Winter 2004 - 2005

Spend the Holidays at the West Wind Inn
In days gone by, the peak Christmas holiday period between December 21 and January 1 was considered “high season” and the rates reflected it.  Not so any more at the Inn.  The January shoulder season rates have been “backed up” to begin on December 21 – a savings of over 20% compared to the former high season rates for the holiday period.  Call, Fax or e-mail us to book your holiday in the sun!

Hurricane Charley
On August 13th (yes, it was a Friday) a chap named “Charley” paid us an unwelcome visit.  What was to be a Category 2 storm heading up the Gulf toward the Tampa area, at the last minute was upgraded to a Category 4 storm and changed directions toward the islands of Sanibel and Captiva.  With winds in excess of 140 mph, the storm made landfall on Upper Captiva and then moved on toward the Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte area, causing substantial damage along the way.  The West Wind Inn was not immune from its destructive force.  It blew down trees, removed roofing, destroyed the Chickee hut, trashed the pool and beach areas, and left behind a mountain of debris.  Our most severe damage came from the roof failure on 6 of our 7 major buildings, which allowed wind driven rain to do considerable destruction to many of our units – insulation and drywall down, carpets and furniture ruined, etc.

Now for the good news!  As of November 1st, we have over 70% of the units back up and running, along with the restaurant, pool bar, pool, beach area, and gift shop.  We have 6 new roofs on our buildings that were damaged. And those damaged units have new insulation, plaster ceilings, new carpeting and drapes and a fresh coat of paint – they look great, albeit a strange way to go about redecorating.  Very soon we will be up to 100% looking better than ever – come take a look for yourself!

The Four Horseman
We have heard of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.  This year, Florida saw them in the form of Hurricanes Charley (8/13), Frances (9/5), Ivan (9/16) and Jeanne (9/25).  Three of these hit Florida within the same month – all within three weeks of each other.  The impact of these storms has been severe.  People’s homes and their very lives have been destroyed – and in this state, with an economy based on tourism, many are without jobs.  Tourism is coming back, however it will be some time before the numbers of last year are repeated (75 million visitors spending $51.5 billion).  Americans as a people and tourism as an industry are both very resilient and therefore we expect that it will not be as long as predicted.  A good testimony to this is the fact that on Sanibel Island most restaurants, shops and accommodations are now open, following the damage of Hurricane Charley – and the beaches are as nice as ever. 

Recipe of the Quarter
Each quarter we feature a recipe from a guest (sometimes an employee) so send us your favorite or interesting recipe.  The one selected gets 2 free West Wind Inn T-shirts.  The winner of this quarter (recipe shown below) is Ms. B.K. of Pittsburgh, PA: