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Kissimmee hotel residents worry they won't have a home for Christmas

By Mike Manzoni
By Mike Manzoni
Several families currently living at Parkside Hotel on U.S. 192 in Kissimmee were worried Monday that come Christmas Day, they would be without a place to live.
The hotel told residents it would be shutting down on Dec. 1.
“We’re looking for a trailer, we’re looking for a house, anything,” said resident Jeanette Hopson. “We have the money, but we just can’t find any place.”
In the midst of trying to find a new place to stay, hotel resident Exella Kimbell was also grappling with who to explain the situation to her grandchildren.
“I just can’t think of the words,” she said. “I’m very speechless right now.”
Finding a place she can afford has been difficult, Kimbell said.
Jeff Kirkley and his family have been having the same problem.
“I’ve got to take my wife and son and go somewhere,” he said. “And I’ve got to explain to them why I’m going there.”
Tenants could not say why the hotel was shutting down, but said it suffered damage in Hurricane Irma.
"We've all asked, and they haven't given us any reason," resident Lisa Holloway said. 
Holloway didn't know what the next few days would bring, and said she had no idea what she was going to do.
"I don't know where we are going tomorrow and I'm having a breakdown," she said. 
Residents said maintenance crews started stripping the rooms Monday afternoon.
When a Channel 9 crew attempted to get a comment from hotel management, they were ordered off the property.
Attempts to contact the owner of the hotel, Manix Holdings, were not immediately returned.

Cox Media Group

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