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Collier County’s tourism industry has rolled with the punches.
Oh, and there have been plenty of them.
Over the past 20 years, the industry has faced everything from the jolt of the Great Recession to the blow of Hurricane Ian.
Other jabs? The Gulf oil spill, wildfires and more hurricanes than can easily be remembered, or counted.
Then there’s the black eye of unpredictable red tide and blue-green algae blooms that make a mess of the beach, chasing visitors away – an all-too-frequent occurrence.
The hotel industry in Collier County has overcome a lot, getting back on its feet, with few exceptions. At times recovery has taken longer than hoped, or expected.
The quaint Lemon Tree Inn, off U.S. 41, near Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples, took a beating from Ian in 2022 and never reopened. However, the aged 34-room hotel appeared destined for redevelopment anyway. A new three-story mixed-use building, including 12 residences, is planned to replace it.
At last count, Collier had 70 hotels and resorts, with 7,711 rooms – about the same number as in 2019 before the COVID pandemic hit, according to CoStar. But more are coming.
The current tally includes the 150-room AC Marriott hotel, which opened in downtown Naples in December, at the corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Fifth Avenue South. Built from scratch the new three-story hotel includes a ground-floor café, 2,500 square feet of event space and a rooftop restaurant.
Another newcomer? The Compass Hotel by Margaritaville in central Naples, off U.S. 41, near Pine Ridge Road. The Jimmy Buffett-inspired, upscale all-suite, boutique-style hotel by TPI Hospitality has 119 suites, with studio, one-bedroom or two-bedroom options.
While it didn’t add to the inventory of rooms, the rebranded hotel offers new experiences.
With an island getaway vibe, the reimagined hotel has an array of amenities. Offerings include the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar & Grill, and The Backyard – an outdoor entertainment and gathering spot with a pool, live entertainment, backyard games, and fire pit tables.
More than 200 attended a grand opening ceremony in late April, at the revitalized property, the former home of a Staybridge Suites for more than two decades.
“One of the greatest things about the Margaritaville concept, and we have it at Fort Myers Beach, and we have it here now in Naples, is that we welcome day guests. Come here for breakfast, come here for lunch, come here for dinner, come here for happy hour. Just come here to hang out. We’re open to the public,” said Tom Torgerson, Co-CEO of TPI Hospitality.
The opening was two years in the making.
The renovation and rebranding were “just a quantum leap,” Torgerson said.
“When you stay at our resort here, the moment you walk in through the front doors, you’ll notice a sense of a transformation, whereby you’re leaving the hectic hustle bustle of your everyday, whatever you’ve been doing, and your mind starts to relax and restore. It’s just not your traditional lodging experience,” he said.
More hotels opening soon
Dirt is flying on a handful of new hotels and resorts, with more in the planning stages, in the county, following a national trend.
Ones already under construction include:
Combined, they will add another 1,100 rooms to the roster.
“What that implies is that developers are still very keen to expand in Naples. And that the leisure travel demand that we saw coming out of COVID is expected to remain robust for your market,” said Jan Freitag, the national director for hospitality analytics at the CoStar Group.
By leisure travel demand, he means vacationers, rather than corporate, or group travelers. Business travel, in particular, still hasn’t fully recovered from COVID, and some predict it will never be the same.
“The good news is that the leisure traveler is back, the group traveler is coming back, and the corporate transient traveler is not back yet, but it’s getting better,” Freitag said.
Nationally, hotel construction is booming. According to CoStar, more than 156,000 rooms were under construction as of March across the U.S., with more than 263,000 in the final planning stages. In part, it’s making up for lost time during the pandemic, which slowed the pipeline.
Several new properties are expected to debut this year in Collier, including the Perry Hotel in July, and the Hampton Inn in late September.
The Great Wolf Lodge, which includes an expansive indoor water park, has announced a grand opening on Sept. 25.
