Sharonville hotel opens free rooms for hurricane victims

Thirty families from the hurricane-ravaged South got a safe, warm place to sleep Monday night after an Ohio Ramada Inn opened dozens of rooms for free. "We were actually told that when (victims) contacted local hotels telling them the situation, the hotels were actually jacking up their pricing," manager Nidhi Bedi said. "That made us completely turn it around. That's why we wanted to even open up more rooms if available." Trudy Dehmel and her husband, who moved from German to the United States during World War II, fled another crisis over the weekend as Hurricane Irma moved over their home in Fort Meyers, Florida. "I hope we find our house back when we get home," Dehmel said. "We will. But we thank you from the bottom of our heart for all your generosity and your kindness here." Bedi will allow each of the 30 families to stay for 10 days for free, but added she would continue to open up rooms as available for as long as hurricane victims needed them.