The Value Place expansion continues, folks; this time, it's in St. Louis.
A recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch article reported Value Place's first area location opens this month in St. Charles, near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Highway 94 and details plans to open up to nine more franchises in the area over the next five years.
Value Place eliminates many of the overhead costs that hinder traditional hotels, said Bobby Bowers, a senior vice president at Smith Travel Research Inc. in Hendersonville, Tenn., which evaluates hotel performance. Though low on frills, Value Place hosts more than 12,000 guests per night nationwide, said Jack DeBoer, the chain's chairman and founder. Around St. Louis, hotel demand has been stable in recent years, but many hotels in the extended-stay niche have done slightly better than the rest, said Gary Andreas, principal at H&H Consulting Inc., a Chesterfield-based hotel consulting group. Still, there hasn't been a new extended stay built near Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in more than 10 years, he said.
Gina-Lynne Scharoun, president of the hotel's franchising company, says the company's prosperity has endured a tough economy, at times serving families hit with layoffs and foreclosures. "We are benefiting tremendously from the economy," Scharoun said. "On one hand, I'm sorry to say that. On the other, I'm so proud to be associated with the concept."
