Value Place's Gina-Lynne Smith

WICHITA, KS-As GlobeSt.com mentioned in a recent Upclose with Homewood Suites’ Bill Duncan, while the hotel sector appears overall to be sliding into the linens chute, with occupancy rates nearing 50% and nightly prices falling below $100, the extended-stay segment is holding on as a new option. Many of those extended stay brands, whose rooms are technically booked for five days at a time or longer, are being discovered as a lower-cost option for weekend stays or week-long vacations.

GlobeSt.com recently spoke with Gina-Lynne Smith, president of Value Place Franchise Services about the extended-stay forecast, a forecast that continues to be cautiously optimistic. Smith’s company, Value Place, is an economy extended-stay lodging and short-term residential property brand that features affordable rates. The Value Place brand comes from the management team that created developed lodging brands such as Residence Inn (now owned by Marriott), Summerfield Suites (Hyatt) and Candlewood Suites (Intercontinental).

GlobeSt.com: How did the extended stay industry fare in 2009 and what your forecast for 2010?