People traveling to Brown County for the eclipse will need a place to stay overnight if they want to avoid the traffic of same-day visitors. What happens if the hotels and accommodations are full?
Many hotels like the Brown County Inn, Abe Martin Lodge, Hotel Nashville and the Cornerstone Inn are booked up. Some were even full between six months and a year ago.
Front desk manager Lisa Richards of the Cornerstone Inn told the Democrat that customers began booking rooms months in advance.
“(It was) probably six months ago when I started getting inquiries,” Richards said. She added, “We can sleep 100 here.”
In addition to hotels, Brown County also has many vacation rentals and bed and breakfasts. Melanie Redmond the reservationist at Hills O’ Brown Vacation Rentals, told the Democrat that all of their 104 properties have been booked. She said that their properties generally range between $100 and $600 but some were raised an extra $100 on the day of the eclipse. Regardless of this, reservations began a year ago.
Patty Frensemeier the owner of Hills O’Brown also owns the Friends O’Mine Campground and Cabins. She told the Democrat that Friends O’Mine’s 82 spaces between cabins and camping slots are completely full and that she received inquiries a year ago for many of the properties.
“The campground did absolutely nothing, we didn’t change prices or anything,” Frensemeier said. “I don’t like to price gouge people, I don’t like to for Indiana University graduation, Memorial or Labor Day weekends either. So why would I do it now?”
Brown County KOA or Kampgrounds of America’s office assistant Christi Bastion told the Democrat that all of their 80 space are completely booked. She said that the tried squeezing as many spaces as they possibly could and still booked up completely.
For people still searching for a place to camp and do not have reservations, Craig Finke, owner of Harmony Tree Resorts, said that all of their interior lodging is booked, but they have camping sites available for $100 a night. He said that the campsites are a new addition to Harmony Tree Resorts and were added in preparation of the eclipse.
If camping is not your style and you prefer a more traditional hotel, places like the Season’s Lodge and Grandwood Suites have vacancies.
Carol Fitzgerald the sales manager at the Season’s Lodge told the Democrat that they have had 10 cancellations and those rooms are available. She said that she expects to have them filled by the time of the eclipse. She also said that the Season’s Lodge did raise pricing, but they added free breakfast which is a new addition to the lodge.
Grandwood Suites also has availability. Owner Joy Tilton told the Democrat that they also have around 10 rooms vacant. Tilton said that while it is interesting that they have as many vacancies, she understands that many people have past experiences with other hotels in the area.
“Probably people got on (when booking a room) and they have places they’ve been to before in Nashville,” Tilton said. She added, “Also we do have higher prices.”
Tilton said that their first floor rooms are typically around $229 per night but for Sunday night into the Monday of the eclipse, the same room price is $865.
