Posted by Snow causing local hotels to book up
Visitors stuck in Southwest Florida may have a hard time finding rooms
By
Renee Stoll
Story Created:
Feb 9, 2010 at 10:31 PM EST
Story Updated:
Feb 10, 2010 at 12:18 AM EST
naples, FL. – Flights in and out of Southwest Florida are cancelled thanks to snow piling up north. Tuesday night, flights were already being cancelled for Wednesday morning at Southwest Florida International Airport. Those flights include New York, Newark, Boston, White Plains, Baltimore and D.C.
Those stuck in Florida without friends to stay with may find themselves having a hard time trying to book hotels.
“We went from being about 70 percent, to being in a sold out situation for the last few nights,” Rob Decastro with the Lemon Tree Inn of Naples tells me.
You’d be lucky to get a room at Decastro’s hotel, the weather up north has caused an influx of people. “They’re not able to travel and flights get cancelled and things like that, so there’s been some delays,” Decastro points out.
The Lemon Tree Inn fills empty rooms with visitors like Curtis Haskell. “Florida’s much better than Maine right now,” Haskell says with a smile, speaking about his “stuck” status in Naples.
Even with a Florida cold front on the way Haskell is happy to trade snow for sand. “Come up and visit us sometime in February and we’ll show you what chilly really is.”
Even once the blizzard takes a break up north, it may still be hard to get a room at the Lemon Tree Inn thanks to visitors with warm thoughts on their minds. Decastro says people snowed in with no flights available are already calling for rooms.
Most other local hotels say rooms are booking at a faster rate than usual. The Best Western in Naples tells me the last three days have been some of their busiest this season.
