January is typically an easy month to book hotel rooms in Southern California. Not this year.
The fires have left hundreds of thousands of residents in Los Angeles County homeless, and a large number of displaced families and individuals are scrambling for housing in surrounding counties, especially along the coast and in the desert. In addition to those under mandatory evacuations, many more people, including many families and anxious pet owners, left because of poor air quality or general alarm about the county’s precarious conditions.
“It’s crazy,” said Marie Corbett, group sales manager at the 14 West boutique hotel in Laguna Beach. “I’ve seen people cry… you can see their emotions are so raw. And then they have their animals. There was one lady whose dog bit her hand. Stress.
By 2 p.m. Friday, 14 West’s 70 hotel rooms were “almost fully booked” for the night, Corbett said. She estimates that 80% or more of the guests these days are from Los Angeles.
Since hotel inventory is high in the area and January is typically slow along the coast, many hotels do say they still have rooms available and in many cases are offering emergency discounts. Some Angelenos who left town midweek also started coming back.
For information on available hotels, Discover Los Angeles has compiled a list that includes dozens of hotels in Los Angeles County. The city of Anaheim lists 39 hotels. The San Diego Tourism Bureau lists more than 40 attractions. VisitGreaterPalmSprings.com lists more than 30 hotels. There is also a Santa Barbara list. Some of these listings contain detailed room rate information, and all listings are subject to change as rooms fill up. Meanwhile, Airbnb is partnering with the organization 211LA to provide free emergency housing to many displaced people and first responders.
Ansgar and Julia Friemel and their children arrived in Laguna Beach after evacuating their home in Hollywood Hills Ocean Avenue.
(Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times)
The sudden influx of Los Angeles expats has filled many hotels, sending occupancy rates soaring. It’s already a busy season in desert communities like Palm Springs and Joshua Tree. The result is an influx of reluctant travelers who are lucky enough to be able to book a hotel at short notice but would still rather stay home.
“We really can’t go out,” said Mike Muney, 33, of Mar Vista, explaining why his family left Friday.
“We just feel lucky. We know a lot of people who have lost their homes,” said his wife, Libby Muney, 35 years old.
As they spoke, they stood near the entrance to the Dana Point Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort with their 1-year-old son Nate and yellow Labrador Winnie. The sky above was blue, no helicopters, no volcanic ash. Inside the hotel, staff transformed a conference room into a children’s play area, with “Bluey” playing on the big screen and Twister games placed on the floor.
Andrew Sutrisno, the hotel’s marketing director, said it was expected to be a slow weekend and occupancy rates would likely be below 50%. But over the weekend, evacuations caused by the fire essentially filled the hotel’s 378 rooms. Sutrisno estimates that most of the hotel’s guests are from Los Angeles. Hotel room rates in January are typically around $300.
“Wednesday night was the biggest jump,” Sutrisno said. “Unless you see it with your own eyes – you see your hotel suddenly packed with people – it’s hard to imagine.”
“This hotel is amazing,” McMurney said later.
“Two people I know went to Palm Springs. Another friend is coming here,” Libby Muney said.
Ansgar Fremiel, 27, and Julia Fremiel, 32, and their children, Emelie, 7, on Ocean Drive in Laguna Beach Emely); Liam, 3; and two-year-old Hailey – probably looked like any other family strolling towards the beach on a Friday afternoon. But Ansgar said they were only in town because “we were evacuating from the Hollywood Hills,” which is about 60 miles north.
“We just put as much distance as we can,” Ansgar Fremire said. “With three kids, we didn’t get in the car very quickly.”
After the Sunset Fire was extinguished, the Fremire family was relieved and hoping to return home for the weekend. But many families will be away from home for longer periods of time. As these emergency travelers make decisions on short notice about when to leave, where to stay and when to return, hoteliers need to deal with more variables than usual.
Hoteliers are also subject to state anti-price gouging laws, which limit price increases to 10% of what they were before a local or state emergency was declared. Officials with the California Hotel & Lodging Association said the law may apply even if there is an emergency in one county and there are hotels in another county. explain.
Orange County has attracted many people fleeing the Los Angeles County fires. Here, three guests from Los Angeles sit around the fire pit at El Caminante Bar and Bungalows in Capistrano Beach, Dana Point.
(Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times)
At the 120-room Pacific Edge Hotel, also in Laguna Beach, a front desk clerk reported Friday that “occupancy was 18 percent on Tuesday. We’ve been at 100 percent the past two nights.” The clerk It said guests displaced by fires typically pay 25% of regular rates and have resort and pet fees waived.
For Fairfax Buchanan Banks, 36, who lives near USC and West Adams, the decision to leave “came down to air quality…it was raining ash. ”
Pets are a factor. Buchanan Banks has a dog and a 16-year-old male cat (named Dad) who has viral bronchitis. Her best friend has two dogs. Both pet owners love the idea of clean air and open space. They had misgivings about squatting at a friend’s house indefinitely, and, Buchanan-Banks noted, “we were lucky to have the means to relocate.”
They tried Joshua Tree but couldn’t find anything that fit their situation. But at nearby 29 Palms, they rented a house on Airbnb with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a washer, dryer and a fenced yard. On Thursday they made plans.
On Friday, they drove out, dealing with pet incidents along the way. Still, Buchanan-Banks said, “As we passed through Redlands, I noticed my sinuses and throat were clearing.”
