Jan. 27, 2005 - NAVARRE BEACH -- The loss of the island's only hotel has local tourism officials bracing for bleak days ahead.

Owners of the Holiday Inn, which sits on Gulf Boulevard and was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan, have not decided whether to rebuild or repair.

The gulfside hotel, which has served the area for three decades, is not booking reservations earlier than October.

"Because we're in limbo I don't want people making plans for their vacation and then us not be able to honor them," said Kati Curle, general manager.

That means thousands of visitors, many of whom are regulars, won't be vacationing on Navarre Beach this spring and summer.

"It's a huge blow," said Kathy Newby, executive director of the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council. "They're a major bed-tax contributor." Many had hoped the popular hotel would be partially up and running by early summer.

"We're just still in a holding pattern," Curle said. "The whole thing is a really sad situation." Santa Rosa TDC officials say they expect occupancy on the beach to drop to just around 50 percent during the summer season.

Newby expects some regulars to end up on the mainland at the Comfort Inn and the Best Western.

"I think the properties we have will fill up," she said. "I think (tourists) will come." Both hotels were damaged by wind and floodwaters but have reopened many of their rooms.

"It really depends," said Sanjay Chauhan, general manager at the Comfort Inn on U.S. Highway 98. "The entire hospitality industry will be affected out here." Chauhan said he's not sure tourists will visit an area they know has been devastated by a hurricane.

"More people might be going to Panama City or Destin," he said. "But who knows? Anything could happen." With fewer hotel rooms available, the only alternatives for tourists are privately owned beach houses and condos for rent.

And some property managers are warning vacationers about what they'll find when they arrive.

"We're explaining the situation," said Audrey Scott, a manager for Gulf Properties. "We've sent out a letter... 'You're going to be inconvenienced. You're not going to have a road to Pensacola Beach. You can expect construction noise.' " Scott said it's smart to prepare visitors for the loud and sometimes crowded reality of an island that's trying to rebuild.

"I feel that's very important," she said. "If you don't tell them and they come down ... they could be devastated." Many already are.

In the weeks since Hurricane Ivan, Curle has heard from many distraught guests who vacation each year at the Holiday Inn.

"It's heartbreaking," she said. "One girl was crying because she can't have her wedding there in June. She went there as a child." Virtually all of the hotel's 253 rooms and two swimming pools were destroyed by wind, sand and storm surge.

Although the owners should decide by early February whether to renovate or bulldoze the property and build a new hotel, it will be several months before it reopens.

"It's been a large part of south Santa Rosa County for a long time," Curle said. "And it's not just the Holiday Inn. It's incredible the emotion people have wrapped up in (Navarre Beach). It's just very unique."

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