"On balance, we were fortunate that we did not sustain greater damage and that we will be able to get our properties back in service so quickly," says Lodgian president and CEO Ed Rohling. "Our associates have done a great job under very trying circumstances." Rohling says that "due to the extensive work required to clean up the region after Hurricane Katrina, we expect both hotels to operate at very high occupancy for at least the next three to six months."

The Metairie property carried a $500,000 insurance deductible. The Kenner hotel had a deductible of $700,000. Rohling says the estimated $2.7 million in damages at the Radisson New Orleans Airport Hotel includes $1.5 million in estimated capital expenditures to replace damaged goods and $1.2 million of repair-related expenses. The hotel is open for business and has electricity and potable water. All 244 rooms are repaired and occupied.

The Quality Hotel & Conference Center is expected to reopen in a limited capacity over the next four weeks, Rohling says. Water penetration damaged the first and second floors; hurricane winds damaged the roof, awnings and blew out some windows. About half of the 205 rooms are in rentable condition. Metairie is seven miles from Downtown New Orleans. Kenner is 10 miles northwest of New Orleans.