Local folks filling empty hotel beds.

Publication: The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Bookmark this article Print this article Link to this article Email this article Digg It! Add to del.icio.us RSS

COPYRIGHT 2005 The Miami Herald

Byline: Douglas Hanks Iii

Oct. 27--Blessed with electricity but cursed with empty beds, hotels are courting residents left in the dark by Hurricane Wilma.

"We're going to be completely sold out through Monday or Tuesday," said Rafael Barrera, general manager of South Beach's Clinton Hotel, which is offering a $70-per-night rate for South Florida residents.

For $70, guests get a free breakfast and beach chairs, as well as a tour of hurricane-damaged areas along Biscayne Bay in the hotel's sight-seeing boat. "This morning, there were a lot of people" on the boat, Barrera said.

Blackout victims provided hoteliers one of the few hopes of filling rooms in the wake of Hurricane Wilma's assault...

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.