The city of Cape Coral only has about six hotels, but there are several vacation home rentals through companies like Airbnb.
One council member is advocating for the city to get more hotels and visitors to the Cape.
Dolphin Key Resort is one of the few boutique hotels in the city. It sits in the heart of Cape Coral’s historic district. The photos inside are taken by the owner, Magdalena Tengroth, all at local spots. Outside the room, it feels even more like Old Florida with the pool shimmering in the sun.
"It's still that retro old sort of feeling," Tengroth said. "I think that's how we stay competitive."
Then there’s the flag hotels: The Hampton Inn, Westin, Fairfield Inn, and Holiday Inn.
"Currently, we have six hotels," said Cape Coral Council Member Jennifer Nelson-Lastra.
Compare that to Fort Lauderdale, similar in population size, but boasts 172 hotels.
As the city continues to grow, Nelson-Lastra believes they need more lodging options.
"We have such a great opportunity coming up in my district soon with the old golf course," she said. "That's about 184 acres of open space that we are looking to develop."
She said that because of the limited hotel and bed space, they rely heavily on vacation rentals. Brhett Butler manages several. He said he thinks it's the future and believes there are many reasons people should stay at short-term rentals over hotels.
"If you have maybe two families, two couples with two kids, that's about eight people there, and everyone could get along here," Butler said. "You would have to rent a lot of hotel rooms to manage that with their family."
Butler keeps a close eye on the properties he manages.
"I live extremely close to most of my rentals and even in the same neighborhood, so I think it's important that I keep track of who's staying at the house," he said. "I have their phone numbers. I could see how many cars are there, and we do have rules."
People not following the rules have caused issues in the city.
"That is a challenge," Nelson-Lastra said. "As you know, many of the regulations, state statutes, we can't infringe upon people's property rights."
She hopes to see more hotels pop up soon.
"I would love to see our city be proactive on this initiative versus reactive," she said.
Whether it’s an Airbnb or a hotel, Nelson-Lastra said it’s important people have a place to stay to enjoy the canal capital of the world.
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