WICHITA, KS—Over the past several months, Value Place has been in the news due to its expansion across the US, but Thursday's announcement from the company was more transformative. The extended stay hotel chain said it had changed its name to WoodSpring Suites, effective immediately, and that it's developing a brand extension with a more enhanced offering, WoodSpring Suites Signature, designed to appeal to less price sensitive guests.

“Our new brand strategy will foster our ability to further expand our network, gain access to new markets and customer segments, and further drive RevPAR growth for our company-owned hotels and development partners," says Bruce Haase, CEO of what is now known as WoodSpring Suites.  “Although the company achieved record financial performance in 2014 and saw unprecedented demand from both consumers and developers for our product, we see clear opportunities to do even better and build a long-term growth platform.”

The company's president and COO, Kyle Rogg, says it conducted “an enormous amount of consumer research” and found “a disconnect between perceptions of who we are and the reality of our product and experience based upon our current branding. The WoodSpring Suites brand will better align with our position as the leading value extended stay hotel company, better communicate the quality of our product, and allow us to expand our reach to new customer segments.” The Signature brand will launch later this year, the company said Thursday.

This past January, Value Place reported a 50.9% year-over-year increase in full-year revenues to $108.8 million. That derived from a portfolio that included 82 corporate-owned properties and 108 franchises as of year-end 2014.