Successful Super Bowl? You bet, great game. We are told Saints fans were big restaurant and bar spenders, the weather was outstanding, the half time show had no "wardrobe malfunctions."
But how about the hotels?
Over the next few days you are going to hear much about the occupancy rates at local hotels. How well did they do? How much will be contributed to the Miami-Dade and Broward bed tax coffers?
No question that Broward County will have plenty to crow about. The focus of the event was shifted to Fort Lauderdale by the NFL and locals. The press center operated out of the Convention Center and one of the teams headquartered in the city. More fans booked hotels in the Fort Lauderdale area than during the last Super Bowl.
South Beach was packed with major parties and the the area's number one, high profile party location rocked. Regardless of Fort Lauderdale's take, South Beach gin mills did a brisk business -- at least it seemed so.
So how did the hotels do? Sure they were full but we are told that rooms were booked late. "They did ok," a veteran hotelier said, "but nothing to write home about."
The question is always what kind of rates were the hotels able to charge and did they drop prices? The occupancy numbers will come out quickly. It will take time for the bed tax results to surface. Only then will we have a true picture of what the big game brought to the table tax wise.
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So when you hear about hotel occupancy you will hear about a huge success. It is always about the money. That determines a success.
Hank Tester has been covering news and politics in South Florida since 1992.
