Dec. 29--The year that was 2007 was good for some hoteliers. It brought the highest average hotel rates up to historic heights, even when adjusted downward for inflation. During tourist season this year, the average price per room shot up to nearly $250 per night. Key West topped that mark two months in a row. On paper, this was great news - an influx of cash in a down economy. And Keys hoteliers could use the money; they were forced to keep rates flat as expenses rose from 2000 to 2005. Many places have seen great returns on modernizations. But the reasons for and repercussions of these high prices have actually divided the tourism community. Larger hotels have often taken two paths: Renovate or convert to condominiums. The historic Casa Marina in Key West chose to renovate (see below). The giant Key West entryway hotel Beachside chose to do both (also see below). The troubled Sombrero Resort and Marina - formerly Sombrero Cay Club in Marathon - promised renovations, but only converted so far. These conversions looked to take away almost all moderate-priced lodging and change the face of the Keys tourist. The new tourist is wealthier, stays longer, brings a family and spends more - but there are fewer faces. This could be bad news for restaurants and attractions in 2008. But lodgers still feel the need to improve their product, and have been doing so in droves for fear of losing the top-dollar tourists. In other lodging and tourism news: -- Two of Key West's largest hotels reopened. The former Holiday Inn Beachside at the triangle of U.S. 1 and Roosevelt Boulevard has been turned into a 129- top-tier condo resort, the first step in the proposed Key West Convention Center. And the Casa Marina, Henry Flagler's last railroad stop, reopened, this time as a luxury resort with some rooms pulling in $1,100 each night. -- The Monroe County Tourist Development Council also saw major changes this year. The body that decides how to spend taxes collected by hotel revenue has an almost-entirely new board. That new board nearly fired the council's director, but business organizations from across the county successfully fought against it. However, his position remains tenuous despite what is overwhelming support Keyswide from lodging groups, chambers of commerce and others in the industry. The County Commission's new appointments ruffled feathers among those same organizations. Their leaders said the board was being stacked to rubber-stamp the pet projects of some, such as the sinking of the 520-foot USS Vandenberg as an artificial reef off Key West. The TDC's five district advisory boards all voted against a county request for $2 million more in funding for that project, and the full TDC denied the money due to the pressure brought to bear.

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