Just weeks before Washington and Lee University’s Parents and Family Weekend, more than a dozen visiting families had their reservations cancelled when the Howard Johnson hotel closed due to emergency water damage.
A leak in the hotel’s water line found in late September caused damage to 15 rooms, which are now undergoing a full renovation, said Howard Johnson front desk manager Shilpa Yakkanti.
Yakkanti said it’s often three times more expensive to stay at the Howard Johnson on weekends with events at Washington and Lee, Virginia Military Institute or with horse shows at the Virginia Horse Center.
That was certainly the case this year, said Marla Rios Hall, the mother of a Washington and Lee senior. Hall had reserved a room at the Howard Johnson, as she had in years past. When the room was cancelled, she wasn’t sure where to go.
Hall considered switching to another Lexington hotel as rooms reopened closer to the weekend, but most of the options she found were far more expensive.
“The Tru wanted $1,400 for two nights,” Hall said. “It was a nightmare.”
Hall said she posted on the Washington and Lee parent Facebook page, hoping to find a last-minute cancellation. She eventually booked a hotel at a similar rate to the Howard Johnson: the Comfort Inn in Raphine, about 20 minutes from campus. She said she ended up spending the whole day in Lexington, not returning to the hotel until late Saturday evening.
Yakkanti said the Howard Johnson originally planned to renovate its rooms in December, but the timeline was moved up once the leak was discovered. The hotel officially closed Oct. 22, she said, and will remain closed for at least two months.
“We lost a lot of business,” Yakkanti said. She said the university’s Parents and Family Weekend is among the highest-occupancy weekends for the hotel each year.
The project, which may cost more than $1 million, Yakkanti said, involves repairing 100 rooms. Contractors have already begun work with an expected completion date before the end of the year, and the hotel expects to reopen by January.
While some families scrambled to rebook, others found rare openings nearby. Gary Rubin, another Washington and Lee parent, said he was able to find a room across the street at the Quality Inn, which had just reopened following its own renovation.
“It was about $125 cheaper for the weekend,” Rubin said.
“I just started looking for availability, and it turned out there was some right across the street,” Rubin said. “I was actually really surprised. Considering that it was Parents and Family Weekend, I thought I’d be looking up in Staunton.”
Yakkanti said Howard Johnson staff pointed some displaced guests toward the Quality Inn after it became clear it would have last-minute availability. “They had just finished renovations, so we suggested people go there,” Yakkanti said.
For Hall, the experience underscored how competitive Lexington lodging is during university events. “It feels like you’re in a lottery,” she said. “You just keep calling and calling.”
The Howard Johnson hopes to be back on the market by January, Yakkanti said.
But until then, Hall had advice for parents on major university events: “Book your room right now, if you can, for [next year’s] Parents Weekend,” Hall said. “And a good year or two before graduation.”
