GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Tom and Linda Steber have owned Astor House Bed and Breakfast for only a little over a year. In that short amount of time, they’ve seen their place anywhere from completely packed to totally empty.
“Everybody was eating together, and you've got opposing fans talking it up back-and-forth," said Tom Steber, recalling game day weekends last year. "People sharing Lyfts or Ubers to the game, and then just laughter and loud boisterous, not too crazy or anything, but it was just exciting, and everybody’s in their game gear.”
The game day weekends were incredible, said Steber.
“We are completely booked up solid for days before and after a game," he said. "We’ve got people coming in from as far away as the Philippines, Scotland, England and all across the United States.”
This season it’s been completely different, he said, despite thousands of fans returning to Lambeau last weekend. Most of the fans who went to the game live locally, he said.
“We got one room that was specifically a Packers fan that came up," said Steber.
Business is down around 50 percent compared to last year, he said.
“It was very odd and quiet, it seemed very strange," Steber said, describing the first few weekends of home games this season. "It was kind of sad, but I think we’ve gotten used to it.”
He's hopeful for 2021 though, and thinks more people will want to come and take a trip up to Green Bay.
“It’s truly the football mecca," said Steber. "It doesn’t matter if they win the Super Bowl or not. People still want to come and just see it, be around it.”
The bed and breakfast has still fared better than others, he said.
“You think about all the people that you know, from people earning money parking cars in their yard, to the wait staff at all the restaurants," said Steber. "It’s kind of sad, but at the same time, go Pack.”
