Island-Sity: Some Marco Island, Fla., hotels risk closure waiting for BP claims checks

Some Marco Island, Fla., hotels risk closure waiting for BP claims checks

Posted in | at 9/08/2010 02:35:00 PM

Some small hotels on scenic Marco Island, Fla., say they're on the verge of closing unless they receive checks from the $20 billion pot that BP created for oil-spill-related business claims, local CBS affiliate WINK News, reports.

Marco Island's Lakeside Inn, for instance, tells the TV station that it's two weeks away from having to shut its doors unless they receive a claims check for damages related to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The hotel received an $11,000 check in June to help them get through the tough summer season, but nothing since then, the story says.Since the Gulf Coast Claims Facility - run by Kenneth Feinberg - on Aug. 23 took over the claims operation from BP, the hotel says its claim has been "under review," the TV station says.

Will claims checks ever come?

A July story by Bloomberg, however, notes that it's not clear that hotels and other businesses hurt by the decline in tourism will be eligible for claims.

"Feinberg, whom President Obama appointed to handle claims, told the House Small Business Committee in Washington that determining whether to pay businesses and individuals that didn't suffer direct damage is among the most difficult issues he faces," Bloomberg reported on July 1.

Tourism officials and those who make their living from tourism have said that the spill has reduced tourism and cost businesses billions of dollars, the Bloomberg story says.

Anxiety grows for hoteliers

Meanwhile, hoteliers are getting more and more nervous as fall approaches. "September and October are your slow season, but we're at a breaking point," said Desiree' Buhelos, owner of the Boathouse Motel, tells WINK News. "Our electric is a little bit past due, our water is due, our payroll is in a week and a half," Marcia Mandel, general manager of Lakeside Inn, tells the TV station.

A recent poll by Orlando-based travel marketing firm Ypartnership says that about 22% of tourists were less likely to visit southwest Florida beaches for fear of oil-riddled beaches, the WINK News story says.