This Keys hotel was ‘battered’ by Irma. Now it’s ready to welcome you back to paradise.

Every hotel in the Florida Keys has one thing going for it — it’s located in paradise. That is why I’ve been enchanted by the Keys since age 15.

That first impression—of snorkeling offshore with the biggest fish I’d ever seen, feeling the sun on my shoulders as we sailed back to shore, the salty characters along Mallory Square and Duval Street—would eventually lead me to move to Key West 10 years later and get a job on the very same catamaran that first enthralled my teenage imagination.

The Keys mean freedom. And that sentiment with all its broad connotations, I think, is why the island chain is so beloved by so many people. And that is why, in these eight months since Hurricane Irma made landfall as a Category 4 storm, we care so much about the islands’ recovery.

Getting back online

The latest hotel to reopen is Cheeca Lodge & Spa (81801 Overseas Hwy., Islamorada; 305-712-7166; current rates from $288), a historic resort that first opened in 1946 as a humble fishing lodge on the Atlantic side of Islamorada. Over the decades, it’s been a favorite retreat to celebrities, dignitaries, avid anglers and paradise-seekers, including everyone from comedian Steve Martin to President George H.W. Bush.

Cheeca officially reopened on March 30 over Easter Weekend after a $25 million renovation, which includes a redesigned main lodge, lobby and guest rooms, as well as restored grounds.

I drove down the Overseas Highway from Miami last week to get a look at the new Cheeca, one month into its reopening. There’s a feeling that overtakes me every time I make that drive south—a subdued giddiness, something close to bliss—when the road narrows in Florida City and the mainland recedes into my rearview mirror. The horizon literally opens up and everything feels roomier.

I arrived at Cheeca in less than two hours and made a pit stop for lunch across the street at Bad Boy Burrito. This was my third trip to the Keys post-Irma and I observed in earnest the relative normalcy of the landscape compared to my first drive down in October when two-story piles of debris lined the highway.

I’ve come to delight even more in the familiar roadside landmarks: the giant lobster outside the Rain Barrel artist village, the crashing waterfalls at the entrance to Theater of the Sea, the neon turtle sign of Sid & Roxie’s Green Turtle Inn, the turquoise and coral cottage of Mrs. Mac’s Kitchen with her famous key lime pie.

Cheeca also felt pleasantly familiar as I wound my way beneath a canopy of trees to the polished limestone courtyard framed by potted palms and pink bougainvillea leading to the main lodge.

I’d visited Cheeca once before in September 2016, so I was prepared to accept a glass of mid-day sparkling wine and be invited to take a seat across the desk during check-in. All of this is still a part of the welcome experience at Cheeca, except now the front desk is off to the side of the lobby and a new lobby bar is on the opposite side. It’s more of a breezy social space capitalizing on views of the ocean through its sturdy mahogany-lined French glass doors.

“We wanted to lighten up the space and play with the natural colors of our surroundings: the ocean, sky and sand,” said Rhonda Whitfield, Cheeca Lodge’s longtime director of sales who’s been with the resort for 17 years, when we met that afternoon. “We were always going to keep the dark wood and the feeling of a fishing lodge. That’s who we are. It’s our soul. We’ve added new features, but kept it authentic to the heart of the resort. It’s still the Cheeca Lodge that our guests remember for generations.”

The main lodge has been refreshed by Coral Gables-based architectural firm EOA Group. A large-scale triptych painting by Islamorada artist Elena Madden hangs behind the front desk, an abstraction of a silvery tarpon (the longtime mascot of the resort) swimming through aqua-green water. Modern white-beaded, cage-like chandeliers hang from the center of the space, which is furnished with sand-toned, low-slung upholstered sofas and wooden tables.

I sat down with Whitfield and general manager Bob LaCasse to hear the tale of Cheeca’s road to recovery. LaCasse was the last person to leave the property the day before the storm hit (“There was no one behind me on the road, let’s put it that way,” he recalls) and the first to return.

