"The woman I spoke to said he was just saying that in jest and that I was taking it too seriously, "

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"When we got there, we asked for the Ray Nagin special, " said Bernard, a Baytown, Texas, resident who was evacuating in advance of Hurricane Ike with her sister. What she got, though, was a perplexed front desk worker and the opportunity to star in a scene replayed at least a few times Friday.
The offer was designed, the mayor said, "to say to our friends in Houston and Texas that we want to take care of you, since you have taken care of us, " according to a transcript of his remarks. Thousands of New Orleanians evacuated to Texas shelters and hotels because of Hurricane Katrina.
In fact, it is against federal anti-trust laws for hotels to collectively agree upon rates. It also is impractical to set a flat rate citywide because hotels stanford hotel hong kong vary in size and services, said Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Association.
stanford hotel hong kong "The woman I spoke to said he was just saying that in jest and that I was taking it too seriously, " Bernard said. "For them to say we're taking things too seriously is just unconscionable. It's not a joking matter when you're running for your life just like the people here did three years ago."
The mayor's comments and ensuing calls from potential guests requesting the special rate caused the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association to issue a harried e-mail to hotels urging them "in the spirit of cooperation" to make any appropriate accommodation they could to callers requesting Nagin's rate.
"While there is, of course, neither a mandate nor a law to give 'special rates' to evacuees in this instance, we know that you recognize the impact of any major hurricane on its citizens, stanford hotel hong kong and the necessity of evacuation to a safe place, " the association's president and executive director wrote in a joint statement sent to 101 hotel properties.
The Astor Crowne Plaza is offering an $89 rate, down from the current going rate of $129, to Houston-area evacuees, said Don Zimmer, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. The hotel's sales team has also been reaching out to corporate clients in Houston in the hope of booking a few groups.
The Sheraton New Orleans and two other Starwood properties in downtown New Orleans also haven't booked much evacuee business, the properties' general stanford hotel hong kong manager, Bill McCreary, said. But he said that might change if people drive into the city without having booked reservations in advance. The Sheraton is offering rooms for $119 to evacuees, the same price available online at Hotels.com.
"We came here because Mayor Nagin said there were 10,000 rooms and we thought we'd be treated in a reciprocal manner as the New Orleans evacuees were in Houston, " Bernard said. "It's absolutely not about the money; it's about the way we were treated."