Wyndham Hotels & Resorts](https://www.wyndhamhotels.com) has claimed all three top spots in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best Extended Stay Hotel Brand, with ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham landing at No. 1, followed by Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham at No. 2 and WaterWalk Extended Stay by Wyndham at No. 3. The sweep makes Wyndham the only major hotel franchisor with top-ranked brands spanning all three extended stay price tiers — a distinction that carries real weight as demand for longer-term accommodations continues to outpace traditional transient lodging.
ECHO's Fast Rise
The most striking element of the rankings is ECHO Suites' No. 1 finish just two years after its first property opened in 2024. The all-new-construction brand targets guests staying a week or longer, offering in-room kitchens and an operating model engineered specifically for owner returns — with nearly 79% of its square footage classified as revenue-generating. ECHO now has more than 20 hotels open, with recent additions in Savannah, Georgia; Bozeman, Montana; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. More than 300 franchise contracts have been awarded, reflecting strong developer appetite for economy-tier extended stay product in a market where construction cost discipline is paramount.
Midscale and Upscale Strength
Hawthorn Extended Stay by Wyndham, competing in the midscale segment, brings a more established track record to the portfolio. With more than 100 hotels globally and a 135% RevPAR Index against its midscale competitive set, Hawthorn offers developers new-construction, conversion, and dual-brand pathways — a flexibility that has driven recent openings in Nashville, Tennessee; Mebane, North Carolina; and Corpus Christi, Texas. At the upscale end, WaterWalk Extended Stay by Wyndham operates across 11 U.S. hotels with a distinctive LIVE|STAY model pairing furnished suites for traditional extended stays with unfurnished residences for longer-term living. The brand posted a 103.2 Occupancy Index year to date through June 2026, up 5.4% year over year ahead of its competitive set — a metric that will resonate with developers evaluating upscale extended stay as a long-term asset class.
What It Means for Operators
"Whether a guest is staying for a week, a month or even longer, we've intentionally built a portfolio of brands that offers the right experience for every type of extended stay traveler while giving owners and developers the flexibility to invest in the brand that's right for their market," said Mike Mueller, President of Extended Stay Brand Operations at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. He noted that ECHO Suites earning the top ranking just two years after opening its first hotel represents an endorsement from the guests the brand serves.
For hospitality operators and developers tracking where capital is flowing, the extended stay segment has proven resilient across economic cycles, drawing guests that include traveling workers, relocation households, and project-based corporate travelers — a demand mix that supports stable occupancy relative to leisure-dependent transient hotels. Wyndham's investment of more than $450 million in technology over the past eight years, including AI-powered tools designed to lower property-level labor costs and increase direct bookings, gives its franchisees operational infrastructure that independent extended stay operators typically cannot replicate at scale. Taken together, the three-brand sweep reflects a deliberate portfolio strategy that hospitality industry analysts have increasingly flagged as a model for franchisors looking to grow system size without cannibalizing existing segments.
For operators evaluating new development in the lodging sector, USA TODAY's rankings — determined by public vote from a panel-nominated slate of brands — provide a consumer-sentiment signal worth noting alongside more traditional performance metrics. Developers and investors following extended stay and foodservice-adjacent hospitality trends will find Wyndham's cross-tier dominance a useful benchmark for where branded extended stay product stands in the current cycle.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
