MIAMI— Hotels throughout Miami are scrambling to fill vacant rooms left by the Latin Grammys’ decision to relocate its September 11 show to Los Angeles due to Cuban exile protesters. With only three weeks notice, the Latin Grammys’ organization reported on August 20 that it was pulling its show from the Miami area and moving to Los Angeles because it couldn’t come to terms with Miami city officials over the location of local protesters. Though the city desperately tried to work out an agreement that would have given visibility to the Cuban protesters but kept them about 300 feet away from the stairs to Miami’s AmericanAirlines Arena, Grammy officials said they were pulling the plug— leaving many area hotels in a frenzy to fill their now-vacant hotel rooms. “It hurt us relatively badly,” said a spokesperson from the Tides hotel, located on Ocean Drive. “We were sold out for the entire event, and now we’re scrambling to fill rooms on such short notice.” The spokesperson added that September and October are traditionally the slowest months on the beach, and that, “having the Grammys’ would have made the month shine.” To combat the sudden increase in empty rooms, the Tides is reinstating its off-season rates and “offering discounted specials to drive business during the time period.” Though occupancy rates are historically low in Miami in September, the Tides’ spokesperson remarked that they “are losing a significant portion of additional business.” In addition, Island Outposts Public Relations Director, Brad Packer, noted that, “The Latin Grammys moving to Los Angeles is a huge disappointment to us as we had a large portion of our room inventory dedicated to this event. We seem to be recovering well with our sales efforts. However, it is hard to imagine the entire city of Miami to recover fully on such short notice.” Island Outpost operates five hotels in South Beach including the Tides, the Cavalier, the Kent, the Casa Grande, and the Marlin. All were reportedly sold out for the three days of Grammy events. Similarly, the Hotel Inter-Continental Miami anticipates a significant loss in business due to the event’s sudden relocation, particularly to its individual traveler business. “We didn’t have a lot of large groups booked, but we were expecting a lot of individual travelers,” said Sheryl Sevilla, director/sales for the Inter-Continental property. “We would have sold out, but not now.” Sevilla added that, “all of [the hotel’s]sales managers are calling frequent accounts and travelers telling them [they]have space available during that time at lower rates.” While the hotel isn’t offering any special packages because of the sudden vacancies, it is reinstating its traditional September rates, which are off-season prices. “The Grammys gave us high demand. Rates would have been at their peak,” she said. “We’re very disappointed about the show moving. It would have been a wonderful event for the city.” However, not all hotels in the area are hurting from loss of Grammy business. The Loews Miami Beach Hotel in South Beach only blocked 50 of its 790 rooms for Grammy attendees, and a spokesperson for the hotel reported that this is “a busy time” for the property. “We have a lot of groups in house that booked all our meeting space [during the time the Grammys would have been held],” said the spokesperson. “We’re very lucky. We have a lot of September business booked.” However, the spokesperson noted that the main concern in the city is that the Grammy pullout, “doesn’t make us look very good.” Despite the Grammy organizers’ sudden change of heart, many Miami hoteliers said they would welcome the event back next year. “We’d be really happy if they came back. This is such a great city and culturally diverse, it’s too bad they couldn’t come to an agreement,” the Tides’ spokesperson said. “We’d take our chances, and book the rooms for them again next year.” In addition, Sevilla noted
The Tides Hotel