Dec. 25, 2007 – Most hoteliers across the territory are smiling as holiday guests fill their rooms.
"The holiday season is completely reserved," Robin Clair, manager at Estate Zootenvaal on St. John said.
The property's four rooms were booked up months in advance, she said.
Clair said Zootenvaal is almost fully booked through April, but she has a week available in January, one in February and two in March.
Like other hoteliers across the territory, she said she's getting a lot of people calling in hopes of finding a room for Christmas week.
Richard Doumeng, manager of Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas said Bolongo is also getting calls for rooms this week.
"Last week, a lot of nice little gaps filled in," he said.
He said waiting until the last minute to book for Christmas week indicates that travelers are still waiting for airfares to drop or hoteliers to have a sale.
"We have created a consumer monster," Doumeng said, adding that he just saw a CNN piece that indicated Christmas shoppers are doing the same.
He said that while not having a full house for Christmas week far in advance makes hoteliers nervous, it's the trend that began when travelers began looking for last-minute deals the rest of the year.
Doumeng said that until recently, Bolongo would get only 8 to 10 percent of its bookings during the month the visitor planned to arrive.
"Now its 25 to 30 percent in the same month," he said.
He said that because the second week in January looked slow, Bolongo decided to have a special for that time period.
Doumeng, who is also the chairman of the V.I. Hotel and Tourism Association board, said that across the territory, the situation looks good.
James Dalmida, the operations director at the Westin Resort and Villas on St. John, said the hotel is full from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2.
"It's service. We've got a good sales and marketing crew," he said.
He said the hotel restaurants will offer special buffets on Christmas and New Year's Day.
Lisa Hamilton, marketing director at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef Hotel and Beach Resort on St. Thomas, said the hotel is just about sold out for the holiday season.
"We have a few days with a couple of rooms left,' she said.
She too credited aggressive marketing with filling those rooms.
Vicki Locke at the Buccaneer Hotel on St. Croix said the hotel is fully booked through Jan. 1.
She said that people who waited until the last minute to book for Christmas week are probably out of luck. While would-be visitors may find a hotel room somewhere across the territory, she said they'd be very lucky to find an airplane seat, particularly to St. Croix, at a price they would be willing to pay.
A survey of Internet booking sites like Orbitz showed seats available from New York's JFK Airport to St. Croix on Christmas Eve for nearly $900 roundtrip, but the traveler had to overnight in San Juan. Orbitz showed for tickets available for the Christmas Eve non-stop flight from JFK to St. Thomas at $1,153.
Like most hotels, the Buccaneer is dressed to the nines for Christmas.
Santa was due Christmas morning while Christmas Carolers were expected Christmas Eve, Locke said.
While Carringtons Inn on St. Croix is filled up for Christmas week starting the day after Christmas, owner Claudia Carrington said that the winter season seems a bit slower than last year.
"January still needs to fill in," she said.
She said that she hopes that cold and snowy weather on the mainland will convince people they need a warm-weather vacation.
"If they have any money left," she said, referring to the growing economic problems on the mainland.
She said that she has helped fill rooms by working through Expedia, an on-line booking agency.
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