cordelli

It's also possible that FEMA or other agencies, even conference groups, have prearranged agreements to put a hold on any available rooms when something like this happens until they get a handle on what they need.

chicka12

it's crazy to hear about damage in Cancun. I think most hotels are canceling reservations for the next few months at least!

keywestbars

I just got an email from the Hilton Villahermosa GM - where the Hilton Cancun guests were evacuated to. The Hilton Cancun will be closed until at least Dec 31th - but may take much longer.

The hotel did suffer damage. The oceanfront seafood restuarant is almost completely cut in half. The atrim glass is gone. The spa and lobby got lots of water damage. The sea wall has been destroyed around the pool.

Photos of the the damage can be found at :

http://www.yucatan.com.mx/

BamaVol

I hereby admit that I drew a faulty conclusion because my sample size was too small. I used a 30 mile radius around the in-laws town and found 4 Hampton Inns. One had no availability and showed no reason. Another 2 listed construction completion dates in December. When I expanded the radius to 50 miles, all sorts of Hilton properties with availibility popped up.

To quote Emiliy Litella, "Nevermind".

jasonvr

Well, still nothing new on the website. Still just says "Not accepting resevations at this time". Once again, other hotel chains are ahead of the curve and have a date posted, like December 31 for the Marriott and Ritz Carlton.

Information on the net is scattered. I have literally read reports that said it would be open today and reports that state the damage is so severe they are worried the building will collapse.

I would not be so annoyed except for the fact that my travel insurance company will not even start processing a claim until I have a definitive statement from the hotel or hotel chain that says the hotel will not be open for my stay. I have hedged my bets and booked 6 nights at the Hilton Waikoloa and new flights to Kona. I know I will be able to cancel the Hilton reservation. It is only the old airline tickets I am worried about. If the Hilton somehow miraculously opens before Nov 30, I am stuck with a set of plane tickets to Cancun.

keywestbars

The Cancun Hilton arranged for seven buses to get their 300 guests out of Cancun. The guests were sent to the Villahermosa Hilton. All the guests were offered free rooms ,food and calling cards.

The Hilton guests were amoung the first to get out of Cancun Monday morning.

jasonvr

Well that is very good news for the people who were staying there. Good to hear they got the people out, although that is quite a drive based on the map I looked at, several hunder miles.

Although, this doesn't come close to the two Mexicana Airbus A320's that Marriott/Ritz Carlton chartered to get their guests out of the area to either Mexico City or Atlanta, at no charge to the guests. I was amazed when I read this on the Marriott website.

I'm still waiting to get the definitive word on the status of the Cancun Hilton itself. Everything up until now seems to be conjecture and hearsay, although most signs seem to point to it not being open again before the end of the year.

yobdab

Having just returned from the Hilton Cancun yesterday I can confirm that no one will be visiting the resort until probably next summer at the earliest.

The Hilton did everything they could to ensure that all guests were safe during the storm. We spent 4 days in a school shelter 25 miles inland of downtown. While crowded and with no electricity or running water, the Hilton ensured that all guests had bottled water and 3 meals for the entire duration. The Hilton staff were amazing and it humbled me to see how giving and hard working they were considering most had families majorly affected by the hurricane. I could go on for quite some time about the experience but will resist, needless to say that while I would never like to repeat it, the Hilton group (especially Dave Smith, the Cancun GM) could have done little more to ensure the safety and well being of their guests. We were all shipped (safe and sound via 7 tour buses, through 4 feet deep swamped roads) to Villahermosa on Monday. All guests are staying at the Hilton Villahermosa, gratis, until they can arrange exit transport.

As regards the hotel, the entire Hotel Zone is a mess, several areas still under several feet of water. From photos of the Hotel Zone I saw, from a few guests who retrieved their luggage from the Hilton after the hurricane had past, the Hilton was probably one of the least affected affected properties. Luckily the Hilton is elevated (about 60 feet) above sea level and the water only breached the ground level. While no apparent structural damage there does appear to be significant damage (entire atrium glass roof collapsed, beachfront Mitachi and Italian restaurants destroyed, beach no longer exists, 10% guest room windows blown in).

What do I take from the experience? The thing that will always stick in my mind is the people, both the Hilton staff and the local residents. Regardless of our troubles, we always knew we would be returning to our own homes and continue our lives largely unaffected. The local staff and residents however have to rebuild theirs. The staff knew most would be out of work until the area was rebuilt, the residents faced the daunting task of rebuilding their homes; and yet as we left the shelter, staff and residents still had the time to smile and wave. This will forever remind me how lucky we are.

BlondeBomber

Thanks for the info. We were planning on going in Feb or March. I want to be there as soon as they open to show our support. Sounds like a class act all round in a difficult situation.

We thoroughly enjoyed our last stay there and know what you mean about the wonderful nature of most of the locals. Unfortunately they are the ones with the least yet the ones who will be impacted the most.

redeyedgirl

Thank you so much for the information- we were suppose to be there this weekend for our site visit- we had planned our wedding there for next May.
We can not get any word from anyone including international sales , who is located here in the US about predictions and at this point we want to be let out.

Are the villas still standing?

Thanks again for the information- best I have seen yet!

yobdab

From what I saw from photos of the aftermath the villas, surprisingly enough, did appear to still be standing. I would imagine however that there isn't much inside them. The Israeli gentleman I spoke to, that went to the hotel after the hurricane had passed, showed photos of his 8th floor end junior suite. The photos showed an entirely empty room; i.e. the winds had sucked everything out of the room. This includes the king serenity bed, the 1000lbs armoire, tv, minibar, desk, etc. His luggage however was still safe and sound in the bathroom. I just hope this is same for the other guests as we all left our luggage in the hotel (although I value my family and my own life significantly higher than a few suitcases of material possessions). We were told that the suites on the leg of the hotel going out to the ocean were the ones that took the most damage (this was not the leg that the Israeli gents room was on). I would imagine that the heaviest damage would have been to all of the end jr suites as they have little protection from the winds.

I would think that May next year might be possible to get the Hotel operational again but personally I wouldn't risk it. I would imagine that you probably won't even get into the Cancun Hotel Zone until next year (I read a few reports to this effect).

Jeeves

Thanks for the report. I've stayed at the Hilton Cancun twice. While the facility was beautiful, it was the great staff that made it special.

I ran across the following photo of the hotel. It doesn't show much because of the distance from which it was taken.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/even...VvBHNlYwNzc20-

yobdab

Wow, that photo makes the damage look almost insignificant. I'm trying to get in contact with the Israeli gent to obtain some of the photos he took (which has many detailed interior shots as well as some of the now non-existent golf course!). I'll host some of them if I can get them. Most of my photos were just of the lead up to the storm, and then my battery ran out before I could take much of the aftermath.

From searching the web it's pretty obvious that the coverage of the effects in the Yucatan are very thin. I see many wondering if they will be able to vacation there are the beginning of November! Reliable, in country, reports I have read suggest that power and water won't even have been returned to the majority before mid November.

The following link is quite a good one for current news:

linky

Kulkulcan 17

It won't be open before Nov 30 so you won't get stuck w/ the Cancun tickets. Maybe sometime late 1st quarter next year.

MileSmiles

Any new information ?? Called, they said it would be close through Dec 31st, but still not accepting reservations for any dates at all.......