“The expansion of hotel offerings in the destination increases our competitive advantage by offering a wider variety of choices for visitors. The addition of new properties such as the AC Hotel Naples and Compass by Margaritaville that opened this year, and Great Wolf Lodge that will open this fall, expands our appeal to different market segments, including families and business travelers,” said Sandra Rios, a communications manager for Collier County’s tourism division.
The county, she said, continues to experience “high demand as an upscale travel destination for individuals and families that are seeking the exclusive experiences that we are known for,” from the beaches and restaurants to the recreational and cultural offerings.
“Hotel expansion brings economic benefits directly to the community through employment opportunities and increased tax revenues that support a multitude of programs and projects in Collier County,” Rios said.
The county’s leisure and hospitality industry employs more than 32,000 in peak season.
While down from 2022, the industry’s economic impact still totaled $3.67 billion last year.
Four Seasons to debut next year
The Four Seasons Resort, part of the new Naples Beach Club development, off Gulf Shore Boulevard, is expected to open in early 2025.
It will be the first Four Seasons on Florida’s Gulf Coast for the Canadian-based luxury heavyweight.
The five-star destination resort will replace the former Naples Beach Hotel – and will be fancier, but smaller. When the landmark hotel closed after more than 70 years in operation, the county lost 319 guest rooms and suites from its lineup.
The new resort will have 215 rooms, nearly 100 fewer than its predecessor.
Jay Newman, a principal and chief operating officer for The Athens Group, developers of the Naples Beach Club, said the new hotels and resorts in Naples and elsewhere in Collier County will “only improve the guest and visitor experience and will provide them with a full range of lodging and dining options.”
“Naples is in the midst of a renaissance, as more and more people discover this very desirable and attractive community to visit, live and work,” he said. “Its smart growth, beautiful beaches, wonderful restaurants, and world-class cultural and recreational offerings and experiences have further elevated Naples as a sophisticated, but relaxed destination.”
Building a new hotel or resort is no easy feat. It can take many years to go from planning to construction.
Complications arising from the coronavirus pandemic delayed construction of the new “Old Naples Hotel” for more than one and a half years. It is now moving ahead.
Patrick Walsh, a principal in Ocean Properties Hotels & Resorts, which has partnered with the Camalier family on the project, said site work began in April, after a “bit of a speed bump,” referring to the aftermath of the pandemic, which included major supply chain disruptions.
Construction is expected to take about 18 months, with a targeted opening in 2025.
The hotel is replacing the Third Street Plaza at Broad Avenue and Gordon Drive in downtown Naples, demolished in late 2021 to make way for the new development. The long-vacant plaza had become an eyesore in the otherwise bustling shopping and dining district.
Naples City Council gave a final thumbs-up to the project in 2018, with some compromises.
From our archives:Naples City Council approves Old Naples Hotel project
Plans call for 109 rooms, down from the original 118. There are 34,500 square feet of usable open space, representing more than 37% of the land it will sit on.
The project also includes two retail shops, an indoor cafe with outdoor dining, a rooftop pool, a spa, and a corner sundry shop.
On a quieter street, away from the hustle and bustle of Fifth Avenue South, the hotel will offer something different, close to the beach, and near bedroom communities, Walsh said, so it should fare well, despite the growing competition.
“We feel like that one is going to be pretty well protected,” he said.
More hotels on the horizon
A report by CoStar shows other hotels in the early or later stages of planning in Collier, including:
- The Aquarius Hotel: 18 rooms
- The ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham Naples: 124 rooms
- The Ellington: 125 rooms
More:3-story hotel, Aqua restaurant to replace Pastrami Dan’s, Liki Tiki BBQ on 9th in Naples
And:Back to the drawing board? Developer rethinking hotel, convention center in East Naples
The Aquarius, a three-story upscale boutique hotel, with an Aqua restaurant on the ground floor, is planned off U.S. 41, near Sixth Avenue North in Naples.
