Hotels, restaurants and visitors' centers in Statesboro, Hinesville and other towns reported full houses this week

Web-posted Sept. 6, 1996

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By Doug Gross
Morris News Service

STATESBORO, Ga. - The Olympics may have been a bust in many rural counties in southeast Georgia. But not Fran.

Hotels, restaurants and visitors' centers in Statesboro, Hinesville and other towns reported full houses this week when residents fled the coast to avoid the storm that never materialized locally.

``It's very comparable to a Georgia Southern football weekend or something like that,'' said James H. Dick, general manager of Holiday Inn in Statesboro. ``It's good for business, but we all wish it was for another reason.''

Hinesville's Days Inn, like the Statesboro hotel, was completely booked Wednesday and Thursday.

Although some Savannah families packed up and returned home Thursday, other guests - some with pets - planned to stay another night, manager Cindy Dodgen said.

``We don't normally accept pets, but I made an exception,'' Ms. Dodgen said. ``This is a time to pull together and help people, not give them trouble.''

Although hospitality was the name of the game, some visitors said it appeared some hotels were taking advantage of the potential disaster.

Frances Moller of Statesboro said her daughter, who is visiting from Mississippi, encountered inflated rates at several hotels when she went looking for a room Wednesday night.

``It's terrible,'' she said. ``They're trying to cash in on the hurricane. I've never heard of this going on, even when we had (NCAA Division 1-AA) national championships going on here and thousands of people from out of state.''

Mrs. Moller said some Statesboro hotel rooms, which are advertised for as low as $49, were renting for as much as $99 a night.

But Mr. Dick said that, at least at the Holiday Inn, rates for this week were set months in advance.

``In the first two weeks of September, about 13,000 Georgia Southern students come into town,'' he said. ``Our common policy is that rates go up the first two weeks of September.

``We would not take advantage of people coming into town because of the hurricane.''

Mr. Dick added that, when hotels near full occupancy, regular discounts - such as one offered by the AAA motor club - are temporarily discontinued. Prices on Holiday Inn rooms ranged from $65 to $85 plus tax, Mr. Dick said.

But closer to the coast, the storm's presence meant another rough couple of days in what's already been a lean summer for hotels and restaurants.

``This weekend's pretty much shot,'' said Sanjay Patel, general manager of the Best Western Dunes hotel on Tybee Island.``It hasn't been a good year at all for us, with (Hurricane) Bertha, the Olympics and Fran.''

Bertha threatened the Georgia coast in July before turning farther north. Tourism officials say the Olympics brought fewer than expected visitors to south Georgia and kept regular tourists, who feared large crowds, at home.

Rebecca Elliot, general manager of the Best Western on Savannah's Bay Street, said business is down, but could pick up by the weekend.

``All my business checked out real quick,'' she said. ``(But) I haven't had a lot of cancellations for the weekend. It's like a wait-and-see attitude.''

Other regional hotels report that their hurricane boost was short-lived.

``It was packed up yesterday and now I have nothing,'' Yogesh Patel, owner of the Days Inn in Jesup, said Thursday. ``Everybody is canceling and most of the rooms are empty.''

Mr. Patel said reservations began dropping early Thursday when news of Hurricane Fran's more northern movement hit the airwaves.

``It's good on one side and not good on the other,'' he said. ``It's not going to be a big mess here, but I'm going to lose big business.''

Restaurants in the region's outlying areas also reported increased sales due to hurricane evacuees.

``(Wednesday) was fairly busy,'' said Mike Provan, manager of Arby's in Statesboro. ``I talked to some people that aren't regular customers that are here from Hilton Head.''

Mr. Provan said he expected business at the fast-food restaurant to remain brisk for the next couple of days.

``We're expecting big crowds,'' he said. ``Those I talked to from Hilton Head said they are here through the weekend.''