America’s Best Value Inn–Refugio

In August of 2017, Hurricane Harvey devastated Southeast Texas and the surrounding areas. The America’s Best Value Inn-Refugio was included in the hurricane’s path of destruction. The hotel was very busy with guests and employees on the night of the hurricane. Some of those guests had evacuated from low-lying areas from the coast. At about 2 a.m., the roof was torn off the building, leaving guests on the upper floor exposed to the winds and rain. The front of the building eventually collapsed and water damage to the building was severe.

The hotel manager took the initiative to relocate guests to dry rooms downstairs. After the hurricane slowed down and it was safe to drive, the manager let guests recuperate at his own house and nearby shelters. This ensured guests stayed safe while making their next plans.

Red Lion, the franchisor of the chain of the hotels that the America’s Best Value Inn, awarded the owners and managers of the hotel a Humanitarian Award for their generosity to the guests. The America’s Best Value Inn in Refugio was also featured in a news story in The Dallas Morning News.

Bart Naik, CEO of the hotel, had other hotels damaged by the hurricane as well. However, the America’s Best Value Inn in Refugio faced the worst damage. The wind and rain destroyed the building’s façade. The hotel lobby was filled with water from the storm and hotel rooms were filled with dangerous debris. The hurricane tore most of the roof off the building and the remaining roof eventually collapsed.

Fortunately, the hotel was insured. The insurance company sent out a third-party estimator to evaluate the damage. Less fortunately, because the estimator worked alone and only had a few hours to evaluate the extensive damage, the assessment was not comprehensive and the insurance company’s initial offer was a much smaller amount than what the policyholder was entitled to for these extreme damages.

When Mr. Naik asked Jansen/Adjusters International to help him to thoroughly evaluate the site, Jansen sent a two-person team to the hotel who worked through the site item by item. They performed a detailed assessment which enabled Mr. Naik to claim the full value of all damages and begin the rebuilding process. Jansen/Adjusters International’s hard work and dedication allowed Mr. Naik to receive a fair settlement for his claim.

It took 16 months to rebuild the hotel. Mr. Naik was able to use the settlement funds to ensure that reconstruction was done properly to meet Texas windstorm specifications. Mr. Chris Rich, a loss consultant at Jansen/Adjusters International, made several trips driving from Houston, Texas to endorse the insurer’s checks so that Mr. Naik had immediate access to the proceeds to use for his recovery. This is the level of service we expect our team to provide to our customers.

After the stress caused by damages from Hurricane Harvey, Mr. Naik was relieved to finally rebuild and was extremely pleased with the outcome Jansen/Adjusters International was able to achieve for him. The America’s Best Value Inn-Refugio was able to reopen and is back operating and serving guests in its small historic town.

Mr. Naik has been a customer of Jansen/Adjusters International for more than seven years and has developed a friendship with the Jansen team. Due to the successful outcome at his Refugio hotel, Mr. Naik also uses the Jansen/Adjusters International team at his other hotel locations.