The new building would replace a one-story strip center that’s home to a few eateries, including the Liki Tiki BBQ and Pastrami Dan’s. The site plan is under review by city staffers, and city council will have to approve it, along with granting the lodging and outdoor dining requests.
The Design Review Board would have to give the final sign-off on the project before a building permit could be issued. Preliminary design plans garnered unanimous approval from the board last August.
The rapidly expanding ECHO Suites brand launched in 2022.
The low-cost, extended-stay brand’s expansion plans include a 124-room hotel at 3670 Income Lane, off Collier Boulevard, near Interstate 75, close to the Paradise Coast Sports Complex.
The Ellington is a long-planned condo-hotel in the pizza-sliced mini-triangle area of East Naples, at the corner of U.S. 41 East and Davis Boulevard, just outside the Naples city limits. The high-rise project has faced many hurdles, and the developers haven’t shared any updates lately.
The now-vacant, roughly 2-acre site has a rocky past. There have been several failed attempts by others to redevelop the property — at 1705 and 1807 U.S. 41 East.
According to the project’s website, it will have 125 keys – including to some “impressive honeymoon and presidential suites,” with an approved maximum height of 110 feet. The top floor will be “dedicated to residential use, in the form of 24 highly amenitized, lifestyle-driven” condos, with sweeping water and downtown views.
The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, based in Charleston, South Carolina, has been chosen to help develop, market, open and operate the project.
In a unanimous decision, Naples City Council recently denied plans for new hotel rooms on Fifth Avenue South, seeing them as the wrong fit. Council unilaterally saw the hotel rooms, included as part of a new mixed-used building, as overdevelopment. The rooms would have sat atop a new restaurant.
In case you missed it:City council rejects proposal for more hotel rooms on Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples
Others are mulling hotel projects elsewhere in the county.
Columbia Sussex, a privately owned company based in Kentucky, recently proposed a 400,000-square-foot Marriott hotel, with 438 rooms, on a 4.25-acre site in East Naples, but it’s rethinking those plans after facing neighborhood opposition.
Currently vacant, the property used to be home to the Little Italy and Checkers Drive-In restaurants. It’s sandwiched between Frederick Street and Palm Street.
In its application for a commercial planned unit development, or CPUD, Columbia Sussex sought approval for a hotel and convention center at a zoned height of 124 feet, and an actual height of 136 feet, which met with resistance. In part, the developer asked for substantially more than the allowed building height on the site to make room for a three-story garage, which would have stretched more than 40 feet above ground.
A smaller hotel is allowed by right today.
More boutique hotels are sprouting
The 239, a three-story, mixed-use building planned on the southeast corner of Bayshore Drive and Areca Avenue in East Naples, will have a hotel with eight expansive luxury suites, including balconies, plus a rooftop pool, for guests.
A 150-seat sit-down restaurant on the first floor, and a bar on the rooftop would be open to the community.
On the ground floor there will be retail shops and offices.
On property next door, the same local developers behind The 239, Michael Whalen and Adam Holman, are refurbishing traditional one-bedroom and studio apartments flooded by Ian, turning them into mid-century modern bungalows for nightly rentals.
“Everything has been approved. We have started construction,” Whalen said.
The hotel should welcome its first guests by the second quarter of 2025, he said, while the bungalows, in a tropical setting, should be available for rent later this year.
Planning for the mixed-use building began in 2021, and construction started in January, Whalen said.
“We are just two local guys trying to improve the community,” he said.
Other projects that have been pitched, but not yet approved in the Bayshore/Gateway Triangle area of East Naples, targeted for redevelopment by the county, include:
- A 23-room four-story boutique hotel off Bayshore Drive, south of Lunar Street. With three stories over parking, the new building, spanning 55,680 square feet, has been under review by county staff since 2021.
- A mixed-use development with three stories on Bayshore Drive, between Barrett and Van Buren Avenue. The proposed building, at 7,540 square feet, would include a restaurant with covered outdoor dining, offices and retail stores. The second and third floors would have hotel rooms and the roof (terrace) would include a pool and bar. County staff is still waiting for more information from the applicants to move forward.
