It has been a mixed season so far for island hotels, with some reporting strong occupancy rates while others say business has been slow, with fewer guests and shorter stays, due in part to a shortage of Canadian and other foreign visitors. Most of the hotels found along Ocean Drive in Central Beach and South Beach depend on the November through April winter season for a substantial portion of their annual revenue – and some have been ringing the cash register at a rewarding rate. In Central Beach, Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel & Spa front desk manager Demarko Taylor says the season “looks good, with a current occupancy of 85 percent, with a lot of repeats and guests coming from the U.K., Europe, Canada, New York, North Carolina, Virginia – everywhere.” He thinks the rest of the season will be strong, too, in part because the 109-room luxury hotel where the best rooms cost more than $1,000 a night this week, “is family friendly and dog friendly, with no pet fee. We’re generational.” The hotel, at 3500 Ocean Dr., also has a solid wedding business and, like most island hotels, an enviable location only a few steps from the blue Atlantic, with two restaurants and a beach resort atmosphere that draws locals as well as out-of-towners. Four blocks south, at 3244 Ocean Dr., the island’s other luxury resort hotel, Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s Costa de Este Beach Resort & Spa, is doing “extremely well,” according to marketing director Tarin Tompson. With a vibe that appeals to younger visitors as well as retirees, the stylish hotel with Miami Beach touches offers 94 rooms with rates topping out this week around $750, along with 4 suites and 1 penthouse. “We’re tracking positive, with great locals, and visitors from other parts of Florida, upstate New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan and elsewhere,” Tompson says. The resort is proactive in engaging locals, and will continue to offer special events and activities, along with last-minute staycations, according to Tompson. All the plans, she emphasizes, “come straight from the top.” A block south, at 3150 Ocean Dr., “business is good, not great, not as busy as usual” at the historic Driftwood Resort, according to General Manager Amy Raymond. Built by Waldo Sexton, one of Vero’s founding fathers, the resort combines timeshare and hotel rooms. Raymond says “the uncertain times and a significant drop in Canadian visitors” have hurt business this season, noting that Canadians “come but don’t stay as long. The sudden freezing cold didn’t help and with an early Easter it’s hard to predict” how the rest of the season will unfold. By contrast, The Caribbean Court Boutique Resort, in South Beach, “is having a terrific season, a full house,” says owner/manager Boris Gonzalez, with guests coming from “all over.” The 18-room hotel with restaurant, piano bar and creperie is located at 1601 S. Ocean Dr., across the street from the beach. Farther south, at 1526 Ocean Dr., the mood is not as optimistic at the Prestige Hotel. Manager Edyta Zachriasz is concerned about how the year is progressing. Regular guests from Europe and South America “are not coming this season,” she says, noting that “airports everywhere are overcrowded.” High gas prices are hurting her business, too, she says, with dependable Florida regulars MIA. She fears more of the same ahead. “My usual summer European regulars just aren’t booking.”