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hurricane Ian aiming straight for HGVC Florida resorts

L

letsgobobby

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
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Resorts Owned
HGVC - Lagoon, W57th, MarBrisa, Paradise
Marco, Sanibel, etc

in the event of significant damage, including the ability to fulfill reservations for weeks or months, what's the protocol?
 
When Irma directly hit Marco Island, the resorts there were all closed for a few weeks. Owners who had reservations for those closed weeks received their maintenance fee refunded because they could not use their week. The resorts were repair remarkable fast, and despite many units having some type of water damage, they did a fantastic job getting the resorts opened up again ASAP. The resort's insurance paid for all of this, and we had no special assessment nor a larger than usual increase in maintenance fees. All in all, I gave the resorts an "A-" for how they handled the situation; the only negative was that I felt they could have been a bit better in communicating the progress of the restorations as they were happening.

Kurt
 
It can also cause insurance rates to increase for the Florida resorts.
tugbbs.com

HUGE Hilton Fee Increase for 2007

I am stunned at the increase in fees for my HGVC Hurricane House week on Sanibel Island. The fees (maintenance fee & taxes) have jumped from about $760 last year to $1099 this year. There is no special assessment. That's just the new amount of the maintenance fees and taxes. Ouch. Insurance...
tugbbs.com tugbbs.com

Here’s an old thread about the closures and reopening.
tugbbs.com

resort opening dates for Eagle's Nest?

Has anyone heard what the opening dates are for the Eagle's Nest on Marco Island? Every time we check the HGVC website, it just states that they are closed. We have tried a few other sites and gotten nowhere with them either. I guess we could call, but as our exchange dates aren't until...
tugbbs.com tugbbs.com
 
alwysonvac said:
It can also cause insurance rates to increase for the Florida resorts.
Click to expand...
Interesting that we didn't see any huge MF increase after Irma at locations that were directly hit. I'm guessing that in 2007, the insurance companies got caught by surprise and their rates were too low based on the risk to start with.

Kurt
 
PigsDad said:
When Irma directly hit Marco Island, the resorts there were all closed for a few weeks. Owners who had reservations for those closed weeks received their maintenance fee refunded because they could not use their week. The resorts were repair remarkable fast, and despite many units having some type of water damage, they did a fantastic job getting the resorts opened up again ASAP. The resort's insurance paid for all of this, and we had no special assessment nor a larger than usual increase in maintenance fees. All in all, I gave the resorts an "A-" for how they handled the situation; the only negative was that I felt they could have been a bit better in communicating the progress of the restorations as they were happening.

Kurt
Click to expand...
Such good news.

I hope the same happens with Wyndham and that any damage is taken care of quickly and insurance will cover it. We own a few coastal Florida and Orlando International resorts.
 
Sanibel causeway has been badly damaged and is impassable, is said to need rebuilding. Is this the only access to the resorts on Sanibel and Captiva?
 
Besides the potential human suffering, which is not really a discussion for this board, I'm wondering if many resorts cannot be accessed for weeks or months if the owners will want to use their weeks/points elsewhere in HGVC? From what I've gathered many of these owners stick with their home weeks and don't usually go for HGVC points and other locations, but if Ian forces a temporary change that could increase demand elsewhere (esp in the Southeast).
 
buzglyd said:
yes unless you have a boat.
Click to expand...

In olden days, they had ferry boats, but did
away with them when the causeway was built.
.
 
Last edited:
True about the ferry boats. If some were still in use, they'd likely have been heavily damaged or destroyed by the storm surge. Getting back to Sanibel/Captiva likely depends upon rebuilding Fort Myers Beach/Fort Myers/ and Punta Gorda infrastructure to support ferry boats until the Causeway can be rebuilt.
 
Bwolf said:
True about the ferry boats. If some were still in use, they'd likely have been heavily damaged or destroyed by the storm surge. Getting back to Sanibel/Captiva likely depends upon rebuilding Fort Myers Beach/Fort Myers/ and Punta Gorda infrastructure to support ferry boats until the Causeway can be rebuilt.
Click to expand...
Maybe the Army Corp of Engineers will build a temporary bridge to the island.
Please be safe.
 
still hardly any photos of Sanibel proper, but based on Fort Myers beach it would be a miracle if much of the infrastructure was not completely destroyed. Even if the hotels themselves survived, all the nearby amenities, roads, etc are likely gone.
 
