Hotels Overview

Lodging in Fort Myers, the islands, and Naples can be pricey, but there are affordable properties even during the busy winter season. If these destinations are too rich for your budget, consider visiting in the off-season, when rates drop drastically. Beachfront properties tend to be more expensive; to spend less, look for properties away from the water. Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor have more in the budget range. In high season -- Christmas through Easter -- always reserve ahead for the top properties. Fall is the slowest season: rates are low and availability is high, but this is also the prime time for hurricanes. Hurricanes, in fact, took out some of the coastline's accommodations inventory in 2004 and 2005, but resorts are slowly coming back or being replaced. The reopening of Captiva Island's South Seas Island Resort, severely damaged by Hurricane Charley, was a significant stride in the island's recovery. In Charlotte County, hard hit in 2004, several new chain hotels have opened, or soon will, to replace 200 lost rooms. Intercontinental Hotels has broken ground on the first new hotel construction in Downtown Fort Myers in 20 years. As of this writing, Hotel Indigo Fort Myers was slated to open in late 2007. Across the river in Cape Coral, The Resort at MarinaVillage was hoping to break ground by 2008. Naples awaits the fall 2007 opening of the Naples Bay Resort, an 85-unit luxury hotel, rental cottage, and marina complex. Between Naples and Everglades City, new owners renovated Port of the Islands Resort and reopened it in January 2007.