TDC says come back, city says wait a little
BY STACY RODRIGUEZ
Citizen Staff
KEY WEST — The county's Tourist Development Council is calling for visitors to return to the islands starting Friday — even as Key West officials say they are not yet ready to handle an influx of tourists while the city cleans up from the impacts of Hurricane Wilma.
The Lodging Association held an emergency meeting Wednesday attended by its member hoteliers as well as city and tourism officials.
“One thing that came out of the meeting is that the hotels and all the lodging establishments are pretty much ready and able to receive visitors,” said Joy Smatt, chair of the group. She noted that some properties — such as the Casa Marina and the Best Western Key Ambassador — were more damaged and might not reopen immediately.
In the release from the TDC, Smatt is quoted as saying “ While we understand there is devastation in some areas, we must ensure our employees here are able to earn a paycheck ... And we still have areas of the Keys that look much like they did before Wilma.”
The release also notes that, “ Landscaping at some resorts has been significantly impacted and some attractions and ancillary visitor offerings may need more time before they can service visitors.”
Key West Mayor Morgan McPherson said Wednesday he was disappointed in the TDC move.
“We've asked that visitors not return until Monday,” he said. “We're concentrating right now on the needs of our residents and building back the infrastructure so it can handle visitors again.”
Virginia Panico, president of the Key West Chamber of Commerce, also was at Wednesday's meeting.
“Most of the hotels on the interior of the island are fine,” Panico said. “The ones along the [Atlantic] Ocean side and Gulf side had damage, of course, but a lot of the rooms look good.”
Earlier Wednesday, Smatt told The Citizen that hotels could take visitors this weekend, but would not advertise to promote business at the request of city officials..
“The mayor gave us an update on the infrastructure … he doesn't feel that, with resources stretched so thin, that we can have a whole lot of people come in right now,” Smatt said. “He was concerned about us promoting any kind of event right now, so it's bye-bye to that.”
Commissioner Mark Rossi, who also was at the meeting, said the city isn't ready for tourists to come back.
“We are suggesting that people who want to come to Key West hold off until at least Monday,” Rossi said. “Just because some properties are ready to receive people doesn't mean that the city is.”
Sheraton Suites already had 100 of its 180 rooms down from damage incurred by Hurricane Katrina, and fared no worse in Hurricane Wilma, General Manager Linda Geyer said walking briskly on her way to the gathering at the Pier House.
Media was barred from the meeting.
“We really needed to have our members be able to talk very openly,” Smatt said. “To have the press there, people probably wouldn't have been as open, and we needed to find out where we really stood.”
She said room rates were not discussed, as that would violate antitrust laws against price fixing.
Displaced locals
Smatt said the possibility of hotels housing displaced residents wasn't really discussed, but that some properties were housing their employees.
Panico said a lot of properties were housing their workers, and that the Hampton Inn was housing city police and fire crews and Grubbs cleanup personnel.
An employee at the 159-room Hampton Inn said the hotel was charging $89 a night for the rooms, and not booking residents. “We are full up with the rescue workers,” said the woman, who didn't want her name published. She said the Hampton Inn had about 19 rooms offline from storm damage.
Randy Osipow is the former president of the Innkeepers Association and currently on the board of the Key West Restaurant and Bar Association.
“I'm a little surprised people aren't helping the locals more,” Osipow said in a phone interview.
Rossi also said it is outrageous that all local lodgings are not taking in displaced residents for a reduced fee.
“There are a bunch of people dealing with the magnitude of this disaster who don't have a clue what's going on,” Rossi said. “There are workers at Stadium [mobile home park] who are shell-shocked — we need local hotels to have mercy and give local residents a place to stay.”
But Dave Taylor of the Cypress House said he was under a different impression.
“I think a lot of hotels are taking in our refugees, and I don't think they're charging anything,” said Taylor, who was at the meeting. He said he would be happy to book his 22 rooms to locals for $50 or $60 a night versus the normal $115 to $220.
“I wish I could charge nothing, but my light bill comes, too,” Taylor said. “I think the Lodging Association and Innkeepers Association are more than happy to help our neighbors.”
City Commissioner Harry Bethel is urging local hoteliers to give price breaks to locals who need housing. He said he was hearing reports of locals looking for rooms and being quoted full prices. Until tourists start coming back, hotels do have space and could rent them to locals at a reduced rate, Bethel said.
“People in this town need help,” Bethel said. “You have people who can't live in their homes. Their homes have been flooded out, they are full of mold and are not habitable . ... A lot of residents who don't work in the tourism industry have long supported the industry. Its time for hotels to step up and help these people. They need to show some leadership.”
“This is very, very sad,” Bethel , 66 and a Conch, said of the storm. “This is the worst I have ever seen.”
Panico said the roads are open and so are many hotels and motels.
“We're not advertising or anything, but if some people come down, there are properties to receive them,” she said.
Ocean Key Resort had 70 of its 100 rooms damaged, said an employee who answered the phone there. The man, who didn't want to be named, said the hotel would open its 30 functional rooms Friday to tourists who were already booked.
“Then we're booked straight through until Nov. 6,” the employee said.
Also at the meeting were Commissioner Bill Verge, Tourist Development Council Director Harold Wheeler and representatives from the Key West Business Guild and the Innkeepers Association.
Citizen staff writer Timothy O'Hara contributed to this story.
http://www.keysnews.com/hurricaneeditio ... odging.htm