Seawatch on-the-beach (Fort Myers Beach) parking lot (source):

1664552161005.png


HGVC will be making damage assessments this weekend - which indicates they're probably doing it at all HGVC-owned or HGVC-affiliated properties:

1664552256736.png


Other interesting picture:

1664552340044.png


Seawatch on the beach interior (source) - and this is indeed Seawatch, as per Google Maps photo.

1664552533464.png


The still comes from a video on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/hurricane/comments/xqkcpn

Some other random pictures from the island, mostly local businesses:

1664552700151.png


1664552709019.png



Many stills appear to come from Beach Talk Radio, who made a live broadcast from Fort Myers Beach. Link: https://fb.watch/fSHvFy-vcA - but it didn't load for me.
 
pedro47 said:
Maybe the Army Corp of Engineers will build a temporary bridge to the island.
Please be safe.
Click to expand...
The causeway was three miles long, so not easy to replace quickly; also the bridge on the southern end of estero island has been closed because of deficiencies.
 
Those images above looked like a bomb war zone.
 
From satellite, Casa Ybel looks very bad.
 
singlemalt_18 said:
FWIW - I heard a phone interview with the Mayor of S.I. this morning, and while not an exact quote, her comment was something like "People need to understand that the island is going to be uninhabitable for quite some time."
Click to expand...
It’s so sad. I’m on Clearwater beach right now and it’s beautiful and you would never know this catastrophe just happened. Donate if you can folks. These poor people got destroyed.
 
we are owners at shell island, they have some photo's that just got posted to facebook. Miami dade rescue just landed on the island at the beach
1664654126662.png
1664654202594.png
 
Nowaker said:
How do I see the post event satellite images? Only showing me pre-event.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, but when I click the link, I see the post event.

Try searching for NOAA satellite imagery Ian?
 
The bridge to Sanibel is open but only to utility trucks and emergency personnel. Won't be open to the public until Oct 21. Ft Myers Beach is limiting access there to Utility workers and emergency workers on M-W. Residents with proof of residency will be allowed there Thur to Sun for limited hours. Gov DeSantis and the FDOT got the bridge to Pine Island up in three days and the bridge to Sanibel in about two weeks. I have seen Corps of Engineer boats just over the Jolley Bridge (Naples side, not Marco side) at the county boat launch there. They just reopened the beaches on Marco that were closed because of debris on the beach and in the water. We haven't been down to the beach yet. Isles of Capri had lots of damage. Goodland was closed off from the rest of Marco because of road flooding.

I remember when Hurricane Ivan blew the I-10 bridge out of alignment in Escambia Bay in 2004. They created a floating bridge with limited speeds until the they got bridge rebuilt.
 
Deb & Bill said:
The bridge to Sanibel is open but only to utility trucks and emergency personnel. Won't be open to the public until Oct 21. Ft Myers Beach is limiting access there to Utility workers and emergency workers on M-W. Residents with proof of residency will be allowed there Thur to Sun for limited hours. Gov DeSantis and the FDOT got the bridge to Pine Island up in three days and the bridge to Sanibel in about two weeks. I have seen Corps of Engineer boats just over the Jolley Bridge (Naples side, not Marco side) at the county boat launch there. They just reopened the beaches on Marco that were closed because of debris on the beach and in the water. We haven't been down to the beach yet. Isles of Capri had lots of damage. Goodland was closed off from the rest of Marco because of road flooding.

I remember when Hurricane Ivan blew the I-10 bridge out of alignment in Escambia Bay in 2004. They created a floating bridge with limited speeds until the they got bridge rebuilt.
Click to expand...
My Wisconsin neighbor just returned from Sanibel helping out relatives. Terrible destruction. Boated over from Cape Coral every day to Sanibel. I am never comfortable driving over bridges and my anxiety level is pretty high at the thought of it. He had many pictures of total destruction. Also said looting was a problem in fort myers
 
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