In St. Pete Beach, only 66% of all hotel rooms have reopened, with 700 of the 1,200 still closed.<\/p>\n
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. \u2014 More than a year after back-to-back hurricanes left parts of St. Pete Beach unrecognizable, signs of hope are finally starting to shine through. Residents and visitors alike are welcoming the reopening of one of the area\u2019s most beloved landmarks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were horrified,\u201d longtime local residents said, reflecting on the destruction that swept through the beach community.<\/p>\n
Tonight, a very different kind of emotion filled the air as the Beachcomber and its iconic Jimmy B\u2019s Bar reopened their doors to guests from across the country.<\/p>\n
For visitors like Michele Lamphier and her best friend, the reopening was a must-see.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe booked it right away \u2014 we woke up at 4 a.m. to come from Boston,\u201d Lamphier said. She added that they were \u201choping they could recover so they could reopen. It took over a year, but thank God they\u2019re open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the street, Odise Armata, owner of Odis Mediterranean Kitchen for the past 17 years, says the hotel\u2019s reopening could bring much-needed foot traffic back to the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hotel is coming back, across the street is coming soon, so I need my customers, local and tourist. Anything helps,\u201d Armata said.<\/p>\n
While the Beachcomber celebrates its return, not all businesses nearby have been able to reopen. One neighboring hotel remains dark after hours, a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges for local business owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a sad place lately. After 5, 6\u2026 no cars, dark, dark, dark\u2026 everything is sad,\u201d one staff member said.<\/p>\n
According to Visit St. Pete\u2013Clearwater, about 95% of hotel rooms in Pinellas County are open. But in St. Pete Beach, only 66% of rooms have reopened, with 700 of the 1,200 still closed.<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, visitors say they are thrilled to see progress, no matter how small.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re back, glad we\u2019re back, very excited,\u201d Lamphier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In St. Pete Beach, only 66% of all hotel rooms have reopened, with 700 of the 1,200 still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-27117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}