by Douglas Sams. “With stylish condos, luxury shopping and trendy restaurants, Buckhead is similar to the Uptown district in Dallas, which has several boutique hotels, including Hotel ZaZa. Buckhead has nothing like that”, said Kim Bardoul, a consultant with The Highland Group.
Lodging Hospitality May 9, 2012–Extended Stay Takes Lead in Rate Growth by Ed Watkins. “If you look at last year’s extended-stay numbers, each quarter the rate of [ADR] increase was bigger than the previous quarter, and by the middle of the year it was rising faster than the overall hotel industry,” says Highland Group Partner Mark Skinner.
Hotel Business May 7, 2012–Hotel Chains Look to Expand Extended-Stay Brands Internationally by Bruce Serlin. Mark Skinner, a partner in the Atlanta-based Highland Group, discourages people from assuming that the major brands are taking their upscale, extended-stay products to Europe, the Middle East and Asia because the U.S. market is somehow saturated.
Atlanta Business Chronicle March 2012–Mandarin Oriental gives new identity to The Mansion by Amy Wenk. Mandarin’s move into the South, “reflects Atlanta’s growth as an international destination as Mandarin Oriental hotels are exclusively located in international gateway cities in the Americas.” said Kim Bardoul, a hotel consultant with The Highland Group.
New York Times February 9, 2012 – Luxury Long-Term Lodging Begins to Feel Like Home by Elizabeth Olson. The big hotel chains “are recognizing that there is an underserved niche in the market,” said Mark Skinner, a partner with The Highland Group.
Asian Hospitality December 2011 – Close to Home – New Extended-Stay Hotels Reshape the Market by Judy Maxwell. The last time occupancy was in the upper 70% range was from 2005 through 2007.
Green Lodging News September 30, 2011 – Another Book on Sustainability to Add to Your Collection by Glenn Hasek. The primary news source for sustainability issues. The lead story by Glenn is supportive of the book recently published on Sustainable Development. Peggy Berg of The Highland Group contributed a chapter in this book.
The New York Times September 19, 2011 – Putting the Staff Up in Style by Julie Weed. Over the last few years, corporate apartment rentals have been moving up the amenity spectrum, according to Mark Skinner, a partner with the Highland Group. “Travelers are starting to ask for the executive experience in an apartment setting,” he said.
Lodging Hospitality September 19, 2011 –MLIS 2011: Extended Stay Roars Back. Video – Mark Skinner moderates a panel with Gary DeLapp, Bill Duncan, Kevin Lewis and Liz Perkins.
Lodging Hospitality September 1, 2011 – MLIS Speakers Show Optimism for a Timely Recovery by Ed Watkins. “Extended stay hotels need to raise their rates,” moderator Mark Skinner declared.
Hotel News Now July 19, 2011 – MLIS: Extended Stay needs aggressive rate play by Jeff Higley. Skinner said; “The average length of stay at extended-stay hotels increased by two nights from 2008 to 2010—another reason operators should feel comfortable about raising rates.”
Hotel and Motel Management May 2, 2011 – Extended-stay: Report shows segment primed to perform by Ed Lieber. “The decline to lower levels of supply growth will continue this year and next year,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group. He said extended-stay hotels still make up less than 7 percent of total rooms in the U.S. “It’s still a niche, but growing,” he said. “Supply has always grown more rapidly in extended-stay than in the overall hotel industry due to the smaller base of units,” he said. “But this segment is rife with new sources of demand,” he said. “For example, not all travelers understand the benefits of extended-stay, such as the kitchenette in the room or suite, which can save money on meals,” Skinner said. “And, the longer you stay, the lower the rate,” he said.
SavannahNow.com February 3, 2011 – Hotel Owners Advised to Raise Rates by J.J. Rigsby. “We’ve got a good few years of significant increases in average rate if we want to take advantage of them,” Skinner told about 70 members of the Savannah Area Tourism Leadership Council on Wednesday at the Hilton Garden Inn in midtown.
National Public Radio February 3, 2011 – Hotel Rates Rising Audio - Mark Skinner discusses the hotel market recovery with Georgia Public Broadcast News.
