Area hotels filled for eclipse

By Editor | August 1, 2017 |

TOM PINNEY/DAILY FORUM
Pictured is the entrance to the America’s Best Value Inn and Suites in Maryville, which is booked up Sunday, August 20, the night before the eclipse. Like all of the Maryville hotels, America’s Best Value Inn and Suites has been booked up for several months for the celestial event.

The August 21 solar eclipse is making for some good business, but visitors who haven’t planned their trips yet will have a hard time finding a place to stay.

All five hotels in Maryville –America’s Best Value Inn and Suites, Boulders Inn and Suites, Country Hearth Inn, Holiday Inn, and Red Roof Inn have all been booked solid for a long time. For Red Roof and Country Hearth, general manager Sherry Robertson said the hotel was booking up before they knew what was happening.

“Around the first of the year, we started getting calls to reserve rooms for Sunday, August 20,” Robertson said. “We weren’t sure what was going on, because we get the university’s calendar a year early to set rates and, beyond that, it’s a Sunday.

“So for one call, we asked why they wanted a room for a Sunday night, and he told us that the eclipse was going to be the next day. Then it all made sense.”

Across town, the America’s Best Value Inn and Suites was filled by early March. General manager Linda Christensen said it was a little tougher to find rooms for those patrons.

“I have 10 rooms set aside for our construction crew, and those are long-term reservations,” Christensen said. “By March, every room had been filled for Sunday night, and most of the people staying here aren’t staying for Monday night.”

Similarly, the other hotels in town have some availability for August 21, after the eclipse, but they are going rather quickly. And they’re not just coming from the United States.

Robertson noted that the Country Hearth and Red Roof had received reservations from places like Texas and California, but there will be a few people coming from as far as Canada. For the America’s Best Value Inn and Suites, the furthest traveler will be coming from Israel.

Boulders Inn and Suites and Holiday Inn are also booked solid with residents from all over, and Holiday Inn has a waiting list just in case. None of the hotels changed their rates for the event.