Hotel rates on Tower Road spike to $500 after FAA ground stop

Denver, Colorado, experienced severe travel disruptions on Saturday, November 15, following a Federal Aviation Administration ground stop implemented the previous day. The pause in flight operations caused a backlog of passengers at Denver International Airport, overwhelming local lodging and transportation resources. Hotels in the immediate vicinity of the airport reported a rapid depletion of available rooms as displaced travelers sought temporary accommodation.

Paul Richards, a Booking.com agent, stated that the surge in demand pushed nightly rates from an average of $100 to between $400 and $500. Richards reported speaking with more than 300 travelers on Friday who were seeking rooms. He noted that some guests arrived at hotels on Tower Road in Aurora with cash in hand but found no vacancies remaining. "Most people ended up sleeping at the airport, and some people slept in the cars because they came to the hotel. They sold out the hotel, although they were expensive, $300, they were willing to pay, but no rooms," Richards said.

Local businesses reported a high volume of stranded customers. Miranda Van Sickle, a server at Moonlight Diner, recounted conversations with passengers who had been delayed for hours. One couple from Florida arrived late in the evening after a long delay and was attempting to return east. Van Sickle also described instances where travelers paid for rides to hotels only to be informed there were no vacancies. "They slept in the airport until 2:00 a.m., and when they were able to get out to a hotel, they were hearing from people that they booked the hotel as soon as they get there. They'd be told, 'Oh, sorry, we actually don't have any vacancies,' so they'd be stuck after paying a $75 Uber fee," Van Sickle said.

The disruptions affected passengers on both inbound and outbound flights. Desi Gibson, traveling from Colorado to Tennessee, described being deboarded after all luggage was loaded. He and his wife waited six hours off the plane before deciding to leave, missing a planned visit to see their nieces and nephews. Gibson noted that their luggage completed the journey to Tennessee without them. "We went back to get our bags, and apparently they flew the bags out, but not us with it," Gibson said.

Gina Paulick, a visitor from Milwaukee, arrived for an 11 a.m. flight on Friday only to have it canceled at the gate. She switched airlines and flew to Chicago, where her husband drove an hour and a half to collect her. Paulick stated she was placing herself on multiple standby lists for Saturday travel. "In fact, I'm going to go right now and go put myself on like three standby lists. So I have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. That's my game plan," Paulick said.

Chris Jimenez, part of a group traveling from Louisiana to Portland, reported that hotel rates in the area increased from $89 to approximately $450 within a few hours of the ground stop. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, and Alamo confirmed in a joint statement that they were observing an increase in demand across their brands as travelers sought alternatives to flights.

Richards called on the city of Denver to address the shortage of lodging on Tower Road by either investing in new hotel construction or permitting more short-term rental units. "I think with the shortage of having, we have on Tower Road, the city of Denver needs either to pump in more money .. to build more hotels on Tower Road, or they have to open up Airbnbs and people around here have homes," Richards said.