Fort Myers Beach is hitting a "major milestone" in its post-Hurricane Ian recovery — nearly 50% of its hotel rooms are back open.
However, according to the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau's latest numbers, Sanibel remains far behind, with only 20% of its rooms available.
While some are grateful for this progress, other visitors anticipated a quicker comeback after 27 months and question why it seems both islands are running on "island time" with recovery efforts.
The Best Western Plus on Fort Myers Beach is scheduled to open next month, which will mean 74 more hotel rooms on the water. The resort's owner, Tim Malbon says the Best Western was right in the middle of a rennovation when Hurricane Ian slammed into the coast. Malbon lost his business, and nearly lost his home too.
"The whole lobby with the drywall in the top, all that was gutted out. It just blew through everything on the ground floor and just about the second floor," said Malbon. "It's rounding the corner, rounding the corner, and we're almost there. It feels great. You know, it's been a long, a long road."
So why is Sanibel taking so much longer to recover? John Lai, president of the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce, says the answer isn’t simple.
"It's not apples to apples; we've got to open up 10 hotels or small inns and cottage properties to make that 100 rooms that they can get," said Lai. "I will tell you that because they're smaller, a lot of times there's less resources. They're waiting for the insurance to come in before they can start. The biggest challenge here that we have is insurance."
Hotel owners tell NBC2 waiting for permits, finding workers, complying with new FEMA regulations and safety regulations have also been hurdles in their progress. Some on Sanibel, brought up the island's "outdated" land development code.
"Sanibel has not built anything new in a very long time," said Lai. "There are some changes that, quite frankly, we need to make on the island that we're currently working on that right now."
Lai is optimistic that Sanibel will soon catch up, noting that long-awaited reopenings, including the Sundial Beach Resort & Spa and Jensen’s on Captiva, are finally on the horizon.