Oct. 29, 2012
Hurricane Sandy continues to bear down on its path toward the Eastern Seaboard, with the storm’s center anticipated to touch down on the southern New Jersey shoreline this evening.
From the Carolinas to Maine, forecasts projected Sandy to strike into a cold front—resulting in flash floods, snowstorms and sweeping power loss. The National Grid, a provider of energy to millions, has estimated 60 million people could be impacted.
In anticipation of the severe fallout, New York City shut down its mass transit and school systems and required residents to depart some low-lying areas Sunday.
On the hotel front, Marriott has reportedly already shuttered some of its properties in low-lying areas of Manhattan—including the New York Marriott Downtown and The Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park—with the reopening date of each hotel to be established once the storm has safely passed. Guests of both properties were relocated to nearby Marriott hotels and The Ritz-Carlton, Central Park, respectively.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation’s blog provided this update: "We are aware that Hurricane Sandy is impacting travel plans for many of our guests, and want to give you the latest information. Many of our hotels along the East Coast are waiving cancellation fees and encourage you to speak with us directly about your reservation or any questions you might have."
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is offering a 20% discount at all available properties in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., from Monday through Wednesday.
Hilton Worldwide is relinquishing cancellation fees for advance-purchase reservations for properties in the evacuation zones and other affected areas, issuing this statement: “If guests check-out before their scheduled departure date or time because their stay is negatively impacted by Hurricane Sandy, early departure charges will be waived at all applicable hotels. We continue to monitor and evaluate Hurricane Sandy's path and will update our policies accordingly.”
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) forecast approximately 514,000 trips and $606 million in lost spending resulting from storm-caused cancellations. The 11 East Coast states taking the brunt of Hurricane Sandy could suffer an average business travel spending loss as high as $58 million daily.
Additional Resources:
Live updates from NBC’s U.S. News
State-by-State Breakdown from CNN
Thousands of Flights Grounded by Sandy
