The communications document at The Wyndham Whitney also includes every phone number we could get, Ca

NEW ORLEANS With Tropical Storm Isaac bearing down on New Orleans and expected to make landfall early Wednesday as a Category 1 hurricane on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, GM Stanley Mascair is trying to keep things baymont inn hotel in perspective.
That been-there-done-that sense of calm is a recurring theme when speaking with hoteliers throughout the city. Whether at the Quality Inn Suites on O Keefe Avenue, where Mascair is walking the property checking in with employees, or at The Wyndham Whitney, where GM Casey Callais is quietly walking through the team s hurricane preparedness manual, business is progressing almost as usual.
At the 100-room Quality Inn, for example, the front desk was reconfigured so it could be broken down into sections and easily transported to a higher baymont inn hotel floor so as not to lose important files. Mascair also has been stockpiling wooden pallets from deliveries, which he intends to stack on top of each other to raise expensive fitness equipment should standing water once again creep its way back into the property.
During Katrina, we didn t know exactly where everybody was going, Mascair said. After the staff realized the water wasn t receding and it would take weeks or months for the city to rebuild its infrastructure, the hotel closed temporarily and employees scattered. Mascair and his management team did not know who went where and for how long.
The communications document at The Wyndham Whitney also includes every phone number we could get, Callais said. Taxi companies, the Federal baymont inn hotel Emergency Management Agency, restaurants, back up food-and-beverage vendors, employee names the plan includes numbers for them all, which are reviewed and updated every two weeks, he said.
The Greater New Orleans baymont inn hotel Hotel and Lodging Association will help disseminate information as well, she said. The group is partnering with various organizations, including the New Orleans Convention Visitors Bureau, to form a single conduit of trusted information.
Callais spent a lot of his day Monday baymont inn hotel walking around the 93-room Wyndham Whitney. Much of that time was spent inspecting baymont inn hotel the physical property, securing outdoor furniture and removing any debris from the rooftop.
On a day like today, I make it a point to get out of my chair, get out of my office and walk around the hotel slowly and just talk to everybody and make sure everybody s here in spirit and not too worried about what s happening.
Everybody wants to work, and that s what s really amazing and the biggest difference between what I saw for Hurricane Katrina, Callais said. No one wants to disappoint. Everybody wants to make sure the hotel is open and runs.
As a hotelier, there are two main objectives. The first one is guest and associate safety. We make sure that we have a staff that can handle any kind of emergency, Callais said. The second, he added, is getting the property back up and running as soon as possible.
We re just trying to keep them abreast, Mascair said, adding staff provide guests with a list of local news stations that provide the best hurricane coverage. We want you to have as much information as we have.
We want to make the best decision that we can make. We certainly want to keep you involved. But if you feel like you haven t gone through this and need to leave, we ve given them the number for Choice Cares that in situations like this can give them the closest availability.
Choice Cares is parent company Choice Hotels International s disaster call center that coordinates communication and relief efforts with the chain s more than 6,200 hotels worldwide. It also helps relocate guests.
Right now, it s pretty baymont inn hotel much everything is normal, Early said. We know that we re going to have some bad weather. Hotels are open at this point. Each hotel of course can make an individual decision of what they want to do, but as far as I can tell, most are open. We expect that by Thursday when people start coming in for the (Southern) Decadence Festival that the weather will be fine.
Of all the cities I know and all the hospitality communities, New Orleans is MOST prepared. baymont inn hotel After Katrina, the communications systems and action plans in which Donna Karl at the CVB was so involved are remarkable. It is a very stressful time and like everyone in this country and certainly in our hospitality community, we are holding our breath that all goes well and that NO one is hurt or homeless after Isaac. baymont inn hotel Safety!
Hotel fees, surcharges 'uniquely profitable' RevPAR remains trusted tool in data arsenal Sources predict quick adoption of agency model July breaks US hotel demand record Going all in with social media Essex House dealt at 'very attractive' price
Going all in with social media Hotel fees, surcharges 'uniquely profitable' Don't fear the black swan Sources predict quick adoption of agency model Debt yield takes center stage RevPAR remains trusted tool in data arsenal
Sector reacts to Expedia's new agency model Miami hotel market sizzles with activity GSA will freeze US per-diem baymont inn hotel rates into 2013 Sources predict quick adoption of agency model Tablets provide platform for guest engagement 5 ways to turn around distressed hotels