Sanibel Island Beach Resort Reopens Today
It’s a major development in hurricane recovery on Southwest Florida’s barrier islands. The Sanibel Island Beach Resort reopens today, welcoming overnight guests for the first time since Hurricane Ian hit a year ago. It’s among the first resorts on Sanibel and Captiva to fully open. However, there is still some construction and tidying up on site. Not all amenities have been restored. That includes the resort’s Sandollar Restaurant or the pool bar. However, food trucks will be on site to fill in the gap. The beach is open and island officials say it looks great.
Some ten feet of storm surge wrecked every part of the resort from the pool to the restaurant to the guest rooms. Before Hurricane Ian, Sanibel and Captiva Islands had about 3000 rooms for visitors. This beach resort on Middle Gulf Drive has about 100 rooms available and they are all fresh and new. It’s not even close to filling the hotel gap but it is an important step to welcome visitors and tourists once again. Island officials say more businesses are on track to open in the coming months.
As a matter of fact, the owners of two popular restaurants on the island announced last week they are combing forces for new establishments. The Island Cow and The Mad Hatter are taking over space that was once occupied by the Lighthouse Café on Periwinkle Drive and opening Wickie’s Lighthouse Restaurant and The Magic Bus Ice Cream & Caffeine. That story is here.
The Sanibel Island Beach Resort reopens today and reservation lines are ready to accept your calls. You can also book rooms on their website. A ribbon cutting and reopeing celebration is planned for Friday. Congratulations.