SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla. – It’s a massive step forward in the recovery of Sanibel Island as its first full resorts prepares to open its doors again to guests. The Sanibel Island Beach Resort officially opens this week to guests, starting to accept reservations on Wednesday.
Friday, the resort will cut the big ribbon celebrating its opening less than a week away from the first anniversary of Hurricane Ian.
For island leaders, it means finally moving out of the baby steps and taking full on strides in recovery for businesses hungry for visitors to the island.
“You know, we’ve weathered some other tough storms here in Sanibel,” said Rick Willingham, general managers of Jerry’s Foods and Jerry’s Enterprises. “As a tourist come back in and as the resort’s come back, it’s a game changer.”
Just shy of 12 months since the storm and 10 feet of storm surge, most people on the island are still rebuilding.
“And we all know we’ve got a long way to go. And we celebrate absolutely every win that we can have, every business that opens,” said Councilmember and former mayor Holly Smith.
The barrier island’s tourism has been crippled all this time.
“So we’ve been counting rooms and ones and fives,” said Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce President John Lai.
Out of 2600 rooms, only about 200 between Sanibel and Captiva have been open.
The Sanibel Island Beach Resort now adds 100 more.
“It is an absolute miracle because not only do we have physical rebuilding, we’ve got economic recovery happening. And that is the first step in the best direction,” said Lai.
It’s been all hands on deck getting rooms ready for guests to return to the resort. Everything at the resort got a refresh, from inside the rooms to the pool and restaurant. Staff says food trucks will be on site until the pool bar and restaurant can open later this year.
“It makes you feel a whole lot better about your economic outlook,” said Lai.
With more guests means more money coming back to the island.
“I think the season 2024 is gonna be good. I think businesses will do really well in the first in first season here,” said Willingham. “So it’s very encouraging to see people come back and see kids come back to the islands, enjoy the island, ride bikes, go to the beach. That’s what Sanibel is all about.”
“We definitely want to welcome people to our island because that drives what we are,” said Smith.
Until the next big step.
“We are very excited about the season that’s coming up. And so we will have our golf courses will be reopening by January. Our we’ll have a couple hundred more hotel rooms open by January. And so when we start thinking about what really draws people to our island, it’s the warm weather when when they’re cold up North,” said Lai.
The post First resort reopens on Sanibel days before Ian anniversary appeared first on NBC2 News.
