Seattle WA provider of short-term corporate housing
Short Term Suites was established to meet the growing needs of people like you who seek a comfortable and convenient place in Seattle to call home for a short period of time.
The difference between Short Term Suites and other companies representing short term furnished rentals is that we own 90 percent of our apartments, so we take an active interest in making sure you are happy with your selection. With extended stay suites on six of Seattle’s seven hills, we’re here to help you find the perfect furnished accommodation for you and/or your family.
Lorna Arnold & Jon Tellefson
Together we’ve lived in Seattle for over 80 years. We know our way around the neighborhood, whichever one you choose. We manage our properties personally, so we are only a cell phone call away if you need help. You can move in, relax, and get on with the rest of your Seattle business, knowing we are here for you.
Joined together out of good fortune and like-mindedness, working partners Lorna Arnold and Jon Tellefson head up Short Term Suites. They bring over 50 years of real estate management experience and are the driving force behind Short Term Suites’ success.
Each provides their own flair and management style to Short Term Suites while providing consistent and attentive service to all guests. They strive for the utmost in customer satisfaction and consistency in the suites they provide.
Lorna and Jon are dedicated to an exemplary experience for all guests. They guarantee that all suites will be convenient, warm, very livable, safe, clean, have readying technology and will provide a sometimes cozy-sometimes elaborate suite experience so that all guests will feel at “home away from home”.
So, who are we???
Lorna Arnold
If you were to trace my interest in real estate, you would have to look back to 1930 when my grandfather immigrated to the United States, to the land of new opportunities. With his meager savings he began investing in real estate. It was good to him, and he passed his passion on to my father, who in turn passed it on to me.
When I accumulated a few dollars I purchased an 8 unit apartment building. As tenants left I converted the units to furnished corporate suites, one at a time. In time I acquired 4 additional apartment buildings. With my business and marketing backgrounds, I love promoting Short Term Suites, love helping people solve their needs for a nice and comfortable place to call home for a short period of time.
I was born and raised in Seattle’s Bitter Lake neighborhood and graduated from Lincoln High School. My B.A. Degree in Business Administration is from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where I received the Highest Distinction Award and earned a place in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. The Nevada Board of Realtors and Executive Women International generously contributed to scholarship funds.
After managing the Caesars Palace Medical Clinic in Las Vegas, I became Coordinator of Executive Health at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla. When returning to Seattle I worked as the Assistant to the Director of Oncology at Virginia Mason Hospital before deciding to return to real estate.
In Las Vegas I had been a real estate broker for 2 different firms, specializing in commercial and industrial property syndication. At Coldwell Banker Bain Associates I was able to specialize in condominium and residential sales in Seattle’s beautiful in-city areas.
My 2 sons are grown. Michael is a Navy trained pilot out of Pensacola and now flies the C-17 transport aircraft for the Air Force out of Travis Air Force Base in California. Mark is Vice President Global Marketing for Elekta in Stockholm Sweden in the field of radiation oncology for state-of-the-art cancer treatment centers. I have been blessed with 3 grandchildren. Cailen and Jared both speak French as well as English, as Mama is from Provence France. Dailey is a darling little girl who takes after Mama, and loves Elmo and Curious George.
Quite aside from daily business and family, my other passion is combining community service with foreign travel. The only time I really ‘take off’ is one month a year for that. I have had wonderful international experiences over the years. One of the most moving was spending time in the Ama Ghar Children’s Home, an orphanage for the most underprivileged children in Kathmandu Nepal, and later arranging to bring a severely burned child to Seattle for extensive plastic surgery. One memorable vacation was spent joining the Rotary Polio Eridication effort in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Then there was the time I joined the Compassionate Listening program, spending time as an ambassador in Israel and the West Bank.
Jon Tellefson
I was born and raised in the Seattle area. Along with my maintenance man and all around best friend father, Douglas Tellefson P.E., we have owned or built or managed nearly 65 properties encompassing well over 350 units in the past 35 years.
Managing real estate and all that is encompassed in providing housing to all different market segments is all we do-it is our specialty. It has been the family business since my grandfather started Tellefson Heating in Spokane, WA in the mid 1940’s. My brother builds office buildings and my sister builds custom homes.
It is all we do; it’s kind of sick.
We are big supporters of Seattle University. It is also my Alma Mater and where I gained my Accounting Degree in 1984 and Masters of Business Administration Degree in 2002. Along with my wife; my lovely bookkeeper, confidant and all around great helper, Cindy, we boast four children-Alysha: a commercial pilot; Sasha: an aspiring world traveler and mortgage business associate; Heather: a budding accountant and Seattle U graduate and Dru: our excellent high school student and shifty soccer player. We are a busy bunch and when not boating in the San Juan islands, we are likely to be found moving in our next guest, readying a suite or traveling to or from to see the kids.
Short Term Suites is our passion. After acquiring the properties in the mid-nineties, I became full time to the short term housing side in 2009. Inserting my background from multi-family builder to real-estate developer to property manager chief financial officer to real estate sales office manager, I am constantly applying my intensity, attentiveness and “customer first” mentality to Short Term Suites. We are constantly improving our systems, technology and customer experience and will not stop until all our guests feel at “home away from home”.
Stay with us!
Heather Smith
I graduated from Seattle University with a B.A. in Business Administration specializing in accounting and finance. After graduation I spent a few years in the mortgage industry. Following in my father Jon Tellefson’s footsteps, I took an interest in the family business and began working with Short Term Suites in 2015.
My husband Matthew and I have two beautiful children, Calvin and Violet. When we aren’t taking reservations, decorating suites, and moving in guests, you can find us at the dog park or just spending some quality family time at home. We love the Pacific NW in the spring and summer time, there is so much to do outdoors!
Rick Seaman, The Guru Group
In 2001, Rick Seaman started the process of search engine optimization for Short Term Suites. Remembering those initial conversations about terminology and the mysterious workings of search engines, it seemed as if we were discussing a story from science fiction! Rick patiently went about his challenging job of educating us as well as implementing his creative optimization skills. Rick’s company is The Guru Group.
Then in 2009 Guru Rick re-designed the website by implementing many new user-friendly features. We are constantly receiving compliments from viewers who comment about how easy it is to navigate and visually understand what we do and how we do it.
Guru Rick gets a great deal of the credit for the continued success of Short Term Suites over the years. We are very grateful and consider Rick to be a key player on our team.