Six Months After Irma, Florida Keys Tourism Rebounds
Destination & Tourism Jim Byers March 14, 2018
The Florida Keys are mostly back in business. And a couple of major resorts, including Cheeca Lodge and Hawks Cay Resort, are only a couple days or weeks away from at least a partial re-opening.
Florida Keys and Key West officials on Wednesday said nearly 80 per cent of all lodging units are back and available for booking in the wake of severe damage from Hurricane Irma, which lashed the Keys on Sept.10 of last year.
In Key West and nearby Stock Island, a huge draw for Keys visitors, a solid 92 per cent of all properties are open. Key Largo, the closest Florida Keys destination to Miami, has 76 per cent of its units open.
But things are slower to rebound in the middle part of the island chain. Officials said 63 per cent of properties are open in Marathon and only 53 per cent in Islamorada. Only 48 per cent of lodging units are open in the region between the west end of the Seven Mile Bridge and Big Coppitt Key.
“Lodging properties and other tourism facilities in the Keys have made an amazing rebound since last fall,” said Jim DeKeyrel, director of sales for the Florida Keys & Key West. “We’re seeing demand return, helped by cold temperatures in the north.”
The island chain has been open to visitors since Oct. 1, 2017, just three weeks after Hurricane Irma passed through the area. Key Largo and Key West were the areas least impacted by the storm.
Tourism officials project increasing demand in coming months as the destination unveils upscale and revitalized properties and the Florida Keys’ first adults-only, all-inclusive resort. Summer business is projected to be brisk, as the Keys welcome bookings for fall, winter and into 2019.
Below you’ll find a look at the major destinations in the Florida Keys.
Key Largo
Ocean Pointe Suites is scheduled to reopen beginning March 30 with a newly restored private beach and a new over-the-water gazebo for intimate weddings and events. The Keys’ first adults-only, all-inclusive resort is to be unveiled this spring. The new Bungalows Key Largo is targeting an opening in May with 135 units, two pools and several restaurants and bars. The former Hilton Key Largo is undergoing renovations to become the new 200-room Baker’s Cay Resort, a Curio Collection by Hilton, to open in the fall with 17,000 square feet of meeting space and pet amenities.
Islamorada
Islamorada Resort Co.’s 63-unit Pelican Cove Resort is partially reopened with 42 units. Its six-acre, 54-unit La Siesta Resort & Marina also is open, although its five-bedroom house remains under renovation. Additionally, Islamorada Resort Co.’s 150-unit Postcard Inn Beach Resort & Marina is scheduled to reopen in phases, beginning mid-April with 14 new cottages. Postcard Inn’s Ciao Hound Italian Kitchen & Bar and Tiki Bar also are scheduled to reopen in April. The 27-acre, 214-unit oceanfront Cheeca Lodge Resort & Spa, one of the top resorts in the Keys, is to reopen March 30 for the Easter holiday weekend. Cheeca Lodge has undergone a $20 million USD renovation with a rebuilt 525-foot-long wooden fishing pier, redesign of its main lobby and all rooms, 4,600 square feet of meeting and function space, spa with seven treatment rooms and refurbished nine-hole golf course. A new pool and tiki bar are to open in May. Chesapeake Resort has reopened 20 garden-view units and one pool. Its remaining 45 units and resort amenities, including beach accessibility, are to reopen by spring 2019. Guests have complimentary access to Islamorada’s Founders Park, open except for its athletic fields and golf range. Islander Bayside Resort is open with 25 two-story townhomes. Its 25-acre oceanside Islander Resort is to reopen this fall with an all-new design and culinary concepts.I stayed at the lovely, low-key PInes and Palms Resort in Islamorada in January and loved it.
Marathon
On Duck Key, the 60-acre Hawks Cay Resort, a AAA Four Diamond Award–rated and Preferred Hotel Group Lifestyle Collection member, is to partially reopen March 16 with 100 villas and its Calm Waters Spa, Sunset Pool, Coral Cay kids’ activities center and Angler and Ale restaurant with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The main hotel, with 177 guestrooms, is to reopen this summer. In Key Colony Beach, the Glunz Ocean Beach Hotel & Resort has reopened with 51 units. A poolside Tiki bar is open, and the on-site Havana Jack’s Oceanside Restaurant and Bar is to reopen later this month. In Marathon, a new 80-room, full-service Hampton Inn Marathon is set to open in mid-May. Another property, being built oceanside near the Seven Mile Bridge by resort developer Pritam Singh, is to begin opening in 2019. It is to feature 199 rooms, but its name has yet to be released.
Lower Keys
Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge is open. On Little Torch Key, Parmer’s Resort has 43 (including 14 waterfront) units open, with only one remaining under reconstruction. Its kayaks and paddleboards are back on the property. Parmer’s currently is rebuilding its 90-foot-long beach and its dock and marina are undergoing restoration. The four-unit Deer Run Bed & Breakfast plans to reopen by summer. Off Little Torch Key, Little Palm Island is to remain closed until 2019.
Key West
In Key West, all properties except three are open. Havana Cabana Key West Hotel, the former Inn at Key West, is scheduled to open April 1. Parrot Key Resort is to reopen by June 1. Key West Bayside Inn & Suites is scheduled to open in the fall.
Attractions
All major Florida Keys attractions are open. Fishing, snorkeling and diving charters are operating.
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