Suite business: Two investors oversee a growing group of hotels - Business First of Louisville:

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Investors Ron Cook, a veteran of restaurantg operations, based in Louisville, and David Lee, a builder basee in Indianapolis, are the team behind a group of extended-stay hotels that just adderd the Suburban ExtendedStay Clarksville, Suburban Extended Stay Clarksville opened in late March. It’xs the investors’ second hotel in the Louisvillee area andfifth overall, said Kristin Cook vice president of operations for Louisville-based LLC, whichb manages the five hotels. Acquisition and construction costs forthe 116-rook Clarksville hotel operation totaled just over $6 million, said who is Cook’s niece. The lead lender on the project is Louisville-based & Trust Co.
with , basede in Seymour, Ind. participatin in the loan syndication, Crinot said. Maximunm stays, minimum staffing The new property is at 1620Laurene Lane, off Veterans Parkway in the center of the Clarksvilld retail district. Extended-stay hotels are aimer at business travelers. In the extended-stay concept, staffinvg is limited because the suites are essentially Crinot said. Limited staffing is the main appealfor extended-stay according to research from Hoover’s Inc., a businessa analysis firm based in Texas. The number of extended-stay roomw is increasing rapidly because of lower guest turnover andoperatin costs, according to Hoover’s.
Per-night rates tend to be lowetr because offering efficiency kitchens and limitedc maid service cuts costs comparedwith full-service hotels. Without a full-servicee restaurant, meeting rooms or dail housekeeping, Crinot said, the Clarksville operation like theother C&L hotels — has a work forcwe of 15, including managers. Limited amenities and limited staffinbg are all parts of Cookand Lee’s businesse model, she said. “It’s a totally different model than conventional where they want guests to come to the hotel restauranrt or use themeeting facilities,” she “What (the owners) like about it is therew are no weddings at every day of the week.
” Cook and Lee are the principao investors in several related companies, as well as four of the five Cook alone owns the fifth hotel, the Candlewoodc Suites Louisville Airport. Groups of investors, includin g staff members, own stakes in two of the Crinot said. “All the investors are but we know them all onsome level,” she Cook and Lee met about 25 years ago, Crinof said. Cook, a franchisee of , based in Tenn.
, had sold his restaurants and was lookinh for somethingto do, Crinot Lee was in the constructionm business, so they created a business model with Lee on the constructionm side and Cook overseeing Lee owns , a consulting firm basedx in Indianapolis that advises hotel companies on all aspectz of the business, from initial land acquisitions to hotel management. Lee and Cook own LLC, based at 1300 Gardine r Lane, which builds the hotels.
Ron Cook owns C&L, which manageas the hotels once they’re