This hotel chain is giving people a surprising new way to customize their rooms by offering it without furniture
Brittany Chang
- Hotel chain WaterWalk is doing extended-stay hotels differently: Many of its rooms are unfurnished.
- Travelers who book these unfurnished accommodations stay for an average of about 400 nights, the brand's CEO said.
If you enjoy minimalist designs, you'll love WaterWalk: The expanding hotel chain is giving travelers the ultimate form of minimalism by offering completely unfurnished hotel rooms.
No, you're not supposed to sleep on the floor (although I guess you could). Instead, travelers who book these rooms are expected to BYOF — bring your own furniture. But if you're a traditionalist, don't snub WaterWalk just yet: The brand's properties have furnished rooms too.
Hospitality veteran Jack DeBoer founded the hotel chain in 2014. If you don't recognize WaterWalk, you may recognize his previous project. DeBoer, who died in 2021, was also the brainpower behind Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Suites, and Value Place.
These days, his granddaughter Mimi Oliver helms the company.
Before following in her grandfather's footsteps and taking over the business in Wichita, Kansas, Oliver worked on Wall Street. As she says, "If I write an autobiography, it'll be called 'From Wall Street to Wichita.'''
Staying in hotels can be half the fun of traveling. Who doesn't like the giddy feeling of exploring an unfamiliar hotel room with new furniture?
Well, with WaterWalk, you might not get this feeling. And that's the point.
Its accommodations range from studios to three-bedroom suites.
And they all have the convenience of fully-equipped apartments, including a kitchen and in-unit washers and dryers.
While the hotel chain does offer traditional rooms, its unfurnished rooms are what sets it apart from other extended-stay competitors.
Think of it as an apartment with monthly (with WiFi and utilities included).
Similar to a traditional apartment, guests looking to stay in the furniture-less suites have to fulfill the typical pre-rental requirements.
This includes proving a credit score of at least 550 and a monthly income of two-and-a-half to three times the rent, according to WaterWalk's website.
But unlike apartments, the company doesn't offer "leases" — it's still a hotel after all.
And there's no need to scramble to submit an application before any other potential residents get to it first.
With its furnished rooms, Oliver says the brand is trying to compete with the likes of Homewood Suites.
These rooms target the traditional extended-stay corporate traveler, think employees who have to relocate for a job or temporarily move for training.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, extended-stay hotels frequently singled out these customers.
But as we now know, business travel hasn't rebounded like leisure travel.
This doesn't seem to be a concern for Oliver.
Even now, guests booking WaterWalk's furnished rooms stay for an average of more than 100 nights, she told Insider.
Prices start at about $115 to over $200 a night for these accommodations depending on the time of year. During high travel season, its Phoenix location books closer to $250 a night.
But on the unfurnished side, this looks a bit different.
On average, guests in WaterWalk's furniture-less rooms stay for a whopping approximately 400 nights, Oliver said.
And payments are on a monthly basis. At the Tuscan, Arizona location, an unfurnished one-bedroom starts closer to $1,500 a month.
Other than corporate travelers, guests who book these are typically looking for a temporary home for an undefined period of time. This includes families, individuals, traveling nurses, and digital nomads.
WaterWalk's newer properties also include traditional communal hotel spaces like a lounge in the lobby and an outdoor space with fire pits and grills.
"You feel like you're in a home or an apartment where you can live for a while," Oliver said.
And some guests have taken this sentiment to heart. Oliver says one of its residents at the brand's Wichita, Kansas location has lived there for about five years.
Its locations are "generally" half furnished and half unfurnished, she said.
But its newest "Gen 2" prototype locations have about 10% more furnished than unfurnished rooms, although the brand can easily add or remove furniture if it sees the need for one over the other.
WaterWalk's Overland Park, Kansas location is seeing more demand for its blank rooms.
But the opposite is true for its Charlotte, North Carolina hotel where the brand has seen more bookings for furnished rooms.
Sure, empty hotel rooms are unconventional. But so far, the concept is working well for the brand.
Oliver says its locations have been seeing "very high occupancy" aided by the unusually long length of stays.
WaterWalk's occupancy rate is "anywhere in the 80s" percent range on a typical basis, Oliver said.
And because guests are staying for an extended period, it doesn't see "huge dips" in this.
This success has been pushing the hotel brand to expand fast.
An email from a spokesperson said WaterWalk's "pipeline is expected to double in size over the next 24 months."
WaterWalk both builds its hotels from the ground up and converts existing properties.
Its Sandy Springs, Georgia location — near Atlanta — was previously a Residence Inn before the team spent nine months and about $70,000 per key to turn it into a 128-room WaterWalk.
The hotel chain has 12 locations around the US from Boise, Idaho to Jacksonville, Florida.
And later this year, it'll open two in Jacksonville, Florida, and Huntsville, Alabama as well.
Construction on a Charleston, South Carolina location will begin early next year.
And it's already looking into other "high growth" markets in locations like Reno, Nevada; Austin, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee, and more in Florida.
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