Punta Gorda’s Wyvern Hotel staff returns after hurricanes Helene and Milton

After hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated much of the Southwest Florida coast, people lost their way of living.

On Tuesday, WINK News anchor Taylor Wirtz heard stories of people who triumphed in the face of disaster and are just starting to get back to their jobs.

The Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda reopened this week; it sits near the Peace River and U.S. 41.

It took some patience and a big team effort to get back to the jobs they love. However, as the staff told WINK, they aren’t just a team, they’re a family.

For guests on the Wyvern Hotel’s rooftop restaurant, Perch 360, this is just another Wednesday, but for the hotel’s staff, it’s a big day.

Matt Nemec, the Wyvern Hotel’s Director of Business Development, said, “Everybody’s got a smile on their face right now.”

Ever since Helene and Milton, most of their hourly employees have been losing out on about a month’s worth of wages.

Alicia McMahon, Wyvern Hotel’s Food & Beverage Director, said, “I have a couple of people that are single parents, you know, and they have kids that they have to take care of and they have to feed.”

Their managers said it’s kept them up at night, worried.

“If we don’t take care of them here, you know, who will?” said McMahon.

Nemec said, “It hurts a lot when you know you just don’t have anything to give them.”

Elizabeth Hayden, a bartender and server, was one of more than 50 people out of work. She said it was scary not knowing when she would get her next paycheck.

Hayden shared with WINK, “It was just, you know, wondering what’s the next step? Do we still have a job? Where do we go after this?”

But with the hotel having reopened its doors to guests on Tuesday and the Perch 360 restaurant on Wednesday, she said things are looking up.

“We’re working again, but it’s also like a reuniting, like a family party,” she said.

Managers told us it was a team effort to reopen.

“My food and beverage people were willing to come in and help, you know, clean rooms, scrub floors, get rid of water, do anything that they had to do,” McMahon explained.

And while it will take some time before all staff can return and everything is back to normal, they’re celebrating every victory right now.

Nemec said, “We’ve all cried together, you know, we laugh together. We work really hard together, and, yeah, I think that’s what families do.”

The Skydeck at the Perch 360 restaurant is open seven days a week for food, music and drinks.

Managers said they hope everyone will come by to support their staff and watch Punta Gorda return to life from their rooftop.