Lodging Hospitality August 21, 2010 – Extended Stay Shines in First Half by Ed Watkins. Another factor favoring the segment is the sharp decline in new room openings; in fact, says Skinner, the number of extended-stay rooms under construction is the lowest since 1995. “And it will get lower,” he says. “The cycle will repeat itself and construction will start again but not until financing becomes easier.”
The Atlanta Business Chronicle August 16, 2010 – Spanish Hotel Giant Lands Downtown by Lisa R. Schoolcraft. “They’ve been around a long time and are very well known in Europe,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group Hotel Investment Advisors Inc., a hotel consulting group in Atlanta. Sol Meliá’s entrance in the United States is also a way to capture the European travelers visiting here, Skinner said. “Look at what has happened in the other direction,” he said. “Marriott has a much greater presence in Europe than they did 15 years ago.” InterContinental Hotel Group Plc (NYSE: IHG), with its North American headquarters in Atlanta, is based in London, but its presence in Europe and globally has been predominately on the Holiday Inn brand, Skinner said. IHG’s StayBridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express have also been “a growth engine for them in Europe, too,” he said.
The New York Times May 7, 2008 – Debt Worries Arrive for a Hotel and Mall Operator by Terry Pristin. Mark Skinner, a partner in The Highland Group, a hospitality research and consulting firm based in Atlanta, said the company’s strategy is promising. “If you can get your message across to the right audience, there’s no reason why that shouldn’t result in an increase in business,” he said. “People are looking to economize.”
The Wall Street Journal June 1, 2006 – Extended-Stay Westin Planned by Peter Sanders. “The extended-stay market, with about 260,700 rooms nationwide, is growing at roughly 5% to 6% a year, compared with growth of 1% to 2% across the entire industry,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group, a hotel consulting and research firm in Atlanta.
The New York Times April 21, 2004 – Blackstone Expands Holdings in Long-Term Lodging by Terry Pristin. In recent years, as investment capital has become less available, the pace of construction has slowed. Last year, there were 3,303 lower-priced extended stay hotels under construction, compared with 4,299 in 2002, according to the Highland Group, a hotel consulting, research and appraisal company in Atlanta. As of December, Extended Stay America said it had 11 hotels in the pipeline. Industry specialists also said that unlike most hotel chains, which give individual managers discretion in setting rates, rates at Extended Stay America are centrally controlled and uniform for all customers, whether corporate or individual. ”That will change under Blackstone,” predicted Mark A. Skinner, a partner in the Highland Group, the Atlanta hotel consulting company. ”It’s a good area to grow revenue.”
Hotel and Motel Management April 5, 2004 – Blackstone to acquire ESA’s portfolio by Jeff Higley. “Obviously, there is some fat that could be trimmed off by Blackstone,” said Mark Skinner, partner with The Highland Group, an Atlanta-based consulting firm. “On the operations side duplicate job functions could be eliminated. On the real estate side underperforming properties or sites that have been purchased for future development could be sold,” Skinner said. “Once the deal is complete, Blackstone will control 68 percent of the mid-price segment’s 92,000 rooms,” he said. “There’s no doubt there’s going to be some competition between the two main brands [Homestead and ESA],” he said. “But there’s some differentiation based on the distribution of the brands, and that will open up new opportunities down the road. For example, the ESA brand has a heavy concentration of properties in Southern California and Chicago where Homestead is under represented,” Skinner said.
Hotel and Motel Management June 2, 2003 – Corporate Housing sector takes note from hotel industry by Patricia Alisau. “Corporate housing is a good fit for a hotel portfolio,” according to Mark Skinner, a consultant with The Highland Group, a hospitality research firm in Atlanta. “It blends very well because it is a different slice of the market,” Skinner said. “It’s another alternative.”
