Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hotels feeling Irma effects
A month later, some properties still recovering
More than a month after Hurricane Irma’s severe winds swept through South Florida, several of the region’s hotels remain closed, are still repairing damages, or are partially operational.
As many industry operators expected, the storm depressed business in September as it forced mandatory evacuations from popular beach areas, prompting large numbers of visitors to leave early and seek refuge elsewhere. But less apparent to the public in the storm’s aftermath was the damage suffered by some of the area’s better known hotels and resorts.
Among the affected hotels was the 253-room, all-suite Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale along Cypress Creek Road, which remains temporarily closed due to damage sustained to rooms on higher floors.
On Friday, General Manager John Moorhead said the property is working to repair “water intrusion” damage from the storm and is shooting for a late November reopening.
On the Sheraton website, a notice said its lobby-level meeting and event space is slated to reopen Oct. 30, and that guest rooms will be available for reservations starting Nov. 24. Remediation work on the affected guest rooms will continue through December, but no guest disruption is expected, the hotel said.
Along Fort Lauderdale’s popular beachfront corridor, the Bahia Cabana resort on Harbor Drive — a staple in the area since 1972 — is also closed with no official word on when or whether it will reopen.
On Friday, a notice posted on the resort’s front door said: “Due to the extensive damage the property suffered as a result of Hurricane Irma, Bahia Cabana will remain shut down until further notice.”
The property’s phone number was out of service, a recorded message said.
In late September, a property spokesman
said Bahia Cabana had sustained roof damage, water infiltration and mold and mildew issues from Irma, according to a WPLG-Ch-10 report. About 115 employees, many of them longtimers, were laid off as a result.
The 70-room Bahia Cabana hotel with its waterfront bar and restaurant had been a popular spot for locals and tourists, and was perenially busy during the annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, which this year runs Nov. 1-5 at seven nearby sites.
The 384-room Pier 66 Hotel & Marina in Fort Lauderdale was also affected by Irma and is set to reopen Monday for the first time since the storm. But the newly independent property, which recently ended its Hyatt affiliation, will open without 70 units that sustained water damage when a section of the roof of its tower building was peeled back by Irma’s winds.
The 156-room Pelican Grand Beach Resort is now fully operational in Fort Lauderdale. It resumed limited operations on Sept. 25 after a two-week closure to repair water damage in its oceanfront ballrooms and guestrooms, General Manager Heidi Dennis said. The hotel’s 11th floor spa, which had closed for three weeks for storm-related fixes, is also open, she said.
“We’re in really good shape,” Dennis said. “Overall, Fort Lauderdale is looking really good and we’re open for business.”
When Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys in early September, it wreaked havoc on the area and produced damaging winds and driving rains across South Florida as it moved along the southwestern edge of Florida. Before Irma hit, many visitors evacuated hotels or canceled trips to the region to avoid the path of the dangerous storm.
In South Florida, the hotel sectors in Broward and Miami-Dade counties were more adversely affected overall by mandatory guest evacuations due to Irma than in Palm Beach County, according to September performance data compiled by the industry analytics firm STR.
Broward’s hotel occupancy dipped 6 percent last month to 63.7 percent from 67.8 percent in September 2016, according to data from the Tennessee-based firm, which tracks hotel industry performance nationwide. On the bright side, Broward’s average daily room rate rose 10 percentage points to $116.03 from $105.47 last year.
In an email Friday, a spokeswoman for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau also attributed the dip in hotel occupancy to Irma.
Miami-Dade County hotels posted a 13 percent overall decline in occupancy to 59.3 percent, but average daily rates rose 2.8 percent points to $144.48. Palm Beach County hotels enjoyed increased occupancy of 64.1 percent at an average daily rate of $120.85, compared to 61.9 percent and $116.57 from September 2016.
“The dramatic hotel performance shifts are not surprising, considering how many Florida residents were under mandatory evacuation orders,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO for Discover The Palm Beaches, the tourism marketing agency for Palm Beach County. “Thankfully, the Palm Beaches did not sustain significant damage from Hurricane Irma.”
As for the remainder of the year, Ali Hoyt, a senior director at STR, said it’s too soon to say whether Irma will have any lingering negative effects on demand for future hotel bookings in South Florida. “We’ll have to watch and see how it plays out.”