Meanwhile, Neapolitan Enterprises is considering options for developing property it owns in Crayton Cove, which may include a hotel, said Barbara Walker, the company’s president.
The company has obtained the necessary permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the US Army Corps of Engineers to build a new marina next to land it owns near the Naples City Dock.
“Right now, we are exploring the best options for development of the adjacent uplands properties, which include the former site of a worn strip center heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian, a vacant site to the south fronting on Naples Bay, and a vacant site west of the Bleu Provence Restaurant. That development may well include a small high-end boutique hotel, but that determination has not yet been made,” Walker said.
In the Naples Design District, the pioneering Wynn family plans a new mixed-use building, between the new Gulfshore Playhouse and The Collective, that includes 18 lodging units, for the use of actors performing at the playhouse.
New lodging projects are planned as far out as Immokalee, with a petition filed with the county to demolish the 15-unit Budget Inn Motel, off Main Street, so it can be replaced by a more modern hotel, with 38 rooms, by the owners.
County records show a 90-room Tru Hotel is planned on vacant land off Juliet Boulevard, near the Walmart Supercenter, close to Interstate 75, but it awaits final approval of its site development plan – after the granting of a parking reduction.
Upscale hotel to replace Beacon Bowl
Off U.S. 41, near Pine Ridge Road, in North Naples, where the Beacon Bowl has long stood, Naples-based Gulf Coast Commercial Corp. plans to build a small boutique hotel, with 70 rooms. The alley, an institution at the site since 1958, is set to close Aug. 31.
Gulf Coast Commercial’s founder and CEO Phil McCabe is no stranger to the hotel industry, having developed several properties in Collier County, including the iconic Inn on Fifth, which he operated for more than 25 years in downtown Naples before selling it.
His latest project will cater to the affluent, with an exclusive private club called Sterling’s that will only be open to hotel guests, or members.
“It’s meant to be positioned with Waterside, on that level of demographic,” McCabe said, referring to the upscale shopping center across the street.
“I studied it, and it has the zoning for what I’m doing already,” he said. “The entitlements are in place.”
A six-story building is planned, with rooftop pools for guests, including one for adults, and another for families. Along with the pools, there will be hot tubs, a fire pit, and a restaurant, for the overnight visitors.
The hotel will also offer a state-of-the-art wellness center.
On the ground floor, the building will have two high-end national restaurants “on the level of a Capital Grille or higher,” open to all, McCabe said.
He described the architecture as iconic, and complementary to the grandeur of Pelican Bay’s residential and commercial buildings nearby.
It’s a project he’s doing with his two sons.
While all the particulars of the private club haven’t been worked out yet, McCabe sees it as a cross between the opulent Annabel’s in London and the sports- and fitness-focused New York Athletic Club, “all to the luxury of a 5-star hotel.”
He foresees the club hosting everything from TED talks and world-renowned musicians to award-winning vintners and chefs.
The hotel’s name – The Carnelian – is meant to “reflect the warmth, vibrancy, and creativity the Carnelian stone represents,” he said. It’s considered a stone of kings and royalty.
Construction is expected to start this fall and should take about 18 months.
Long-time hotelier remains bullish on tourism in Collier County
Despite the growing competition, McCabe said he remains confident in his project, and the destination. He pointed out the county has lost inventory in recent years, with the closing of the Naples Beach Hotel, the Lemon Tree Inn and the former Collins Hotel, which had 137 rooms, purchased by a medical group for offices.
From our archives:Long-time hotel in Naples purchased for redevelopment, what’s to know
While the Great Wolf Lodge will add hundreds more rooms, it will draw a different crowd than his hotel, and seems “way out there” because it’s so far east of his property, McCabe said.
“That’s out in the Everglades,” he quipped.
