Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | OCTOBER 19, 2026 7 Deal Watch Longer Stays Hotel operator plans five new extended-stay properties in Connecticut Kautilya Group CEO Gaurang "Gary" Patel outside his company's East Hartford Marriott hotel, which opened in June following extensive renovations. His company plans to develop five extended-stay hotels in Connecticut, beginning in Greater Hartford. HBJ Photo | Michael Puffer By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A New Jersey-based hotel operator with a growing Connecticut presence has struck a deal with a national hotel franchiser to develop five new extend- ed-stay hotels in Connecticut, begin- ning in Greater Hartford. Kautilya Group has partnered with Plano, Texas-based G6 Hospitality to build the hotels over the next three to four years under G6's newly launched Studio 6 Plus brand. G6 Hospitality is the company behind Motel 6 and Studio 6. The first two properties will each have 118 rooms and be located in Greater Hartford, company leaders said. The investors say they hope to capitalize on growing demand for basic, comfortable lodging for longer stays, particularly from workers who travel for construction and infrastruc- ture projects or temporary healthcare assignments. Rising housing costs and a shortage of affordable extend- ed-stay accommodations are also driving demand, they say. "People who want to spend $100 or $110 a night or below, there is not enough supply in the market," said Kautilya Group CEO Gaurang "Gary" Patel. "Our goal is to look for compa- nies who need long-term stays, a construction or training business. Two months, three months — that is our target customer." Patel has not disclosed the first two hotel locations but said his company owns potential building sites in Manchester, Windsor, West Hartford, Farmington and Cromwell. "I have experience in the market and know the area very well," said Patel, who has operated hotels in the state since the mid-2000s. "I feel it is best to start in a market you know." Construction of a standard Studio 6 Plus hotel is expected to cost $15 million to $18 million, said Krishna Paliwal, G6 Hospitality's president of midscale and extended stay. Costs will vary depending on local land prices, labor expenses and develop- ment requirements, he said. The first Studio 6 Plus hotel in the Kautilya portfolio is expected to break ground during the first half of 2027, Paliwal said. After that, the compa- nies intend to launch construction of another hotel roughly every six to eight months. Each project is expected to take approximately 14 to 15 months to complete. G6 expects the first Studio 6 Plus properties nationally to begin opening in early 2028. Under the franchise arrangement, Kautilya Group will develop and operate the hotels, while G6 will provide its reservation system, sales and marketing support, standardized designs and other franchise services. G6 Hospitality is owned by PRISM, a global hospitality company that also owns the OYO hotel brand. G6 says its network includes more than 1,500 Motel 6 and Studio 6 properties across the United States and Canada. Demand grows The development push comes as demand for extended-stay hotels is rising nationally. Occupied room nights at extend- ed-stay hotels increased 6.2% in July from a year earlier, while room supply grew 4.7%, according to Atlanta-based hotel research firm The Highland Group. Extended-stay occupancy reached 78.8%, about 10 percentage points higher than comparable conventional hotels, Highland Group reported. Meantime, national extended-stay hotel room revenue increased 10.4% year over year to more than $2 billion in July. Average daily room rates rose 3.9% to $127.41, while revenue per available room increased 5.5%. Extended-stay properties are also a focus of new hotel construction. An August forecast from CoStar and Tourism Economics found that new hotel development in the upper-mid- scale, midscale and economy segments is weighted toward extended-stay properties. Minimal labor G6 Hospitality launched Studio 6 Plus in April, and the brand's devel- Continued on next page

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