FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — After a decade of work, $205 million, and a major hurricane, the Margaritaville Resort on Fort Myers Beach is welcoming guests.
The resort held a soft opening on Thursday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Hundreds of people packed the resort’s sunset terrace to usher in the first resort to open on the island in two decades.
“It’s a very exciting day. It’s been a nine-year run for us from the beginning to today,” said Tom Torgerson, the CEO of TPI Hospitality. “It is a light of hope. Now, with us opening, the momentum is really picking up.”
Margaritaville is hosting around one hundred guests as part of the soft opening. They also have several restaurants, bars, a coffee shop, a spa, and a retail store, and they are more open to guests and the public.
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After a decade of work, $205 million, and a major hurricane, the Margaritaville Resort on Fort Myers Beach is welcoming guests. -
After a decade of work, $205 million, and a major hurricane, the Margaritaville Resort on Fort Myers Beach is welcoming guests. -
After a decade of work, $205 million, and a major hurricane, the Margaritaville Resort on Fort Myers Beach is welcoming guests.
“It’s surreal,” said David Knibbe.
To occupy your day, there’s something for the entire family.
“I want them to transform to fun, relaxation, and escapism,” said David Cesario, vice president and general manager of Margaritaville Fort Myers Beach.
There’s no shortage of space to do just that. The Sunset Terrace is the hub of the resort. Coming at one acre in size, the terrace features a bar, restaurant, lounge areas, fire pits, and some activities.
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Margaritaville is hosting around one hundred guests as part of the soft opening. They also have several restaurants, bars, a coffee shop, a spa, and a retail store, and they are more open to guests and the public. -
Margaritaville is hosting around one hundred guests as part of the soft opening. They also have several restaurants, bars, a coffee shop, a spa, and a retail store, and they are more open to guests and the public. -
Margaritaville is hosting around one hundred guests as part of the soft opening. They also have several restaurants, bars, a coffee shop, a spa, and a retail store, and they are more open to guests and the public.
The Fins Up Beach Club across Estero Boulevard and the resort’s beachside are scheduled to open in late January.
“I’m excited about Margaritaville from the start. But even people that weren’t as excited, I believe they all are now,” Jill Gravel-Combs said.
The soft opening will prepare the resort’s 400 employees for the hard opening on Monday, December 11. They have to manage 254 hotel rooms, 75% of which have a Gulf view.
“We just want to make sure that we roll into stuff very smoothly,” Cesario said.
Many of the resort’s local employees lost their jobs to Hurricane Ian.
“This is their chance to move back here and have a full-time job with benefits.”
The resort wouldn’t be possible without the Margaritaville brand namesake, Jimmy Buffet, who passed away in September.
“I know he wanted to be here. I know he would’ve been here,” Torgerson said. “This resort depicts what the brand wants for the Margaritaville resorts.”