The Guest Post: Finding Home on the Road

While My Place Hotels are a welcome overnight stay for weary travelers, they’re more than a one-nighter for more and more people who need a place to call home for longer.

The extended-stay concept offered by My Place continues to see unprecedented growth. We spoke with guests who told us why My Place is theirs for a longer-than-average stay.

Take Michael and Patricia Primicerio, California transplants building a home in Mount Juliet, Tenn. They already made the move on Sept. 7, but their house still is under construction.

So, they’re staying at nearby My Place Hotels – Lebanon, Tennessee. The Primicerio’s hope their house is ready by Christmas 2019. If not, they say they’ll stay at My Place a little longer.

“We actually were hoping the house would be done by Thanksgiving,” Patricia says. “But we’re comfortable here. We were in another hotel by the airport, but cleanliness was not the priority there.”

They are impressed by the difference between the former and current hotels, they say, and with My Place’s full-sized refrigerator and stovetop. It’s a little farther from work, about a 20-minute commute for Michael, but they say it’s worth it.

“This affords us to have cleanliness and safety – your management and people who work here are an amazing team, always worrying about people being taken care of,” Patricia says. “Even down to custodial staff, they truly care about the clients. You’ve got an amazing team here.”

While the Primicerios wait for their house to be built, Joe and Elise Johnson of Honolulu, Hawaii, are staying at My Place Hotels – Aberdeen, South Dakota, to be near their son who is attending Northern State University.

They moved in Sept. 5 and are staying until Nov. 17. They also like Aberdeen because Joe’s dad lives there. The Johnsons had stayed with his dad in past years and tried other hotels during their son’s first years at college. But My Place has amenities they appreciate.

The in-house laundry facilities and the housekeeping service is great, they say, and they like the kitchen. “Having a full-sized refrigerator and a stovetop are big factors for us staying here,” Joe says.

“When you travel, you’re forced to eat out all the time,” he says. “My wife is pretty health conscious and she wants to be able to cook our own food and cook nice meals for my son.”

The Johnson’s were actually recently featured on KSFY news in an news story about My Place Hotels! Check it out:

The Johnsons soon will return to their “real” house, but Chari Sparks moved into My Place Hotels – Lithia Springs, Georgia, July 31 while looking for a house.

“We’re searching now – my boyfriend moved from his lease, so until we find a house we opted to stay in a location central for both of us,” says Sparks, who works as a pharmacy technician at an area hospital. He delivers furniture for a local company.

“It’s just until we find something. We’re renewing every week, playing it by ear,” she says. “In the morning he drives one direction and I drive the other, not too far. We feel very comfortable here, for the next 30 days or so.”  

The couple checked hotel reviews, other people had good things to say, so they booked it for one week and keep extending their stay.

“This is enough space for us to actually live. Most hotels don’t have a full-size refrigerator,” she said. “This keeps us compact. The staff knows our names and keep us in a comfortable environment.”

While some consider My Place temporary quarters, Jamie Gray and her boyfriend have been staying at My Place Hotels – Loveland, for about three years.

“We love it here,” she says. “We’re not in the room much, just to eat, and sleep. This is reasonable and has what we need. We don’t want to go out to eat every night.”

They work the region’s pipelines and oil fields. But they’re still not sure if they want to stay in Colorado or move back home to Arkansas, so for now My Place is home. Her three children also stay there a couple of nights a week when they’re not with their dad nearby.

They sometimes play games on the community table near the lobby.

“We’re comfortable, with work, family, restaurants and grocery stores nearby,” Gray says. “We’re going home for a week at Thanksgiving, and two weeks in December, then we’ll make our final decision about staying, so meanwhile we’ll work it out here.”