Gustav fills Texas hotels

August 29, 2008

Hotels in Texas don't usually fill up from border to border in the same week. However as a result of hurricane Gustav, travel lodgings across the state have had to hang up a bold "no vacancy" sign for next week as a result of hurricane preparations. Concerned people have literally booked out every motel, hotel and all forms of accommodation in Texas in order to escape out of the path of the hurricane, therefore leaving their homes in preference of safety.

Alexandria's 2 300 rooms and Pineville lodgings went fast as reservation bookings escalated and all slots were filled. Di Dean, a spokesperson for the Hotel and Motel said at the end of business on Tuesday, "This would have been pretty regular pre-Katrina," Dean said. "But since Katrina ... if there's a storm in the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico, the phones start ringing." Texas hotels filled up fast as by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Natchitoches was reporting its registers were full.

Even the Munroe, Ruston and Shreveport areas indicated on Wednesday that they can not possibly accept any further reservations as they have reached full capacity, which pushes anyone who hasn't booked early and is looking for a hotel to stay in, across state lines into hotels in Texas, Arkansas and northwest Mississippi.

Natchitoches' Welcome Centre office manager Denise O'Bannon mentioned, "Everyone I've been calling has been filled." She added that in addition to the hurricane possibility, Natchitoches Parish is also hosting the Cane River Zydeco Festival, Goldonna Drake Salt Works Festival and Northwestern State University's football season opener against Texas A&M-Commerce this weekend. Adding to the frenzied activity, to the west, Vernon Parish Tourism Commission officials said that lodgings in the parish are usually busy because of Fort Polk activities, but now they are at capacity next week. Looking east, Vidalia and Natchez are showing no rooms in their inns, making accommodation in Texas a rare commodity in all Texas hotels.