The Wall Street Journal October 30, 2002 – Corporate Apartments Are Going Upscale by Ray A. Smith. Rates have come down. Average monthly rents for corporate apartments fell 1% nationwide in 2001, to $2,568, according to The Highland Group, an Atlanta-based hospitality consulting firm. Some of the biggest drops were in Philadelphia, where rents fell 17% on average, to $2,313 from $2,784, in Seattle, where the average slid 14% to $2,662, and in Phoenix, down 10% to $2,243 from $2,499. Meanwhile, as corporate-housing providers are spending more on marketing and upgrades, they have slashed their holdings because of decreased demand. the number of corporate-housing units in the US declined 14% in 2001, to 73,523 units from 85,553 in 2000, and is forecast to decline 3% this year, says The Highland Group.
The Wall Street Journal September 12, 2002 – Hotels Fare Better Than Expected Partly Due to Low Interest Rates by Stephanie Paterik. “An increasing number of small hotels and motels, typically classified as having fewer than 100 rooms, are relying on such loans to stay afloat,” according to Peggy Berg, president of The Highland Group, an Atlanta-based hotel-research firm.
The New York Times August 19, 2001 – Between Hotel and Home by Janet Piorko. The project – the first such venture associated with Ritz Carlton – is one of the more luxurious examples of extended-stay accommodations, which make up the fastest growing segment in the lodging business,” according to Mark Skinner, a partner with The Highland Group, a consulting and research firm specializing in the field. “Their number has grown from 52,000 such units in the United States in 1995 to 212,000 last year,” Mr. Skinner said. Although around a third are what he calls upscale, such as Residence Inn by Marriott, only a few are deluxe.
The Dallas Morning News December 9, 2000 – Home suite home – Extended-stay hotels flourish in areaby Kim Horner. “The strong economy, especially in the high-tech industry, has created a growing population of mobile workers,” according to a study by The Highland Group Hotel Investment Advisors Inc. in Atlanta.
Hotel and Motel Management October 16, 2000 – Figure reinforce segment’s strength by Jeff Higley. “You’ve really got a situation in which all of the fundamental performance measures took a step ahead even though there was a 15 percent increase in supply,” said Mark Skinner, principal with The Highland Group an Atlanta based consulting company that authored the study.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle October 26, 1998 – Resort Town by Shade Elam. “In fact, Atlanta has experienced tremendous growth in the extended-stay and limited-service hotels. But full-service hotels have not kept up with demand”, according to Mark Skinner, of The Highland Group Hotel Investment Advisors. “Room rates have risen to a point where new construction makes sense,” he said.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle September 21, 1998 – Barnes Growing Business by Shade Elam. “Efficiency Lodges are on the low end of the economy extended-stay hotel segment”, according to Mark Skinner of The Highland Group, an Atlanta company that researches the hotel market. “You don’t find much below $150 now,” Skinner said. At that low price, many customers will be semi permanent residents, as well as people on temporary assignment, he said.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle December 8, 1997 – Hotel Room Boom is Driving Down Rates Report Says by Shade Elam. According to Mark Skinner of The Highland Group Investment adviser in Atlanta, “the Olympics may have thrust Atlanta into the limited-service market faster than other cities. Atlanta may have gotten a jump on the current development cycle,” he said. “Areas outside the Perimeter are targeted for much of the growth”, according to Skinner. “Those include Gwinnett County near Interstate 85′s Exit 40, where Extended Stay America, AmeriSuites and Summerfield Suites all have locations. The Peachtree Corners-Norcross and Gwinnett Place North areas have also seen growth. Town Center in Cobb County and Southlake, south of I-285 in Clayton County, have also had significant growth in hotel supply”.”Capital is easier to get for limited-service hotels than for full-service hotels”, Skinner said. “Developers can often open a hotel with as little as 10 percent down with U.S. Small Business Administration funding.”
Real Estate Forum November 1995 – A Formula for Hotel Capital Reserves. “Since very few hotels have been built in recent years and funds for new construction are not widely available, buyers and investors are left with full-service hotels that may require considerably more CapEx than was previously thought, conclude the study’s authors, Mark Skinner, a consultant with The Highland Group in Atlanta and Henry B. Staley, a partner with Atlantic Hospitality Advisors, also in Atlanta.
Commercial Property News June 16, 1991 – Investment & Asset Management Hotel Properties by Robert Cummings. “We not overbuilt; we’re under demolished,” said Peggy Berg, President of The Highland Group in Atlanta.