He thinks he’s chosen the prime spot about halfway between the new Four Seasons Resort and the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, for a hotel of the same caliber, but on a more intimate scale.
While several hotels are planned in East Naples, McCabe said financing is tough, with tighter lending standards, and higher interest rates and construction costs, so it could be years before those projects come out of the ground, especially the larger ones, as proposed.
He doesn’t expect any significant slowdown in tourism at the high end of the market in Naples, and he thinks new offerings are good for the destination, including recent improvements to the Ritz-Carlton resorts.
Last summer, the new and improved Ritz reopened on Vanderbilt Beach, after a whipping from Ian.
The coastal property remained open during a multimillion-dollar renovation, until Ian swamped it with water and sand, and lashed it with high winds, forcing it to close for nearly a year.
Upgrades to the resort include the new Vanderbilt Tower, with an expansive new club lounge and more than 70 more spacious club-level guest rooms.
In locations around the world, the club-level experience offers a dedicated concierge and exclusive access to the club lounge, “where daily culinary presentations highlight the quintessential flavors and traditions of the destination.” It comes with more luxury, and a higher nightly rate.
In case you missed it:Ritz-Carlton, Naples, slammed by Ian, reopens bigger, better, on Vanderbilt Beach
Earlier:Ritz-Carlton, Naples, slammed by Hurricane Ian, to reopen bigger and better in July
Sister property The Ritz-Carlton Naples, Tiburón, has undergone big improvements, too, adding to its offerings, but not its room count. New additions include the Reservoir waterpark and the Latin American-inspired restaurant Ría.
“For nearly four decades, The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples have been committed to delivering unparalleled luxury in Naples. Our recent strategic investments and vision for both resorts underscore a deep commitment to the holistic growth and enduring beauty of Naples,” said Mark Ferland, area general manager.
He said the investments will continue into the future.
The LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort on Vanderbilt Beach recently completed an 18-month restoration, following significant damages from Hurricane Ian. The extensive project included upgrades to the resort’s 189 guest rooms, the complete rebuild of the famed Beach House, and the refurbishment of four beachside pools.
More hotel rooms could mean lower occupancy
It’s clear that American travelers are very interested in experiences and they’re willing to pay for high-end experiences, if they can – a positive for a high-end destination such as Naples, said Freitag, with CoStar.
However, it also stands to reason that with a greater supply of rooms, comes lower occupancy, if demand isn’t growing at the same rate.
“That’s just math,” Freitag remarked.
He added: “There is going to be a lot more competition, but of course, each owner and each developer feels their hotel is the hotel that is needed in the market.”
Top markets for hotel expansions in the U.S.
Hotels and resorts aren’t just expanding in Collier County. It’s part of a national trend.
According to the CoStar Group, here are the top five markets based on new openings expected in 2024:
- New York, 40, 4,742 rooms
- Dallas, 21, 2,422 rooms
- Austin, 17, 1,562 rooms
- Atlanta, 17, 1,879 rooms
- Inland Empire, 16, 1,591 rooms
All of those markets have more hotels and resorts under construction that won’t be ready to open this year.
Top 5 Sales
Collier County has seen some eye-popping sales of hotel and resort properties, especially in recent years. Here’s a look at the Top 5 over the past decade:
- Naples Beach Hotel, $362.28 million. While the sale of the 125-acre site included a hotel and a golf course, it was more of a land transaction and springboard for a new luxury development.
- Naples Grande Beach Resort, $248 million. This includes the sale of the resort, the Naples Grande Golf Club, and a tennis center, with its land.
- LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort, $185.5 million. The sale included a 23-slip marina on Vanderbilt Bay, but not the golf course.
- The Inn on Fifth Naples, $156 million. This transaction included the inn, and land a block north of it, with the potential for development.
- Marriott Vacation Club Crystal Shores, $108.16 million. This involved two transactions, for a total 114 units.
Sources: List provided by CoStar Group, with added information from Maxwell, Hendry & Simmons LLC.
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