Posted by sstegmaier on March 25, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Hello, I'm Bob Creech and I want to introduce myself to our current and potential guests! I have joined the Value Place team as Senior Vice President of Safety and Security Innovations.
I will spend a lot of my time at Value Place properties, but am based at our headquarters in Wichita, Kansas. My family and I are making preparations for settling into our new community. Like many of our Value Place guests, I understand how stressful relocation can be!
I have always been interested in public safety. During my career I've served as Emergency Medical Technician, Deputy Sheriff, Patrol Sergeant and had the privilege of being elected and serving as Sheriff of Cherokee County for 6 years. Prior to joining Value Place I was the Director of Public Safety for Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri. I have graduated from the Kansas and Missouri Law Enforcement academies and have a Masters Degree in Organizational Development.
As a current or potential guest you should know that Value Place has a program called SAFE Community Partnerships. This program encourages our Area Managers, Property Managers and franchisees to create a relationship with local police departments. Wow! As a former Sheriff I can assure you that those relationships make a powerful statement about Value Place's commitment to comfort and safety in the communities where we do business.
I am lucky to have joined a company that has always considered our guest's comfort and safety as a top priority, and I am looking forward to implementing innovative solutions to build on that tradition.
Nice to meet you...I just may see you soon!
Bob Creech, Senior Vice President of Safety and Security Innovations
Posted by jkramp on February 15, 2008 at 9:13 AM
At Value Place, you'll
find a clean, secure place to stay along with some of the lowest rates in
extended stay hotels. And the rewards don't stop there. We are offering you the
chance to win one of four $1,000 prizes along with a one-week stay at the Value Place of your
choice.
The Value
Place 1,000 Dollar Week-Stay Giveaway launched in December, and we recently
selected (via a random drawing) our first winner from the entries we received
that month!
Congratulations
to Linda Williams of Pineville,
MO, for winning $1,000 and a week-stay at a Value Place of her choice. Linda and her family plan to vacation later
this year in Colorado Springs,
and we look forward to having her as our guest at the local Value Place.
Remember,
the Value Place 1,000 Dollar Week-Stay Giveaway continues through March, and
there are winners every month! We just
held the prize drawing for the January winner, and we're waiting to hear back
from the individual whose name we drew. As soon as we get confirmation, we'll announce
our second winner on the Basecamp Blog.
Stay tuned
and good luck!
The Value Place Team
Posted by glscharoun on January 18, 2008 at 2:07 PM
It begins with rumors of layoffs at work and ends
with you being transferred or looking for a new job. Sometimes a new job in a new city. And sometimes a
whole new life with your family.
Take comfort. We frequently give moms and dads a
safe, clean place to stay while they begin their new jobs and look for the best
schools and neighborhoods. It's not always easy to find your dream home on a
tight schedule or a budget, but as an extended stay hotel, we hope we make
their jobs that much easier.
That said, here a few takeaways and lessons learned
from those who are making the big job change complete with move:
- Visit the location of your job offer if at all possible. Spend an
extra day or two checking out the city and its amenities. If you stay at a Value Place, our staff will be happy
to point you in the right direction for the zoo, children's museum or main
entertainment districts.
- If you have children, immediately research the school district you
would be moving to and begin talking to teachers at your preferred school.
- Make sure to take the time to check crime statistics for any
neighborhoods that interest you.
Value Place supports the Family Watchdog organization which works to
keep our neighborhoods and children safe.
Check out their website before buying your home.
- Look at what incentives the company is offering if you move. Will
they cover moving expenses, help you find temporary housing with Value Place,
or even give you a bonus if you relocate?
- Children can also have challenges when moving, especially if it
happens during the academic year. Some families elect to run two
households until the academic year ends and the other partner can find
work in the new area. Our property teams will be happy to help you adjust
and find fun family activities for those special weekends you are back
together again -- whether for play or serious house hunting.
