Local hotels have little or no room for hurricane evacuees

Residents from coastal Georgia and coastal South Carolina are doing their best to find inland hotels as they try to get out of the way of Hurricane Matthew, but they aren't having much luck in Gainesville.

 

At least two hotels in the area - Hilton Garden Inn in Gainesville and Jameson Inn in Oakwood - said they've received plenty of calls from evacuees. However, the facilities have been booked for months because of the Special Olympics Fall Games, which are being held this weekend in Hall County.

 

Richard, who answered the phone at the Hilton Garden Inn, spoke off the record, since most official communication comes from company headquarters. He said he checked with a number of the company properties in north Georgia and very few had open rooms.

 

"October is the busiest hotel month," he noted, saying that people tend to travel to this region for fall attractions.

 

The Jameson Inn has also been booked for months because of the Special Olympics athletes, coaches and their families. A clerk by the name of Danielle said she had been fielding phone calls from evacuees, but had no rooms to offer them.

 

A desk clerk at the Holiday Inn Gainesville-Lanier Centre said they do have some guests who have evacuated from Florida and South Carolina. She estimated about 40 people were staying at their facility to escape the storm. She also said they had dropped the rate for the evacuees, since they were in an emergency situation.