![]() I think there are definitely some complaints, and I’m sure some brands are getting hammered, especially by their VIP members who accumulate points each stay,” Weinhofer said. “I think everyone figures this will be over by the end of summer, and they’re just riding the wave now, while people are willing to pay these rates, to get out of the hole they were in at the height of the pandemic, when no one was going anywhere,” Weinhofer said.īut are visitors complaining when they pay $800 per night at a chain hotel that’s usually affordable, and then don’t get daily housekeeping service in their room, or the free hot breakfast in the lobby? For the first time ever, Islamorada’s average daily hotel room rate was higher than Key West’s last week. But right now, our occupancy numbers are way beyond where they should be. “The minute their occupancy drops, their rates will drop. ![]() ![]() “The hotel industry is second only to the airline industry when it comes to reacting quickly to the marketplace,” she said. “But they’ve all been warned, and they already knew, this won’t last,” Weinhofer said, adding that once the Caribbean, Mexico and Europe reopen and once cruise ships start sailing again throughout the world, the demand, and prices, will drop significantly. ![]() “And I’ve had general managers and front desk managers say they’re embarrassed to tell people their nightly room rates. “We have general managers cleaning rooms so they can check people in,” Weinhofer said. Jodi Weinhofer, president of the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys & Key West, has heard of all the same staffing challenges - and the same disbelief about exorbitant room rates. “They just don’t have the staff,” she said. The host hotel, whose brand is known for its included breakfasts and nightly manager’s happy hour, was not offering those services. “There’s no doubt that throughout Florida and nationally, the travel and tourism industry is struggling to meet the needs of this sudden and unprecedented boom in business,” said Mitchell, who just returned from a tourism conference at a hotel in St. In other words, people won’t always be willing to overlook our shortcomings in service, in a location for which they’ve paid dearly, and will soon expect to get what they paid for. We are forecasting a future where value for price paid, and services commensurate with the price point, will be instrumental in maintaining our market share and the integrity of our brand,” Mitchell wrote in a recent report to Keys tourism officials. “Visitors are willing to overlook many shortcomings in terms of service and places being short-staffed,” Mitchell said. “There is such pent-up demand for people to get away, wherever they can go, and a lot of people have an unparalleled amount of savings right now, whether it’s from stimulus money, or from not spending it on other trips for the past year and a half,” Mitchell said. Stacey Mitchell, director of the Monroe County Tourist Development Council (TDC), is asking - and trying to answer - the same questions. The entire Florida Keys island chain is experiencing an unprecedented number of visitors, demand for lodging and willingness to pay the equivalent of a month’s rent in most cities for a single night in Key West or Islamorada.īut throughout the state and nation, staffing shortages are also unprecedented, prompting many in the hospitality and leisure industries to ask: What do these visitors get when they arrive? And could the sky-high hotel rates backfire on a destination when visitors don’t get the service they expect for the price they paid to be here? It’s not that they’re being greedy, but as a business you don’t want to leave money on the table when people are willing to pay it, and are filling these rooms.” For now, they’re riding this wave and trying to recoup what they lost during the pandemic closures. “But as soon as occupancy drops, hotels will lower their rates. “Our occupancy is way beyond where it should be right now,” Jodi Weinhofer, president of the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys & Key West, told the Keys Weekly on Tuesday. And yes, plenty of people are paying those prices.
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