Interview

Location: Super 8 motel Mesa, Phoenix
Date: July 30, 2009

Manager: Jeff Burge

Jeff is a manager of two super 8 motels one is situated in Mesa en and one in Chandler. We visited the super 8 motel in Mesa. This location has 72 rooms and seven different kinds of rooms, from king size to suits. Jeff has been a manager of this motel for two years now, but before he has been working at Greengroups for ten years. Greengroups is a kind of a franchise which owns a lot of super 8 motels.

He started working at Greengroups because his friends also work at the company. In the beginning he worked a lot at night, but he has worked himself up to manager. Nowadays he has ten people working for him and in the spring (the busy period) fourteen people.

In the beginning the concept of super 8 motels was simple and cheap. They focused on business people and people who were travelling, but the concept has changed. Nowadays the super 8 motel is no longer a travel motel but it has become a destination hotel. The super 8 motels started at the East coast.

A lot of people from the mormon religion visit Jeffs Super 8 motel. The religion comes from Utah and followers get married in Mesa. There are also other events with a lot of publicity. In Spring baseball players train in Mesa and they are staying at the super 8 motel because it is cheaper than a hotel. That is why, despite the weather, the prices are higher in Spring in comparison to Summer. Jeff also gave a comparison between Mesa en Chandler. When there is a race in the city the prices are higher in Chandler in comparison to Mesa. So not only the season or the event changes the prices also the location is an important factor of the height of the price. At Jeff his motel the concept of the motel always stays the same in a busy period, you can stay for one or more nights.

The target group of the super 8 motel in Mesa is focused on the middle class people, who wants to spend the night well.

The concept of the super 8 changed a lot compared to the history. The super 8 is no longer focused on business people, not very cheap any more, and it is not always situated at a freeway. So the super 8 is nowadays dependent of its location. Also the furniture changed. Previously the rooms had a bed and a shower, everything you needed for a one night. Nowadays the rooms have a fridge and a microwave, equipment for several days. The staff changed with the concept. Before the changing they only had to clean, nowadays they have to be more friendly to the customers, because the motel wants the customers to keep coming back. Jeffs staff speaks Spanish, but he does not, that is why he has employed a staff member who can speak English and Spanish as well. This employee can fix problems between the staff members and the customers.

Nowadays a motel is a combination of longer and shorter stays. Jeff gave us an explanation by an example. He compared a motel with a casino. People are coming for a nice evening but there are also people who are coming for business. You can stay in a motel for a great night, but also for business. Because the economy is very bad, the target group of super 8 motels is changing, many business people are working at home and do not have to travel and do not need to stay in a motel.

In the sixties small motels raised along the highways . These motels grew a lot faster than the hotels in villages, because these motels were closer to the highways. Therefore people did not have to go al the way to the village.

Meanwhile super 8 is not a hotel, you will never see a super 8 in the city. Super 8 focusses on a different kind of market, more on the middle class market.

The manager has a clear opinion about the Wyndham franchise. In his opinion Wyndham does not make enough national advertising. 6 motels has a lot of advertising on the television and super 8 does not have that kind of advertising. 6 motels is very well-known because of television advertising . A good aspect is that Wyndham offers a lot of courses for the managers and the staff members. And also a good aspect is that he has a lot of freedom to decide a couple of things in his motel.

Super 8 did not create new rooms in Mesa. Inthe super 8 motel in Chandler there are a couple of new rooms. The rooms are very modern. In Chandler they created the new rooms to attract a younger public and more people than they already have. The new rooms cost more than a normal room. So the younger people do not go to the rooms because they have to pay more en and older people want the normal rooms because they are used to those rooms. So Jeff thinks that this change is not smart. His opinion is that the important things are clean rooms and hospitality. So that the people want to come back. The super 8 in Mesa focusses on the customers that they already have. The location in Mesa is good and to change some rooms in this economic crisis is not smart.

Positive things about the super 8 in Mesa are:

• There are 30 restaurants in the neighborhood;
• There is a lot of culture in Downtown Mesa;
• It is just 10 miles from the airport;
• It is located in a good neighborhood;
• It is next to the highway.

The only thing that Wyndham could change in the opinion of Jeff is that they have to advertise more. Especially on national level. Then the people will get a better image what super 8 is and what they stand for.

Finally Jeff told us a little secret. That some owners of the super 8 motels at the East cost of the United States want to revolt to the Wyndham policy. So maybe there will be some changes in the near future.

Interview questions

1. Since when have you been the owner of this motel?
2. Why did you get into the Motel business
3. Why did you decided to join the franchise?
4. How many rooms does the motel have?
5. How would you describe the concept of super8motels?
6. In what way does the staff contribute to the super8 concept
7. How many staff members are working in your motel?
8. Since you are near to the Mexican borders, do you have any problems with language and culture barriers, between the staff members themselves and between the staff members and the customers?
9. What kind of decisions can you make as a super8motel manager in relation to the people that are above you? (for example, kind of marketing)
10. According to wyndam website super8motels has introduced a new question prototype tot attract younger guests. Do you have any idea why super8 would want to attract a new target group? What is your opinion about it?
11. What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and your threats. And why?!