Marriott hotels in New York brace for Hurricane Sandy

As Hurricane Sandy moves closer to New York, Marriott's 14-hotel operation there is juggling a complex mix of stranded travelers, evacuation orders and a limited staff.

Marriott's biggest hotel in Manhattan — the New York Marriott Marquis in the middle of Times Square — last night sold about 1,700 of its 1,957 rooms, says Kathy Duffy, Marriott's New York spokeswoman.

There were some cancellations from scrapped business meetings, but the hotel is still full, partly thanks to travelers who can't leave the city due to canceled flights and some locals who checked into the hotel.

One indication of demand: The hotel's View restaurant on the 47th and 48th floors is busier than expected.

"As of last night, the View had 300 reservations, which is the reverse of what you think might happen," Duffy says.

The reason, she suspects, is that some of the smaller, independent restaurants in the normally bustling area closed in anticipation of the storm.

The hotel's newly refurbished 8th-floor restaurant and lounge, however, is operating with a limited menu today, she says.

The hotel also has had to adjust its offerings due to a staff shortage.

"Some housekeepers can't get in today," Duffy says, noting that New York closed the subway. "They would take public transportation. So that means we're not doing a full cleaning of every room."

Guests should expect fresh towels and toiletries, but not the deep cleaning that would normally be done.

One of 14 New York hotels evacuated

The hotel giant had to close its 500-room New York Marriott Downtown in Lower Manhattan near low-lying Battery Park (see above photo), due to city evacuation orders.

The hotel's now empty except for a team of about seven people including the general manager, who are staying there to assess possible flooding damage, Duffy says.

"They got everybody out yesterday," she says. "It was very smooth, because we'd had the practice with Irene last year."

Tourists returned from sightseeing to ghost-town-like hotel

A group of about 25 guests were quite surprised when they returned in the late afternoon to find their hotel had turned into a ghost town, she says.

"The hotel had a group of Canadians who didn't have a clue because they were sightseeing and weren't listening to the news," Duffy says. "They got back and the hotel was empty. When they got back to the hotel with shopping bags, our team was waiting to move them. They said, 'What? What do you mean?'"

The hotel yesterday posted a "Hurricane Sandy Alert" prominently on its website. "For guests arriving October 28 and 29 please call 800-242-8685 for an update on your reservation," the alert says.

The hotel sent its guests to a mix of the 13 other Marriott-brand hotels in New York, such as the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn and Marriott at LaGuardia Airport, she says.

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