JEFFORSONVILLE, Vt. (WCAX) – As gaggles of out-of-staters make their way to Smuggler’s Notch to see the eclipse slope side, one hopeful visitor says an unexpected phone call turned their weekend upside down.
“It breaks my heart. It really does. It breaks my heart,” Robert Baker of Massachusetts said, shaking his head.
It’s been nonstop eclipse talk since August when Baker booked a stay for the spectacle at Smuggler’s Notch Resort with his fiancé and daughters. On Friday, it all came crashing down. “I get a phone call from someone saying, ‘Yeah, sorry, we got to cancel your reservation,’” Baker explained.
Baker booked through Smuggs’ sales partner Wyndham Vacation Ownership using points. On the phone, he says the Wyndham sales representative didn’t explain the cancelation or offer a refund. Instead, Baker says they offered him a reservation in southern New Hampshire. “First of all, that’s not a ski resort,” Baker said. “And second of all, it’s nowhere near the path of totality for the eclipse.”
It’s unclear what created the mess. But Baker’s not the only one left in a lurch. He says his friend’s reservation at Travelodge by Wyndham in South Burlington was cancelled, too. Others share similar stories on social media. And finding alternative lodging is nearly impossible, with most rooms in popular locations booked up and the remaining going for steep costs. “Now it’s like, it’s so last minute, I have no choice but to pay nine hundred bucks a night for the La Quinta Inn which has like a 6.3 rating on Booking.com,” Baker said.
At Smuggs, visitors are feeling lucky their reservations held up. “That would have been a nightmare,” Donna Iwany of Massachusetts said of a cancellation. “We drove up in the storm so it took us hours. If we got here and we didn’t have a room, it would’ve been awful.” Another Massachusetts visitor, Bindu Setty, says she’s dealt with a hotel cancellation before. “I think the whole thing is just keep calling them and bugging them whoever the person is. I have had this experience and it’s really bad.”
Baker says he’s been in contact with Wyndham and was told they’d find a way to accommodate his family at Smuggs. But after the back and forth, he worries that there won’t actually be a room. “I’ve been talking about it nonstop,” Baker said of the spectacle. “My children have been talking about it nonstop. And now it’s just like, oh man, I don’t know the feeling I have right now. It’s just it’s not good.”
We reached out to Wyndham for comment but haven’t heard back. We’ll continue to report as we learn more.
Guzmán says he hopes to eventually sell the drink globally. You can find a can in your local grocery store around late May or early June.