New York City Marathon runners to find packed hotels

The Westin Grand Central in New York was sold out during the New York Marathon, before Sandy devastated the city.(Photo: Westin Grand Central)

Tags

• New York City
• Hurricane Sandy

2:09PM EDT November 1. 2012 - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday announced that the New York City Marathon will indeed go on in the city ravaged by superstorm Sandy.

"It's a great event for New York and for those who were lost, you have to believe they would want the economy and city to go forward for those left behind," Bloomberg said Wednesday.

But the arrival of out-of-town marathon runners presents yet another wrinkle to New York's hotels, which are trying to cope with a daunting number of challenges in the wake of Sandy.

The city's hotels are coping with a list of issues. Among them: Unprecedented cancellations and requests to extend stays; a high number of walk-in room requests from powerless local residents; unpredictable staffing levels; non-working land lines, and in some cases no steam heat.

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Runners cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 6, 2011. The marathon will take place this year, despite damage from Hurricane Sandy.(Photo: Jason DeCrow, AP Photo)

"We have three groups coming in today, including one from Amsterdam," says Ed Maynard, general manager of the 774-room Westin Grand Central hotel, which has electricity.

"Before Sandy, we were already sold out with marathon groups," he told me. "Now we're trying to confirm with those groups if their flights are still scheduled to arrive. It looks like it is still a go."

Marathon runners don't automatically get priority "because we're trying to accommodate all arrivals based on anticipated departures. We're also not taking any new external bookings until we can accommodate everyone who's booked previously."

At Manhattan's third-largest hotel - the 1,780-room Sheraton New York, director of sales and marketing Kai Fischer says they're also getting ready to host marathon runners. He's currently seeing delayed arrivals due to the weather, and they've also had some people cancel due to Sandy.

"But most guests are still coming in and all systems are go for marathon day," Fischer tells Hotel Check-In.

Readers: I'll be following this evolving situation at New York's hotels, so whether you're a marathon runner or a stranded New Yorker looking for a hotel room, please get in touch. You can either leave a comment here or email me - with "Marathon" in the subject line - at bdelolli@usatoday.com.

Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2012/11/01/new-york-city-marathon-runners-to-find-packed-hotels/