Revel residents can now travel across the country without giving up their senior living lifestyle thanks to a newly launched pilot program.
Aug. 5 marked the official public debut of Revel Seasonal Residences, a new program that lets residents rent fully furnished units for short-term stays in any of the 13 Revel communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington without giving up living at their “home base.”
Revel is the senior living brand of The Wolff Company, a private equity, development and management firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The brand is focused on elevating the typical independent living experience through a boutique hospitality approach centered on personalized resident services.
Under the new program, residents can choose a three- or six-month stay at a second Revel location in a furnished, pet-friendly one-bedroom apartment. Rates vary from one community to the next, but are set up to be comparable to local short-term rental rates and are all-inclusive. While residents are away, they will pay a discounted rate at their home community.
Revel expects monthly rates for the new program will range from about $4,500 to about $6,500, with some variation due to seasonality.
The program is unique in that it gives senior living residents a way to travel and spend long periods of time elsewhere without moving out. And it is first-of-its-kind in the senior living industry, according to Danette Opaczewski, executive vice president of resident experience and COO at Revel Communities.
“I sort of consider it a senior living Airbnb-type program,” Opaczewski told Senior Housing News.
The new program also exemplifies one direction hospitality-focused senior living providers could take in the years to come. Opaczewski, who spearheaded the development of Reveal Seasonal Residences, joined Revel at the beginning of 2020 after many years working in the hospitality industry.
“It’s marrying what I’ve learned in senior living with what I know on the hospitality side,” Opaczewski said of the new program.
Opaczewski previously worked on a similar concept for Revel, where residents could stay in “staycation suites” at other communities for a couple of weeks per year. That helped inspire the discussion to create the new program.
“Our communities are in such amazing locations that it really spurred the conversation with my team — what if we did some kind of resident seasonal program?” she said. “We talked a lot about this whole snowbird/sunbird concept … and wouldn’t some of our residents love to just go up to Eagle Idaho for a few months, or something to that effect?”
The seasonal housing program carries some operational benefits for Revel, too, as the senior living operator can, through the program, use units that might otherwise have sat empty for periods of time.
“Even with great occupancy, you’re probably sitting in the low 90s if you’re stabilized,” Opaczewski said. “There are always going to be three to five one-bedroom units that are just going to sit vacant.”
Using that notion as a guide, Revel had its communities’ executive directors pick three one-bedroom units at their communities for use in the program. The units were chosen for potential appeal to residents, such as having good views or easy access to a pool. Initially, the pilot program will only set aside one unit in each of the provider’s communities, with the other two earmarked for future use.
At the end of the day, Opaczewski believes the post-Covid period will present plenty of opportunities for senior living companies to break the mold and try new things.
“That’s the beauty of what we’re trying to do,” Opaczewski said. “It’s an opportunity to really change how the senior living experience comes together.”
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