Homewood Suites' Bill Duncan

MEMPHIS-While the hotel sector appears overall to be sliding into the linens chute, with occupancy rates nearing 50% and nightly prices falling below $100, the extended-stay segment is holding on as a new option for both leisure and corporate travelers. Many of those extended stay brands, whose rooms are technically booked for five days at a time or longer, are being discovered as a lower-cost option for weekend stays or week-long vacations.

Homewood Suites, an upscale extended-stay brand of Hilton Worldwide with nearly 300 locations, has hit a new growth wave in its 20th year with up to 30 new properties unlocking in 2010 and at least 100 more in the development pipeline. Bill Duncan, Homewood’s global head of brand management, is also overseeing development of Home2, Hilton’s new midscale extended-stay brand with over 50 locations in the works.

Duncan, who is based at Hilton’s Memphis operations center, recently spoke with GlobeSt.com about what keeps the extended-stay segment humming lately, and the Homewood brand in particular.