Here are a few links from around the Web that we've
found useful. I hope you do, too:
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/relocation
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/relocating/a/relocationtip.htm
Best regards,
Gina-Lynne Scharoun, President, Value Place
Franchise Services
Posted by jkramp on December 31, 2007 at 2:36 PM
2007 was an exciting year
for Value Place. We opened 44 new extended stay hotels during
the year, bringing our system-wide total to a whopping 77 open hotels. Our development plans for 2008 are even more
robust, and we are looking forward to serving you and thousands of other guests
in the New Year in cities like Colorado Springs, CO (now open); Jacksonville,
FL (now open); Austin, TX (opening in mid-to-late January); Sioux Falls, SD (opening
in May); and Las Vegas (opening in late summer).Check the locations section
of
Value Place.com frequently to keep up on our growing list of open and under
construction
Value Place
hotels, and make your reservation online or call 1-800-ValuePlace.
While you're on the web site, enter
our 1000 Dollar Week-Stay Giveaway. Every month from now through March, you
could win $1000 and a free week stay at the Value Place of your choice.
From all of us at Value Place, Happy
New Year!
Posted by glscharoun on December 20, 2007 at 7:52 AM
Christmas carols, a cup of
hot chocolate with marshmallows and enjoying time with family and friends --
these are a few of my favorite things about the holiday season. Of course, I also really enjoy all of the baked goodies that are so popular around
this time of year, but wonder how people find the time to make those elaborate
trays of tempting treats.
My team at Value Place
maintains the philosophy of "keep it simple," and I apply those words of wisdom
to my holiday baking. That said, I want
to let you in on a little secret and share with you a super simple but
delicious recipe that you can whip up in a flash. Your friends will never know that you didn't
spend hours over the stove.
This recipe is so easy in
fact, that you could even make it in the kitchen of your Value Place hotel room, as no baking is
required (although, you would need to bring along some of your own kitchen
supplies or purchase them at the local Wal-Mart). The recipe is listed below. Happy baking (or in this case, no-baking)!
White Chocolate Oreo
Truffles
Ingredients:
1 package of regular or mint Oreos
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1 package of white almond bark candy coating
1 package of chocolate chips (optional)
Directions:
In a blender or food processor, grind all of the Oreos until
they look like coffee grounds. Add the
package of cream cheese to the Oreos and blend until smooth. If you don't have a blender or food
processor, you can crush the Oreos in a plastic zip-lock bag and then kneed in
the cream cheese. Line a baking sheet
with waxed paper. Roll the Oreo/cream
cheese dough into small balls and place them on the waxed paper-lined baking
sheet. Put the Oreo balls in the freezer
for approximately 1 hour. Melt ½ to ¾ of
the package of almond bark in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl or over
low heat on the stove in a saucepan. Dip
all of the frozen Oreo balls in the melted candy coating and place them back on
the waxed paper-lined baking sheet.
Return the coated Oreo balls to the freezer or refrigerator until the candy
coating hardens.
Optional Step: You
may wish to finish off the Oreo balls with some chocolate swirls. This step will make your treats look ultra-fancy,
but it somewhat goes against my "keep it simple" motto. Use your discretion. If you have a little extra time, go for
it. Here's what you do: melt ½ cup of the chocolate chips and a
teaspoon of vegetable oil in a zip-lock bag in the microwave. Snip the corner of the bag, and pipe
chocolate swirls over the white chocolate Oreo balls. When finished, return the treats to the
freezer until the chocolate is set.
Store in an airtight container in the freezer until you are ready to
serve.
Do you have a favorite
holiday recipe to share - one that abides by the "keep it simple" rule? Post a comment below and share it with
us. We'd enjoying hearing from you.
From all of us at Value Place, have a
safe and happy holiday. We look forward
to serving you in 2008.
Warm regards,
Gina-Lynne
Scharoun
President, Value Place
Franchise Services
Posted by glscharoun on December 5, 2007 at 11:48 AM
Today I wanted to tell you about a family that
found their solution to an uncomfortable problem at Value Place.
