Bad economy doesn't dampen New Year's Eve fun

Despite the recession, many local hotels and restaurants had an unexpected reason to celebrate this New Year's Eve: a full house.

With consumers cutting back, hospitality managers worried that customers would decide to stay home Wednesday evening instead of splurging on dinner or a hotel suite, but economic woes didn't seem to chill Hampton Road s New Year's celebrations. Businesses from Virginia Beach to Portsmouth reported that they were just as busy as last year, if not busier.

"We didn't know how it was going to turn out," said Llew Kennison, manager of Fusion 440 on Dinwiddie Street in Portsmouth. "It ended up being very, very good.... I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome."

Many people waited until the last minute to make reservations, with calls pouring in on Monday and Tuesday, several restaurant and hotel managers said.

"A lot of people didn't really make reservations up until the last day or two before New Year's," Kennison said. "Our reservations pretty much doubled within 24 hours."

Fusion had about 87 reservations and offered two $49 menus and two $59 menus, with three or four courses each, he said.

Mahi Mah's Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Saloon at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront booked a lot of last-minute reservations, eventually selling out, said David Edwards, the assistant food and beverage manager. It s business jumped to more than 300 reservations from about 260 last year.

"We were expecting that we'd be able to have a very good night, but we weren't expecting to be sold out," Edwards said. "We did better than we did last year."

To attract budget-conscious revelers, many restaurants lowered prices on their fixed-course menus or offered regular menu items as an alternative.

"I think the price point helped," Edwards said. At $40 for a four-course meal, champagne toast and party favors, Mahi Mah's menu was less expensive than a year ago.

"It was sort of our champagne wishes on a beer budget," said Emily Morton, spokeswoman for Gold Key/PHR Hotels & Resorts, which owns the restaurant.

Trilogy Bistro at Granby and West Main streets in Norfolk also lured customers with a variety of budget-friendly options. It lowered prices from last year with three menus for $49.09, $59.09 and $69.09 each, said office manager Angie Zahariadis. Dinners started at $55 last year, she said.

"It's hard sometimes when people are pinching their pennies," she said. "We gave more options that were a little bit more economical versus previous years."

Even at $75 per person for a six-course tasting menu, Terrapin Restaurant off Laskin Road in Virginia Beach sold out its tables, said general manager Brian Williams. It also offered the regular menu and made 88 reservations, roughly a 20 percent jump from last year, he said.

"When times are good, people want to celebrate," Williams said. "When times are bad, people want to celebrate too to forget everything."

The Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront sold out of rooms this year, just like in 2007, Morton said. But people's plans were a lot more last-minute.

Last year, revelers began calling as early as Dec. 20. This year, a bulk of the calls came on Dec. 26 and 27, she said.

"I was holding my breath," Morton said. "I'm talking, like, three days before, which is considerably late for New Year's Eve."

The Hilton, located at 30th Street and Atlantic Avenue, offered a similar New Year's Eve package as in previous years: a party in its ballroom for $175 per person, and those attending could stay overnight at a discounted $99 room rate. The party included a four-course meal, dancing to a live band and a champagne toast.

Fine dining outpaced bar business on New Year's Eve as consumers sought to get more for their money, said Vincent Ranhorn, co-owner of Trilogy and Velvet Lounge in Norfolk and Longboards and Fusion 440 in Portsmouth.

"The bars were slower than they were last year, but our high-end restaurants were busier," he said. "People really stuck with dining and then going home early."

Pilot writer Carolyn Shapiro contributed to this report.

Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com