SWFL.io - Local NewsChief WINK Investigates Reporter Chorus Nylander, Executive WINK Investigates Producer Brianna Lanham
•6/10/2026
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. (WINK) — As the Atlantic hurricane season crosses its ten-day mark, a tense annual ritual of preparation has begun for coastal residents across Southwest Florida. But behind the standard rush for plywood and batteries lies a much deeper economic divide.
Nearly four years after Hurricane Ian tore through the region, multi-million dollar corporate resorts are actively celebrating the end of their physical recoveries. However, a deep dive into local tourism records by WINK Investigates reveals a stark, uneven reality: while the giants of paradise are thriving, the region’s historic mom-and-pop lodging industry is struggling to survive.
Under the bright Southwest Florida sun, the catastrophic devastation of September 2022 can feel a lifetime away. At the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina on Fort Myers Beach, memories of the storm are openly displayed on a podium in the lobby. It shows the before, during and after images of the storm.
For Pink Shell, the recent opening of a brand-new luxury spa marked a monumental milestone: the official, physical end of their post-Ian restoration.
"I'm very proud of the team," said Bill Waichulis, President of the Pink Shell Beach Resort and Marina. "Our theme this year is 'Back to the Future'—actually back to the future of taking care of guests and focused on making memories."
Getting "back to the future" required an astronomical amount of grit—and massive insurance capital. Ian’s historic 18-foot storm surge completely wiped away Pink Shell’s historic 1950s cottages, ultimately racking up nearly $80 million in insurance claims.
For Waichulis, who has spent over two decades running the property, the disaster left a permanent mark. He even got a tattoo of a seven and a two—the worst starting hand a player can be dealt in Texas Hold 'em poker.
"Yeah, Ian was the worst hand we could be dealt," Waichulis said. But the Pink Shell didn't fold.
For faithful tourists like Tom McNicholas of New York, the visual progress over the last few years has been tangible. "I’ve never seen devastation like that. It literally looked like a war zone here," McNicholas recalled. "But baby steps year by year by year, it’s been better and better. I think it's back alive, finally."
County-wide data from Lee County shows an incredibly resilient bounce-back: more than 86% of total lodging rooms across Lee County have successfully reopened. For the properties that have managed to open their doors, business is not just back—it is breaking records.
According to county tourism records, Southwest Florida experienced a massive spring surge:
Occupancy did not quite reach pre-Ian records. Yet, a closer look at Fort Myers Beach itself reveals a much darker story. On the island, over 41% of hotel rooms remain completely closed. Out of 2,380 pre-storm rooms, 985 are still entirely dark. The Margaritaville resort did not exist before Ian and brought over 200 rooms to FMB after the storm.
While corporate giants possessed the capital and insurance backing to weather a years-long rebuild, smaller, historic mom-and-pop motels simply could not absorb the blow. Nineteen boutique hotels on Fort Myers Beach were completely destroyed by Hurricane Ian.
Among them was the Sea Gypsy Inn, owned by Jacki Liszak, who also serves as the President of the Fort Myers Beach Chamber of Commerce. Liszak lost both her home and her business to the storm.
"It was my life savings I put into it," Liszak said, looking at video she took of the destruction. "If you had a building to work with, you had an opportunity to get back. But if your lot is small and you’re not well-capitalized, how are you going to spend that money? While you’re building, you’re still putting out money towards the building, but you have no revenue coming in."
This financial bottleneck has forced many of the smaller lodging operations—long considered the backbone of Southwest Florida’s retro, beach-town heritage—to fold their hands for the foreseeable future.
Further south in Collier County, on Marco Island, the physical damage from Ian was less severe, but the economic ripple effects were immediate.
"The general feeling of people around the country is that we were all shut down, and we were not," said James Garcia, General Manager of the Hilton Marco Island Resort. "The damage that occurred in Fort Myers and north was almost like a barrier to folks getting down here."
While Garcia notes that business on Marco Island is bouncing back, the lingering threat of the unknown has forced major resorts to radically overhaul their seasonal operations.
At the Hilton, staff are now hyper-focused on rigorous mitigation protocols. "Making sure our generators have fuel, tending to the landscaping, making sure anything that can fly we’re paying attention to," Garcia explained.
Back at the Pink Shell, lessons brought by Ian have completely rewritten their emergency blueprint.
The New Hurricane Blueprint
Cars are also not allowed at the property during an approaching storm. During Ian, many cars turned into battering rams.
"We have a hurricane plan, so I mean we literally dust it off every year and make notes and make changes," Waichulis said. "Those are all lessons that we've learned, unfortunately, from being through it."
While the road to recovery remains a slow, steep climb for the island's smallest, historic hotels, local advocates emphasize that the spirit of the community hasn't shifted. According to Liszak, most small-business owners remain fiercely committed to coming back—if, and when, they can afford to.
WINK Investigates will keep you updated on those recovery efforts.
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