Trust me , there are no hotels that have 30-40 rooms available..we need it at same motel...There are 70 plus fire companies that are on waiting list for the weekend of firemens convention in sept...Due me a favor and call 5 hotels and ask them if they have over 30 rooms available that week..I email probably 100 hotels, and NOBODY has 30 plus rooms avaiable..They have 2 or 3, but thats itright now, every hotel is booked for firemen that weekend..
Fred - I know it's a problem now as the Wildwoods is going through this transition phase. Please keep in mind, though, that the new Convention Center was built because you folks screamed and complained that the old one was no longer sufficient for YOUR NEEDS. A lot of good people agreed with you back in the early 90's and worked really hard to get that new building constructed - in the beginning, primarily for you.
Unfortunately for the firemen's convention, the center was built at a time when the economy was booming and too many investors came in and started tearing down the mom-and-pops all at once.
I also know that you like to have your entire company all stay at the same hotel with your equipment parked right out front where you can take good care of it. But during this transition, we are temporarily short a "few" rooms. I hope you can understand the situation the Wildwoods is going through right now and bear with us, Fred.
I stood there in the old convention center on Day 1 and listened to everyone say how desperately you needed a larger center. You were 100% correct and we stood by you, I think it's only fair that you guys return the favor now that the Wildwoods is hurting for rooms and stand by us!
Wildre mentioned something about AC. Please believe me when I say Atlantic City will have a lot fewer hotels for you to stay at then we do. And are you going to park your engines in the casino parking garages? Will they let you clean and polish them the day before the parade? Where will your children go on the AC boardwalk? In that new hugely expensive outlet pier they just built?
And where will you even hold your parade with that traffic, on the boardwalk?
I'm really sorry, Fred, I don't mean to come down on you personally, but everytime I hear firemen talk about their needs, it's like a five-alarmer going off in my head. We helped you in the early 90's, now it's time for a little understanding.
I know the days of staying at the same hotel are gone, at least for a while until the Wildwoods can sort things out here. But the fact is that you firemen - and women - are really important to us down here; we built an entire building to prove it.
Temporarily, think of these possibilities. Hopefully, some of the others can give you some other ideas.
Check with the Chamber of Commerce or the Hotel/Motel Association and ask about the possibilitiy of getting together in small groups and sharing the rent of a few condos. There are quite a lot of them now that are empty and I would imagine there can be a lot of good deals out there, especially in September. In fact, we have a few entire city blocks here full of empty condos. Maybe those two organizations can find enough that are close together for you.
Sharing the rent of a condo might not cost much more than what you paid for individual hotel rooms. I'm just guessing here.
There is also one other possibility that I can think of right now. A lot of firemen are staying at the local campgrounds out in Rio Grande and Erma (about 4 miles off the island). Some of the camps have trailers and/or RV's that they rent out. Maybe you could get a few trailers in the same campground and still be able to keep your equipment there with you. I think you'll find that those camp grounds are a lot cheaper than hotels in the Wildwoods.
Heck, I know one guy who pitched a tent out there for the entire season while he worked in Wildwood. They charged him $800 for the whole season. (This is just an example to show you that they are a lot cheaper than on the island, I know you don't intend to pitch a tent. ;D
Some camps with trailers and/or RV's available - I think - are Wildwood Canadian Campground, Beachcomber, Holly Shores, and maybe Seashore Campground. They are all within five miles of Wildwood and I think most if not all will have websites.
You might also call the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce and ask about hotel availabilities in Stone Harbor or Cape May (Cape May might be a little more difficult in September. They're pretty busy there most of the year, but it's wort a try.
I hope things work out for you. You guys are really important to the Wildwoods.
Thom
