In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, hoteliers with properties in or near the path of the storm have been taking stock of damages and doing their part in recovery efforts.
Though a full assessment is ongoing, the initial Category 4 and subsequent Category 1 landfalls by Hurricane Ian on the Gulf Coast of Florida and Atlantic coastline caused heavy damage.
Reuters reports the hurricane has killed 85 people, and 81 of those deaths were in Florida. Rescue crews have visited about 45,000 homes and businesses in the state. Risk modeling firm Verisk told the news agency Monday that insurers expected between $42 billion and $57 billion in losses. That excludes losses covered by the U.S. government's National Flood Insurance Program.
On Sanibel Island in Florida, the storm surge heavily damaged several buildings, including the Casa Ybel Beach Resort, Shalimar Cottages & Motel and the Waterside Inn on the Beach, CNN reports.
Across Florida, some hotels evacuated according to local government orders while others took in displaced families and housed utility crews and other emergency responders.
Days After the Storm
Nick Bilotta, senior vice president of operations at GF Hotels & Resorts, said all of the company's hotel employees in Florida made it through Hurricane Ian. One hotel in the Fort Myers area of Florida lost power and water, but crews restored water the evening after the storm hit. All of the company's other hotels that remained open had some flickering lights but no actual outages.
The company closed its hotel in the Tampa area due to an evacuation order, but initial assessments indicate that there was no major damage to the property, he said.
In an email update Monday morning, Bilotta said all of his company’s hotels had power and water and were returning to normal day-to-day operations. Across the company's Florida portfolio, hotels are housing relief workers along with families who lost their homes in the storm.
Steven Nicholas, principal and executive vice president of Atlanta-based real estate investment manager Noble Investment Group, said the company's three Tampa hotels fared well during Hurricane Ian.
In anticipation of the storm, his team took its hurricane preparedness program to the extreme, he said. The original plan was to keep the property open, but a mandatory Zone A evacuation on Tampa took effect earlier last week.
"Honestly, I was a little surprised by the Zone A evacuation — it just doesn't happen that often," he said. "We had to shift gears. We had to prepare the building, lock it up, seal it up as best as possible ... then we have to talk about reopening."
Heavy rain and winds scattered trees and debris and caused minor leaking at Noble's Tampa hotels, Nicholas said.
The hotels have since reopened and are getting a lot of calls from people who had significant damage to their homes and need a place to stay, as well as from power companies, municipalities and local businesses, he said.
Now, attention is turning to the company's hotels in Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.
Bryan DeCort, chief operating officer of Hotel Equities, said damages at the company’s roughly 10 properties in the path of the storm were “very limited,” fixable and mostly cosmetic. Only three hotels lost power — in Fort Myers, Florida; Tampa, Florida; and Charleston, South Carolina — and all are back at full occupancy.
Hotel Equities has a staff that is accustomed to handling storms in Florida, DeCort said. The company has a plan in place that is heavily rooted in communication, including calls with affected properties twice a day for live updates and regular contact with brand and vendor partners.
“Our playbook is comprehensive; it's been in play a long time. I feel like our team does a really good job,” he said.
Post-storm, DeCort said Hotel Equities wants to get all of its hotels on the same page with short- and long-term strategy. The company is making sure each property affected has adequate supplies and is providing funds to associates in the area who need it.
“It's now really a support focus in terms of how we're taking a look at our associates and our guests,” he said.
Caring for Guests, Employees
Nicholas said all guests and on-property staff were evacuated from Noble's Tampa-area hotels, but military and government personnel have booked rooms in the aftermath of the storm. Team members were housed in other hotels that weren't in the evacuation zone.
The reopening phase included the management company ensuring all staff members had identification and a letter of proof that they work for the hotels.
"Fortunately, our management team was able to do that, so we had a lot of people ready to go," he said.
Having power quickly restored to its Hampton Inn & Suites Fort Myers-Estero/FGCU was important because it was housing many elderly guests, Bilotta said. The guests were calling for paramedics for help, but because they were in wheelchairs or used walkers, they couldn’t go downstairs without the elevators. The hotel staff pitched in to help.
“They were actually carrying and assisting everybody down the stairs,” he said. The guests “were all really appreciative.”
After power was restored, the Fort Myers hotel was able to shift its utility crew guests to properties in the Naples area so it could take in more displaced residents, he said. The hotel staff has been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross to assist the guests whose homes were severely damaged.
“We’ve extended their rooms. We’re making sure they’re well taken care of,” he said. “Our [general manager] there was just so heartfelt. She was hearing stories, and she had to walk away a couple of times because she was so upset.”
Hotel staff closely followed emergency protocols, Bilotta said, having guests fill bathtubs with water ahead of time and bringing buckets of water to guests in ADA-compliant rooms that have roll-in showers instead of tubs. Staff also made sure guests had plenty of bottled water and food cooked using small generators, he said.
“I can't thank my team enough,” he said. “They did an amazing job.”