Despite delta, local hotels filling up thanks to start of school, fall football

Even with the most recent COVID-19 surge, Baton Rouge travel is holding strong, in part thanks to the upcoming start of classes at LSU and Southern. Local hotels are also banking on the college football season to keep their numbers high.

August is generally a slower travel month, says Ben Blackwell, general manager of the Courtyard Marriott and Hampton Inn, due to schools starting and summer vacation ending. However, the moving in of LSU students has kept his hotels busy as parents book rooms.

There has not been any large-scale downtown event canceled that would affect his hotels, he says, and he is looking forward to LSU football season, when booking numbers really increase. LSU is still planning to host a full stadium of fans this fall.

The Renaissance Hotel has seen its typical slowdown of visitors in August, says general manager Nathaniel Tannehill. The hotel has not seen a huge dropoff in bookings, but has had some meetings and events that were booked at the location pushed back a month or two.

Baton Rouge’s strength as a regional market is helping it weather the latest COVID surge, he says. The city is more of a hub for business travel and a great location for those traveling from Florida and Texas to stop on the way to their destinations.

The Renaissance was sold out last weekend during LSU move-in week, Tannehill says, and he and his team are excited heading into fall with the start of football season and the return of typical business travel.

The Hilton Garden Inn at Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport has also been fortunate. While it has hosted some college parents, says Nestor Rodriguez, director of sales, it is also still getting business from local and national groups that are still traveling.

The hotel is nearly sold out for Southern football home game weekends. As long as the governor and the mayor keep the city open, Rodriguez says, he’s not expecting travel to decrease anytime soon.

This story originally appeared in the Aug. 17 edition of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.