Some New Brunswick hotels seeing an eclipse boost

The Holiday Inn Express in Fredericton was not expecting a large increase in bookings for the upcoming solar eclipse. But with just over two weeks to go before the event, assistant manager Lois Whitlock said she is seeing a significant boost in reservations for the night of April 7.

"Usually Sunday night is pretty quiet for us but we've been fortunate to be able to rent out an additional 50 rooms that night."

As of Friday afternoon, the hotel only had 37 of its 90 rooms available for that night. And only 22 rooms were left for Monday, April 8. The hotel has slightly raised prices for the days surrounding eclipse due to the increase in demand, Whitlock said.

The Delta Fredericton has also seen an increase in bookings, while the Crowne Plaza Beaverbrook and Hilton Garden Inn are both near capacity but the bookings are unrelated to the eclipse. 

Lacy Kent is the front desk manager at the Travelodge in Miramichi where rooms are filling up.

"We're about two-thirds full. We're being told that they are coming for this specifically and there's some people traveling from as far as the States."

The 62-room hotel had about 20 rooms remaining as of Friday but Kent said those are not available for reservations and have been put aside for companies which frequently book with the hotel.

The Ramada in Miramichi has also seen an eclipse boost, with all 58 rooms booked for the nights before and after the eclipse. The Days Inn in Miramichi said they have not had extra bookings so far.

At the Amsterdam Inn in Florenceville-Bristol, bookings for the eclipse began a year ago, said Naith Baulkaran, the director of sales and revenue management at the hotel.  

"In the last three months it's when we've seen a lot more picking up," he said.

Many guests have been booking from within the province but there have also been reservations from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. 

The 75-room hotel is near capacity on April 7 and 8. Baulkaran says they believe about 75 per cent of reservations are for the eclipse and he says this represents a 40 to 50 per cent increase compared to average bookings in early April. Additional staff will be at the hotel to accommodate the increase in guests.

"Given that this is a once in a lifetime event, we will have additional staff in the restaurant and in the hotel as well."

Like the Holiday Inn in Fredericton, the hotel has slightly increased prices for the event.