Lodging Host lost three hotels temporarily. Hurricane Ike hit TX and LA on September 12th 2008.  The Comfort Suites in La Porte, TX, the Hampton Inn in Livingston TX and the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Livingston TX.  In addition the Hampton Inn in Hillsboro TX lost power briefly and the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Marshall TX lost power for 2 days.

The Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Livingston sustained the most damage with water penetration to all guest rooms and public areas.  It should reopen late in the week of September 29th.  Mike Scavone headed up the efforts for the team.  The LHHC & hotel staff reacted quickly getting generators transported to the site for temporary power.  That provided enough electricity to allow lighting for crews to work, to do water extraction and power fans to lessen the growth of mold.  Outside contractors were secured immediately to replace carpet and padding, replace damaged sheetrock in walls and ceiling, paint and texture effected areas and eradicate mildew.  When power was restored the team was poised to move forward to minimize the loss created by Ike.

The Hampton Inn in Livingston sustained minor roof damages and water penetration only to a couple public space and a few guest rooms.  Again the team quickly moved to minimize damages and take in the remaining guests of the Holiday Inn Express that were displaced by the large amount of damage to that hotel and employee and their families displaced by the storm.  When the hotel got power back a couple of days later, the hotel quickly opened rooms and worked with the City of Livingston to house emergency crews working in the area.  The hotel opened the rest of it’s rooms the week of September 22nd even as repairs proceeded.

The Comfort Suites in La Porte TX was not as fast with power not restored until late in the week of September 22nd and access to the city restricted until early that same week.  The hotel sustained water damages to the first floor mostly due to the rising water.  But again the hotel and LHHC staff moved quickly to get repairs underway and reopened about 30 of their rooms later in the week of September 22nd, even as repairs continued, to provide much needed housing for emergency Utility crews doing repair work in surrounding communities.