Rhea Oakes looked over the features of the new My Place Hotel-East Moline/Quad Cities.
She saw the rooms, the kitchens in each room, the lounge area and the photos of local scenery on the hotel walls, and she loved it all.
“I think it’s great. … This is what the community needs — and it’s not overpriced,” said Ms. Oakes, who also is a member of the East Moline City Council.
The new three-story, 64-room hotel at 940 Mississippi Parkway, is next to the Bend XPO convention center. In fact, one of the hotel’s many features is an indoor walkway connecting the two buildings.
Ms. Oakes was one of about 100 people from the business community who helped welcome the new extended-stay hotel to the area on Thursday, Nov. 9. That welcoming included a Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours of the hotel, treats for guests and speeches of thanks and praise to the community and business people who helped turn the hotel plans into a reality.
“Our mission is to embrace everybody who walks through the doors,” said Ryan Rivett, CEO of My Place Hotels, during the welcoming event.
“We look forward to being part of this community for a long time.”
Also during Thursday’s celebration, East Moline Mayor Reggie Freeman called the hotel opening a “milestone” that will help the community.
“We are building a brighter future for East Moline. … This is going to be the hub for local events,” the mayor added.
In addition to providing people with a place to stay for local events – especially those taking place next door at the Bend XPO – many people at the celebration said they were impressed with My Place’s many features and amenities.
Some of those features include:
- Rooms with one and two custom-made, queen-sized beds. The rooms also include a kitchen with microwaves, two-burner cooktops, full refrigerators with icemaker freezers and more; TVs and desks; and some rooms even include recliners.
During Thursday’s tour, one hotel official said the top goal is to make the rooms “have all the comforts of home.”
- The hotel common areas and rooms feature many photos depicting local scenery in the Quad Cities, including bridges, the Quad Cities Air Show, farm and wildlife scenes and much more.
- The lobby area features a 24-hour food and beverage grab-and-go store. There is also a business center and free Wi-Fi.
- 24-hour front desk.
- 24-hour complimentary coffee.
- 100% non-smoking hotel.
- Pet-friendly accommodations with a pet fee.
- Free parking.
- Mobility and hearing impaired accessible rooms.
- Daily housekeeping available.
There are, however, features the hotel does not have, such as a swimming pool or fitness center. My Place officials said those items are not included as part of the business plan of offering modern amenities at an affordable price.
In fact, the lack of those amenities actually helped the hotel chain during the pandemic. When many hotels faced very tough times during the COVID, extended-stay chains such as My Place did great business, said Sarah Litwiller, area director of sales for Golder Hospitality, during Thursday’s gathering. Golder is the full-service management group that manages My Place Hotels.
“We didn’t have to change the way we did things here during the pandemic,” she said.
Ms. Litwiller said the new East Moline hotel actually opened for business on Oct. 23. In the past couple of weeks, the hotel has been getting “really good feedback” from its customers.
My Place, which has about 11 employees at the East Moline site, refers to itself as an “extended-stay” hotel. That is, the hotel tries to attract people who are staying four or more nights at a time. However, My Place officials are quick to remind that all are welcome. In fact, during tours at the celebration event, business officials said they estimate that 60% of their customers are not “extended-stay” customers. Instead, they are people who stay in the hotel one or two nights at a time. Only about 40% of their customers stay four or more nights during a visit.
Those many customers represent a wide variety of people. Some guests work in the construction field or other business sectors and will stay in the hotel for weeks or months at a time, while other customers will attend some of the many events next door at the Bend XPO. Others may book reservations to visit the area for Thanksgiving.
Because of the upcoming holidays, events at the Bend XPO and the area’s vibrant economy, the company is predicting a very good fiscal quarter for the new hotel, Ms. Litwiller added.
“It’s been a long journey to make all this happen,” said Terry Kline, executive vice president of franchise development with My Place Hotels, during the celebration. “This is all an investment in the community. … We’re so happy to be giving back to the community.”
Launched in 2014, the My Place chain — based in Aberdeen, South Dakota — has grown to more than 69 locations in 28 states, with more than 130 hotels in the works. There also is a My Place Hotel in Davenport at 4653 Progress Drive.
