Allegria Hotel open for business as Irene barrels toward Long Beach

While most Long Beach businesses have shut their doors -- and many residents have evacuated the barrier island as Hurricane Irene barrels toward New York -- the Allegria Hotel is open for business, where local and international news media are camped out for the weekend, including reporters from NBC and CNN, to report on the category 1 storm.

Roughly 135 rooms of the 143 unit hotel are occupied, and many guests, media and staff staying at the luxury hotel are planning to ride out the storm over the weekend.

“We’re open for business,” said General Manager Kevin Cottet. “We’re hoping we don’t lose power. I have a lot of batteries and flashlights ready.”

Cottet said that while many hotel staff have had difficulty coming into work, Chef Todd Jacobs' Atlantica Restaurant was open, and that the hotel bar was crowded. The hotel’s new rooftop lounge Jacks on the Rocks, however, was closed.

“Our challenge will be staff, but we’re doing a buffet for breakfast lunch and dinner,” he said, adding that a number of weddings scheduled for the weekend were canceled. “Tonight’s wedding was canceled, and they pushed it off a few weeks.”

News crews have been reporting from the hotel throughout the day, including three CBS channels, two from NBC, and crews from CBS and CNN.

“Al Roker is here -- I said hello to him earlier,” Cottet said.

Cottet said that despite the mandatory evacuation notice, many guests could not get out, especially those whose flights from nearby airports were canceled, and opted to stay at the hotel. Among them are a traveling hockey team from Canada -- the World Police and Fire Hockey Team -- and a number of tourists.

“A lot of our guests couldn’t leave, and they understood what a mandatory evacuation means,” Cottet said. “There are a handful of families from Germany whose flights are canceled, and they are riding out the storm with the rest of us.”

Still, Cottet said the hotel is not taking the hurricane lightly, and he explained that they are girding themselves for whatever impact Irene ultimately delivers. The hotel has constructed a 15-foot berm on the beach, and has been securing hundreds of sandbags around the hotel, among other preparation and safety efforts for its guests.

“From what I understand, we’re hearing it depends on when it hits at high tide,” Cottet said. “Obviously we have sandbags anywhere we can put them. We are going to try our best to keep the water out of the building.”