While many hotels and vacation villas across the territory report a good occupancy rate for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, for some the East Coast blizzard seems to have hurt business, and at others guests are stuck on-island.
“We’re in the hole about $15,000,” Best Western Emerald Beach Resort Manager Joel Kling said.
The St. Thomas-based Emerald Beach has about 15 rooms with guests who can’t fly home and another eight to 10 reserved by people whose flights into St. Thomas were cancelled, Kling said.
According to Kling, the guests stranded at Emerald Beach continue to buy food and enjoy activities because the holiday week attracts visitors with deep enough pockets to absorb the extra expense. However, he said food and beverage revenues are down 20 percent over last the same time period last year.
“They’re choosing items that are less expensive – burgers versus regular dishes,” he said.
It appears that guests are reserving hotels and renting cars because those are the backbone of a vacation, but they aren’t spending as much on meals, activities and shopping.
Albert Willis, who owns St. John Car Rental, has his finger on the island’s business pulse. He said that while it’s too soon to say how car rentals will do because of the mainland snow situation, restaurants are down.
On St. John, Caravan Gallery owner Radha Speer is wondering what happened to a week she expected to be busy.
“If they’re here, they’re not spending,” she said.
The owner of Anchor Dive Center/Caribbean Adventure Tours on St. Croix, who would give her name only as Laurie, said that business was off 40 percent compared to last year’s Christmas week.
“But we’re doing better than we have been doing,” she said.
Business is down about 20 percent from the same time last year at Rum Runners restaurant on the Christiansted, St. Croix boardwalk, owner Kristen McCullough said.
“But we had a really good day today with two cruise ships in,” she said.
At Gallery St. Thomas on St. Thomas, Sandra Mead said business began to pick up this week.
“It’s been a pretty good week for us,” she said.
At Burrito Bay restaurant in Red Hook, St. Thomas, manager Robert Wilkins said business was good. While locals had slacked off before Christmas because they were out shopping, he said both resident and tourists were boosting revenues this week.
The smallest properties and vacation villas seem to be doing best. Nancy Lewis, who owns Garden By the Sea bed and breakfast on St. John, said she’s filled up her three rooms just after Christmas.
At Vacation St. Croix, owner Marti Gotts has about 98 percent of her 45 villas filled. Last year the number stood at around 60 percent.
“And our guests seem to be going out. They’re calling us for dinner recommendations and (have) been doing Buck Island tours,” Gotts said.
At Catered To vacation villas on St. John, owner Tyler Anderson said his 44 houses were about 85 percent booked over Christmas but by New Year’s he’ll have a 100 percent occupancy rate.
He thinks the year will come in a “smidge” better than last year. That said, he’s still seeing a lot of last-minute bookings by people looking for discounts. He said that in many cases, they’re successful. And even if Catered To doesn’t offer a discount on a particular house, he said that guests aren’t shy about asking.
Ashley Bouzianis, director of catering at the Renaissance Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix, said the hotel was filled up this week and people are spending on things besides rooms at the resort.
“The restaurant is slammed,” she said.
However, Bouzianis pointed out that Carambola is located in a remote area of the island and guests tend to stay on the property rather than head out for activities and meals.
At Bolongo Bay Beach Resort on St. Thomas, manager Richard Doumeng said that although the resort has fewer people this week than last year, those people are paying a higher rate.
“Spending is up this year as well,” he said.
Bolongo has had three cancellations and several delayed arrivals because of the snow, but Doumeng said Christmas Day had the lowest occupancy he’s seen in the last four or five years.
As for what’s ahead, Lewis said Garden by the Sea is sold out for January, a situation that never happened before, but Doumeng said Bolongo’s January looks slow.
Kling said January at Emerald Beach doesn’t look good, and Doumeng pointed out that a Tourism Department promotion that gives people who book air and hotel packages a $500 instant credit for bookings made between Feb. 1 and March 31 for stays between March 1 and May 31 shows that some hoteliers expect a slow first quarter.
“A two-month booking window tells you a lot of places are more concerned,” he said.
