RAPID CITY - Lynn Seifert is not stranger to living out of a suitcase.

For a few years, Seifert worked in the insurance business. She traveled frequently and spent a lot of time in hotel rooms. She remembers the nightly rumble of the heating/air conditioning unit.

Now, she is the manager of the Rapid City GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel, which opened recently on Disk Drive across from Kohl's department store.

"I spent three weeks in training (at GrandStay), and I wouldn't want to go back (to traditional hotels)," she said. "These suites are comfortable - and quiet."

The Rapid City GrandStay is part of the growing trend of extended stay lodging: hotel rooms that look more like small apartments. They are equipped with kitchens, couches, desks and other apartment-like features. Bedrooms are separated from the main living area.

Corporate trainers, sales representatives, construction workers and other business travelers, especially those who spend a week or a month at a time in a strange city, are turning to extended stay hotels instead of traditional lodging.

In the United States, 20 percent of hotel stays are five nights or longer, and extended stay properties account for 240,000 rooms nationwide, according to market analysts at PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

"Extended stay is the jewel of the lodging industry," said Rodney Lindquist, chief executive of the GrandStay chain. He was in Rapid City for the grand opening of the new property.

He said the jewel lost some of its luster in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But extended stay hotels didn't get hit as hard as traditional properties.

GrandStay, founded six years ago in St. Cloud, Minn., has nine franchise hotels in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and California. Five more are in development. The local franchisee is an investment group led by Brian Kern of Madison. In addition to GrandStay, other motel properties in the franchisee's group include AmericInn and Super 8.

The average stay at a GrandStay is 2.6 to 3.2 nights. But the chain gets a lot of one-night guests who check in because they like the extended-stay amenities. He estimated that on any given night, 7 percent to 10 percent of GrandStay guests have checked in for a week or more.

Increasingly, he said, leisure travelers also are checking in. A family on vacation or traveling to a soccer tournament can save a lot of money by cooking their own dinner and having breakfast in the lobby breakfast bar.

Rapid City should be a good market for extended stay, Seifert said. She believes out-of-town families of Rapid City Regional Hospital patients and house-hunting Air Force personnel will use GrandStay as their home away from home.

Other hotels and motels in Rapid City offer suites of various sizes, but GrandStay is believed to be the first extended stay property in this market. Seven years ago, plans were announced for an 85-suite Staybridge Suites near the Rushmore Mall. Staybridge is probably the best-known brand of extended stay lodging. However, the hotel was never built.

The Rapid City GrandStay has 53 suites, with traditional extras such as a pool, hot tub, exercise room, laundry facilities and a breakfast bar. But it also has a basketball court, a putting green, a barbecue grill and a small shop that sells sandwiches and travel supplies.

GrandStay's rooms are equipped with both hard-wired and wireless Internet connections. For security reasons, Seifert said, some federal agencies and even private companies don't want workers to using WiFi or other wireless connections.

At the GrandStay, all of the kitchens are equipped with cooking and eating utensils. They also have a big desktop that doubles as a kitchen table. Most have full-sized refrigerators.

For people who spend a lot of time in hotels, Seifert believes the kitchens provide a more relaxed way to dine than eating out in restaurants every night. "I think that's especially true for women travelers who don't like to eat alone in restaurants in a strange city," she said.

The Rapid City property is offering grand opening special that starts at about $110 per night, according to the GrandStay Web site. Otherwise, rates range from $130 in the summer to about $90 in the winter. Seifert said the rate drops dramatically when travelers check in for a week or more.

That seems like a lot of money, but according to Smith Travel Research, the average hotel price in the United States is now $102.79.

Contact Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com