Getting a hotel room for Dream Cruise weekend might be a little tougher this year.
The number of bookings in Metro Detroit is expected to rise following an uptick in the Michigan travel industry and hotel occupancy rates for the first half of the year, tourism officials said.
Some hotels are already booked solid for the Aug. 20 weekend, and others along Woodward Avenue and the surrounding suburbs are reporting limited vacancies for the Dream Cruise, where about 1 million spectators and 40,000 classic cars crowd along Woodward every third Saturday in August.
"I think people are just feeling a little more comfortable spending money on these guilty pleasures," said Mike O'Callaghan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau.
The rosy outlook, in part, stems from an 11.7 percent increase in occupancy rates in Metro Detroit hotels through the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2010, O'Callaghan said.
The average occupancy rate in the region for the first half was 57.5 percent, the best mark in four years, according to STR, a Hendersonville, Tenn.-based hotel research information company.
"I expect that, based on what we have seen in the travel market statewide, the number of visitors will increase," O'Callaghan said, talking about an increase in Dream Cruise spectators and participants. "People are so confused about everything going on at Washington right now, and the Woodward Dream Cruise is an escape."
Despite economic worries and a turbulent stock market, Steve Yencich, president and CEO of the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association, said the car show won't be affected.
"This is an event people save for and plan and anticipate on a year-to-year basis," he said.
O'Callaghan said recent economic events are too fresh to affect hotel occupancy because people already have made their decision.
Many hotels are already sold out. The Radisson Kingsley Hotel in Bloomfield Hills is fully booked, just like last year, and it has about 25 people on a waiting list, said Paulette Kruger, director of sales and marketing. The hotel is on Woodward Avenue.
"Oh my gosh, it's so busy and very exciting," Kruger said, talking about the Dream Cruise events taking place at the hotel. "By the end of the week, we're exhausted."
Likewise, the Gatehouse Suites Troy Hotel is sold out, said Tammy Bruning, assistant general manager.
"It's our big bash before the end of the year," she said, meaning it's the last big weekend before the holidays.
Last year hotels from Southfield to Auburn Hills reported 72 percent hotel occupancy for the Dream Cruise week, up from 61.2 percent occupancy in 2009, O'Callaghan said.
Most hotels don't typically hike prices, and the average rate last year was $71.50, O'Callaghan said. While some visitors come from around the country and stay the entire week, most hotel rooms are rented for the weekend by Midwesterners.
"This truly is Detroit's Mardi Gras — but without the beads," O'Callaghan said.
Other hotels that aren't fully booked are filling up quickly, seeing more rooms disappear every day.
As of Thursday, the 135-room Comfort Inn of Farmington Hills had 67 rooms booked for Friday and 77 rooms for Saturday. Branden Shammami, the hotel's front desk manager, expects last-minute visitors will boost the numbers from last year when it booked 74 rooms Friday and 85 Saturday.
The Comfort Inn has a steady Dream Cruise clientele, with the number of booked rooms being "right around the same every year," Shammami said.
The Sagamore Motor Lodge in Royal Oak is also expecting a full house. There were six vacancies Thursday, but that is expected to change as the event approaches. The majority of guests, however, are the same year after year, said Michele Saranchev, general manager.
"We know everybody's name when they check in," she said. "We know who they are. It's fun seeing everyone again."
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