Live. Love. Stay.

How CEO Mimi Oliver and WaterWalk are revolutionizing the flexible lodging brand mystique

Mimi Oliver’s approach to the hospitality sector is a real ground up story. As the granddaughter of the grandfather of extended-stay hotel concept, Jack DeBoer, Oliver has had an up close and personal look at everything and anything hospitality.

Since joining the brand in 2016, she has led the creative and financial vision for the hotel brand, helping double its portfolio size by the end of 2024. Her vision of offering affordable and comfortable housing is being delivered via WaterWalk, one of the country’s most innovative flexible lodging brands.

Launched by DeBoer, WaterWalk leveraged his company’s extensive experience across various lodging sectors to create a brand capable of disrupting the hospitality industry. The disruption comes via its ability to offer guests a genuine power of choice—whether that is a longer stay in fully furnished suites or a shorter one in an unfurnished suite that allows for a more traditional rental experience, without the traditional hassles. WaterWalk was DeBoer’s fifth national brand, a portfolio that also includes the Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Suites and Value Place.

When she became CEO in 2018, Oliver set out to carry on the family flame, becoming active in every facet of the business—everything from market research and business analytics, real estate development, operations, sales and marketing, and franchise development. WaterWalk’s latest ititeration is its Gen 2.0 model, which contains upscale amenities and large living accommodations of many sizes.

We sat down with her to get a snapshot of the WaterWalk’s brand and where she believes the industry is heading.

What type of consumer is WaterWalk targeting?

We are targeting the consumer that desires ultimate flexibility in their stay. With our signature LIVE | STAY business model, we offer guests the freedom to personalize their stay, whether they choose to stay in our fully furnished suites or to bring their own furnishings to customize their space.

Although we offer total flexibility in length of stay, we are targeting customers who stay with us for an extended period: this can include those traveling for projects, relocations or training.

How does the design of your hotels/resorts cater to how today’s consumers’ want?

Today’s consumer desires extra space and a clean aesthetic. We have designed our spacious rooms to accommodate these preferences by offering full kitchens and washers and dryers in every unit (an industry first). The WaterWalk design is about allowing the guest to live life on their terms. Our thoughtfully designed amenity spaces are inspired to serve as an extension of their living spaces.

Our lobby is referred to as the ‘Living Room’, offering comfortable seating, highspeed WiFi access and workspaces. The outdoor space is referred to as the “Backyard,” where depending on regional climate, guests can find amenities like a pool, fire pits, lawn games, pet walk and a BBQ grilling area.

We have a phenomenal design team that has brought to life the essence of the WaterWalk brand in our décor and design. We have a consistent color palette as well as a clean, crisp and welcoming design package.

Walk us through how and why the hotels are designed the way they are?

As our brand has grown and evolved over the years, we began our Gen 2 design approach with the word “Timeless” as our inspiration. Our hotels are designed to appeal to and maximize efficiency for all stakeholders: guests, operators, local municipalities, developers and owners.

We have gone through an iterative design process to ensure ultimate efficiency from an operations and investment perspective while maintaining a unique and valuable product offering for the guest and city.

Take us through your construction and design strategy. We are constantly evolving our construction and design based on customer feedback. For example, in our Gen 1 prototype, we offered one-, two- and three-bedroom units. In our new Gen 2 prototype, we rolled out studio suites based on increasing demand for studios.

Additionally, we switched from queen beds to king beds in the new product.

Recently, WaterWalk partnered with a design team that has extensive hospitality experience, working on hotels around the world. The design process began with the team identifying the core pillars of the WaterWalk experience and worked from there. Full kitchens and washers and dryers in every unit are essential to the brand.

Everything else could be adjusted and modified to emerging consumer trends. We evaluated the trends in both the hospitality and multifamily segments using them for inspiration in our product. When it comes to construction, WaterWalk is fortunate to have a seasoned team in house to oversee our projects.

This team is responsible for engaging our national network of general contractors and vendors to ensure the WaterWalk vision is pulled through whether it’s a new build or conversion project.

What’s the biggest issue today related to the construction side of the business?

We continue to struggle with the same two issues plaguing the development world: supply chain challenges and labor shortages. Long lead times continue to impact our project timeline, and as such, our construction team must be proactive to ensure we have the materials on site when needed.

The labor market continues to be an issue, impacting the ability to get sub-contractors on the job site. There is no shortage of work, so planning is essential to ensure we have appropriate staffing on site throughout the project.

Talk about sustainability. What are you doing?

Sustainability continues to be an area of focus for us. We use sustainable construction materials in our buildings as well as focus on sustainably driven partners to source and provide our OS&E products.

What do you see as some of your biggest opportunities moving ahead?

The “bleisure” customer is a growing segment—those who travel for business and extend their trip for leisure. Further, we believe the “work from anywhere” customers will continue to be a growing opportunity.

Are you optimistic about what you see in the hotel/resort sector?

Absolutely. I believe the pandemic made many people realize how important travel is, and therefore, they are prioritizing travel. I am highly optimistic about continued growth in the travel industry.

The pandemic also gave employees the opportunity to prove they can work effectively in remote settings. We are confident that we will continue to see flexible work accommodations that support long-term travel.

How do you pick your locations?

We have an incredibly thorough process for market and site selection that we have refined over many years. At a high level, we target high growth markets with healthy extended stay demand and supply factors combined with fantastic livability (proximity to services and amenities) for our guests.

What’s your growth plan? What areas are you targeting?

We are growing through our ground-up purpose-built prototype offering as well as through existing asset conversion opportunities. We are developing on our corporate balance sheet as well as heavily investing in our franchise organization to expand our franchise partnerships.

What trends are you seeing?

We are seeing the continued evolution of the “work from anywhere” customer and therefore, guests who desire a home-like experience when they travel. We are confident that we will continue to see flexible work accommodations that support long-term travel.

What’s the secret to creating a “must visit” hotel/resort in today’s competitive landscape?

Creating a memorable and unique guest experience. We focus on creating a true community for our guests, where our property staff knows your name and your pet’s name as well. Further, we create special community-inspired experiences such as a property barbeque to watch the Super Bowl with other community members.

Adding amenities that support a work from anywhere lifestyle such as personal, highspeed WiFi access, subtle interior décor for virtual meetings, quiet workspaces, a printer and more allow guests to complete work-related tasks in a comfortable environment.

What’s today’s consumer looking for?

They are looking for flexibility and larger spaces to accommodate their families and a longer stay, such as a “bleisure” trip.

Tell us what makes your brand unique?

WaterWalk was founded by the creator of the extended stay segment, Jack DeBoer. Our LIVE | STAY business model focuses on extended stay business, offering fully furnished extended stay suites as well as unfurnished suites that allow guests to customize the space all their own.

A focus on long-term business means we provide all the comforts of home including the washer and dryer in every suite—this industry first allows the guest to pack light and stay as long as they like. Our guests are not just guests—they are our community members. CCR