At first glance, the hotel at South Seas Island Resort may seem fine after Hurricane Ian. The buildings are intact, the marina cleaned up, but if you look past the fence that blocks the building, through the open sliding glass doors you’ll see the exposed beams and the walls cut down to the studs. The resort took a beating during Hurricane Ian.
“So, the hotel sustained a significant amount of water damage either through the roof or via wind through the windows and doors, it's been completely gutted out,” says Shawn Farrell, the General Manager at South Seas.
He took Fox 4’s Amy Wegmann on a tour of the property to see what Ian did to the hidden gem and where the resort is headed as they work to rebuild.
Right now, the hotel rooms are all down to the studs, but, as for what is next, Farrell says they don’t exactly know if they will renovate or tear the building down.
“It's still a process. We don't know how long it's going to be before we know whether or not it can stay or renovate. We're working both paths depending on what it comes back from a pricing standpoint,” Farrell explains.
“I can tell you that walking both paths, we've designed it, we have all the specs, we're ready for that and anticipated that to be the first quarter of 2024. But we're not sure,” he adds.
That’s the hotel. But there are other places to stay within the resort that will be open to the public soon. Condos, villas, and even homes on the property that are privately owned and rented out by South Seas should be ready by September or October according to Farrell. He’s hoping to have some amenities ready to go by then as well.
“We're working diligently that by September, we'll have a pool, we'll have a beach set up with food trucks, we will have things of that nature out here as we kind of do some of the other things around the resort.”
Other things like bringing life back to the golf course which will be redesigned with 12 holes. They’re also working to build up the water's edge near Red Fish Pass with sheet piling and rip rap so the area is better protected from future storms.
Of course, lush landscaping is part of the experience at the resort but instead of bringing in all new vegetation to they’ve been working to rescue and preserve some trees that survived the storm. About 300 palm trees were transplanted to a mock nursery on the property. They’re being cared for and growing until they’re ready to go to their final location on the resort.
We can’t forget about the amenities that the resort has to offer. The main pool area already has some signs of normalcy. Once a murky brown right after the storm, the pool, with a beautiful view of the Gulf, has a new filtration system and is sparkling blue. The cabanas are gone but the team has plans to bring them back with a bit of a twist.
“We're actually going to take the two corner ones are going to be super cabanas and have a little bit of a luxury kind of cabana on the end,” Farrell shares.
The Point restaurant next to the pool will be renamed and reworked with lunch, dinner, and maybe breakfast for guests. The idea is to create another area for people to gather when the pool is closed. That means the tiki bar may remain open in the pool area later into the evening as well, Farrell explains.
“So, we want to reconfigure it. So if the pools are closed, either after hours or anything like that, you can still utilize the tiki bar and the restaurant later into the night. It was kind of one of those missing things you didn't have that spot after the kids are done with a pool. So we're still trying to figure out night swimming, but we're not quite there yet. It's a work in progress,” he said.
The kids will want to know about the slides, of course! They were damaged in the storm. Trees cracked and broke them. The slides will be replaced, but, they’ll no longer be the only option on the property in the future.
That’s because the team at South Seas has big plans for a new water amenity near the front of the property. It will sit where the front reception area and tennis courts, both damaged during Ian, once stood.
There will be a water slide tower, a lazy river, and another adult-sized swimming pool with cabanas not to mention an arcade, food, and drinks and the kids club will now be located here. A great option, Farrell says, for people near the front end of the resort who, up until now, had to travel to the other end of a resort for these types of amenities.
“It’s walking distance, so, if you want to grab a quick swim or the kids want to go do something you want to grab something to eat you can walk over really quick it’s not an adventure to get to the other end of the resort.” He shares. “It’s going to balance the traffic flow on the resort and give the added amenity for this end of the resort.”
The drawing shares a glimpse of what the area will look like. A glimpse at something new they’re trying, mixed in with the old charm of this resort that for decades families have grown to love.
If you want to learn more about the resort's plans as they continue to rebuild after Ian you can watch the stories linked to this article.
Learn where the beloved ice cream and pizza shop, Scoops & Slices will be on the property now after it was destroyed by Ian and more.
