Hurricane Sandy Hotel, Travel, and Timeshare Updates

Today’s blog continues our effort to update you on the status of hotel and timeshare openings in the aftermath and ongoing cleanup from Hurricane Sandy as well as some cruise line updates. Because of the size and scope of this storm, it is impossible to cover all the updates or to guarantee this is the most up-to-the-minute information in this constantly changing situation. Please check The Timeshare Authority blog previous postings for other information including important contact numbers: (Updates on Hotel and Timeshare Resorts Closed by Hurricane Sandy; Hurricane Sandy Update for Marriott Hotels and Marriott Timeshares; Caribbean Timeshare and Hotel Guests Feel Impact of Sandy)

• New York’s John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports partially reopened on Wednesday with LaGuardia expected to reopen on Thursday. Check flight availability on a case by case basis and expect limited food concessions and restaurant service within the airports.
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations has announced that all of its resort guests are save and its timeshare resorts are unaffected.
• Pebblebrook Hotels experienced no significant damages. Their properties in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, PA, New York, NY, and Boston, MA  remained open and served guests throughout Hurricane Sandy.
• Hyatt reports that at its Andaz Wall Street location, all guests were relocated to the Grand Hyatt New York and the Wall Street property will be closed until further notice. Hyatt guests can check hotel status by calling (800) 323-7249, emailing [email protected], or sending a tweet to @HyattConcierge.”
• The Sheraton Atlantic City evacuated guests as part of the city’s evacuation order but remains as a staging center for emergency services personnel.
• Kimpton Hotels is offering its guests a 20 percent discount stays at hotels in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Alexandria and Washington D.C. To take advantage of the discount, book your stay using the code, “SANDY”.
• The Atlantic City Starwood was evacuated as were two of Starwood’s hotel properties in New York City. The Le Parker Meridien was evacuated following safety issues callused by the collapse of a nearby crane. The W New York Downtown Please is currently closed until further notice and the hotel phone lines are currently down. Contact Starwood’s central reservation team at (866) 961-2860 for more information. Guests at some other Starwood hotel properties throughout the northeast were relocated due to power outages.
• Hilton Hotels report faring well throughout the storm but urges guests to check on the status of existing reservations by calling 1-800-HILTONS. The Hilton New York announced via Facebook that it is open today and that  New York City is returning to “a level of normalcy.”
• The contact number for confirming the status of your Marriott Vacation Club reservations is: 1-800-845-4226.
• The closing of the Port of New York may be suspended today or tomorrow. The cruise ship, the Norwegian Gem has sailed to Boston to take on supplies. The Crystal Symphony bypassed New York and sailed to Charleston, SC.
• The cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess remains in Boston and may dock in Manhattan on Friday rather than Brooklyn as scheduled.
• Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled two of its scheduled cruises, one from Baltimore and one from Norfolk, and has re-worked the schedules of several others, with clean ups in the Bahamas effecting its schedule along with port challenges in the northeast.

Getting Involved in Hurricane Sandy Emergency Response

The impact and disruption to lives and businesses following such a catastrophic storm continues long after the storm has passed. Weeks from now, when Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy is no longer headline news, families will be struggling to deal with the devastation left behind.

You can offer your assistance through donations made to the American Red Cross at red Cross Disaster Relief: https://www.redcross.org/donate . There is also a directory of state-by-state opportunities if you are interested in volunteering your time as part of the clean up and restoration efforts: http://www.nvoad.org/states.