ORLANDO, Fla., April 18 (UPI) -- Repairs to many of the hotels damaged by last year's Florida hurricanes are just now reaching completion, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday.
In Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties in tourist-rich central Florida, only 1,500 rooms of the 114,000 total rooms are still unavailable. Most of those are at Lake Buena Vista near Walt Disney World.
On the state's east coast, Volusia and Brevard counties, 2,000 of the 24,000 rooms in the two counties are still shut down.
A Holiday Inn in Melbourne and a Quality Suites near the nation's Space Coast in Brevard County won't be ready until next year.
A dozen small beachside motels in south Brevard County were virtually flattened and won't be restored.
New hostelries are being built, however, and officials said although 25 percent of Brevard County's 10,000 hotel rooms were closed in September, that percentage has dropped to 10 percent this month.
The Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront resort closed after Hurricane Jeanne struck in December. The North Tower opened in February, but the South Tower is still being repaired.