"When we took baby Alexa to a sports grill and
restaurant a few weeks ago for the first time, we knew," said Mom, guest Jemma.
"By the time we had our salads eaten, her little eyes were red and watering and
she was sneezing. The smoke was just too much for her. It really put our Thanksgiving plans in a
bind."
The problem? Jemma told me her mother and her stepfather
were both heavy smokers. While they tended to be considerate around
non-smokers, the retired couple would smoke in their home all day when they
didn't have company around, making the house itself dangerous for baby Alexa.
Jemma had been apprehensive about taking her baby into that environment to
begin with - but once she and her husband saw Alexa's violent reaction to
cigarette smoke - they knew they would have to stay home or stay elsewhere for
Thanksgiving week.
Elsewhere became Value Place in Wichita, Kansas.
"It was great -- close to a highway so we could get
to Grandma's house easily," said Jemma.
"My room had a clean little kitchen, where I could prepare Alexa's
formula and the hotel was very quite. And,
best of all, I didn't have to worry about Alexa breathing in second-hand smoke
around the clock, either."
And the price for a week's stay, Jemma added,
didn't hurt either.
"After buying airline tickets from the Gulf Coast,
a hotel was just out of the question," she told us. "But thanks to Value Place, we were able to visit our
family for the whole week."
"Without any smoke, did I mention that?"
You did, Jemma. Glad we could help you out.
We enjoy hearing about these happy endings. Do you have one of your own? Share with us, below.
Gina-Lynne
Scharoun
President, Value Place Franchise Services
Posted by jkramp on November 27, 2007 at 9:48 AM
The Value Place network
is rapidly expanding. We are excited to
share with you that over the next nine months, we'll break ground on more than
100 new Value Place
extended stay hotels in cities including Brimfield,
OH, Ft. Walton Beach,
FL, and Evansville,
IN. Nearly 50 extended stay hotels are under
construction right now, and 68 are open in 19 states. Check out the below photo of our Value Place staff at our Gulfport, MS, hotel dedication. If you'll be in Gulfport over the holidays visiting family, consider staying with us.
Unless, of course, you'd rather sleep on Grandma's couch.
Posted by glscharoun on November 21, 2007 at 9:57 AM
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Value Place. We wish you and your families a fun and relaxing holiday and safe travels.
Posted by gkossover on November 9, 2007 at 3:15 PM
I am Greg Kossover, CEO of
Value Place.
November 11 is Veterans Day.
On behalf of everyone at
Value Place, I would like to sincerely
thank the brave men and women of our Armed Forces for protecting our country
and enabling all of us to enjoy the freedoms we have today.
Value Place employs dozens of veterans, and we also have several
extended stay hotels located near U.S.
military bases in cities such as Junction City, KS; Fayetteville, NC; Killeen, TX; and Jacksonville,
FL. We are proud to serve our American heroes and
their families in these communities by offering them quality, affordable
lodging.
In observance of Veterans Day, Value Place will honor our Value Place vets
during a special celebration at our home office in Wichita, KS. How will you or your company honor our
nation's troops and veterans? I invite
you to post a comment and share your plans.
As you consider ways to honor our service men and women,
check out the Department of Veterans Affairs website. Some really interesting information is
published on the site. I particularly
enjoyed reading the bit on Veterans Day history and the Patriotic Fact
Sheet.
Best wishes,
Greg
Posted by jkramp on November 2, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Frost may
be on the pumpkin, but Value Place
development is sure heating up! Over the
past three years, we've opened 66 extended stay hotels in 18 states, and
hundreds more will be popping up in cities near you over the next three
years.
Speaking of openings, so far this
fall we celebrated ten grand openings in cities including Trophy Club, TX;
Ocala, FL; Montgomery, AL; Springdale, AR (opened on Halloween!); and Colorado
Springs, CO.
To the right is a
snapshot from our Trophy Club, TX, grand opening celebration.
Have you
ever been to Trophy Club? We hear there are great golf courses in and around the city. If you're in the
area, we hope you'll stay with us. Don't
forget your clubs!