‘Flooded and battered’

He came back to 27-acres of utter wreckage. “The landscaping was completely decimated. There were so many trees down. There was no access,” he said. “The first thing we did was get a crew to cut a path to the lodge.”

There was reportedly an eight-foot tidal storm surge in Islamorada and Cheeca Lodge was flooded and battered by what LaCasse calls “wind-driven seawater rain.” The lodge was flooded with four to six inches of water, the golf course had eight to 10 inches and there was easily two-feet of water on the grounds from the entry gate to the villas.

There were broken water mains, gas lines and live wires. Pieces of the 525-foot pier were scattered from inside the pool to the northern edge of the property and the tarpon logo on the dock was eventually found four miles away. The sand on the beach was completely swept away. The saltwater damage to the property resulted in mold and electrical problems.

One of the first decisions the property’s ownership Northwood Hospitality made was that no one would lose their job. “We’re keeping everyone,” Whitfield recalls. Over the course of the six-month restoration process, employees were assigned to committees and came in to help outside contractors. The team scrambled up to the March 30 opening, pushing back the date more than once, before they were ready to welcome guests once again.

“Going through something like this is painful,” LaCasse says. “And it will continue to be painful. We don’t know what we don’t know.”

Still recovering

Eighty to 90 percent of Cheeca Lodge’s 214-room inventory is back online to accommodate continued room detailing. For returning guests, the spacious rooms with their giant limestone bathrooms and balconies will feel familiar, only lightened up in a similar fashion to the lobby with touches of sand-tones and aquamarine by design firm RD Jones.

Cheeca has been at nearly full capacity since reopening and has already hosted more than a dozen weddings and groups. Their reopening is a boon to the local economy with 80 percent of Florida Keys lodging properties now hosting visitors once again, according to Keys tourism officials.

Signs of the hotel getting back on its feet were still apparent during my stay. I was greeted by the distant sound of jackhammers upon arrival and at my departure, a trio of contractors were at work painting the walls around the third floor elevator. The WiFi in my room was down, so I spent the afternoon working in the lobby where a ladder stood near the new bar. Still, none of this was terribly intrusive and I sat back and watched as happy people on vacation breezed in and out of the lobby and bellied up to the bar.

The team plans to have all renovations complete by the end of June including the Phase II construction of a second swimming pool and tiki bar over what was once the saltwater lagoon by the beach. When I was there at the end of April, construction had not yet begun and the lagoon was barricaded by a chain link fence camouflaged by a tarp printed with morning glories.

Cheeca is at its best when the resort seamlessly melds with the natural beauty of its surroundings. That is, when you’re gazing from your oceanfront balcony at the impossibly clear water swishing across the spongy sand flats and turtle grass, strolling on the beach at dusk, taking a paddleboard out for a morning spin or dining on the oceanfront patio of Atlantic’s Edge with tiki torches ablaze.

One disappointment was my snapper entrée at dinner. The dish arrived swimming in an unappetizing pool of butter and was clearly reheated with a mealy consistency served with chewy, undecipherable trumpet mushrooms; a far cry from the memorable, buoyant grouper dish I enjoyed on my previous visit when Michael’s Genuine alum Chef Niven Patel (who has since opened the popular Ghee Indian Kitchen in Dadeland and the Design District) was at the helm. At $32, it was a particularly sad showing.

In addition to Atlantic’s Edge, Cheeca also debuted Mia Cucina, a casual Italian pizzeria and bistro, and Nikai Sushi Bar is slated to reopen on the second floor on May 1 with a new menu, all under the direction of executive chef Philip Lowd.

Perhaps the highlight of my visit was a post-dinner soak in the bubble bath on my balcony (a fabulous Cheeca amenity not to be skipped if you’re staying in the main lodge), washing away the salt and grime from a day on the road, feeling the cool ocean breeze on my skin and watching a waxing gibbous moon dance on the dark ocean below.

This story was originally published May 1, 2018 at 6:05 AM.