VERO BEACH — All anyone had to do to see that the 2015 season on the barrier island was a blockbuster was look at the long lines of cars at the traffic light at Beachland and A1A between December and the end of April.
Chris Mora, public works director for the county, said in January that vehicles at the intersection were up 40 percent by March.
While waiting through three lights to make a left turn onto A1A was annoying, the rise in traffic translated to a rise in receipts and the busiest money-making season ever on the barrier island for hotels, restaurants and most Central Beach retail merchants.
Hotel bed tax reports for January, 2015, showed a 28.5 percent increase in revenue over January 2014.
The increase in revenue for hotels in February number was 22.9 percent over last year.
“The reputation and image of Vero Beach as wonderful has gotten out,” said Costa d’Este Hotel general manager Ed Riley.
For Costa d’Este, it was a record-breaking season, “the best ever,” Riley said.
He added that restaurant owners and retail merchants on the barrier island told him the same thing.
A few retailers, however, told Vero Beach 32963 that at the height of the season, customers told them they had difficulty finding parking spots near their stores.
The result: Several retailers said their shops did better before and after the peak period for hotels and restaurants.
For Polo Grill, however, February 2015, was the best month ever, said manager Kenny Christman, speaking for owner John Marx who is enjoying a post-season respite in France.
“Our business was up 20 percent from last year,” said Christman, who added that most of Polo Grill’s diners were “beach people back here for the season,” which, for Polo Grill, began in mid-November and continued straight through until after Mother’s Day.
“Some people think season ends after Easter but that’s not what we see,” he said.
At Polo Grill, as well as at The Tides, the No. 1 menu seller was the locally caught pompano, which has become synonymous with fine dining in Vero Beach in the winter.
Tides executive chef and owner Leanne Kelleher said this past season was the restaurant’s best in the 15 years it has been open.
“We sold out all season with 250 guests a night regularly,“ said Kelleher, who attributed a great season to an improved economy, the bad weather in the North, and the reputation of The Tides.
“We have a loyal clientele that keeps coming back,” said Kelleher.
Trattoria Dario owner Dario Bordoli said he was surprised to see so many Canadians in his two-year-old barrier island restaurant, as well as so many people from Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.
“The beach here is becoming more trendy, more popular,” said Bordoli, who managed restaurants in South Florida for many years after growing up in Northern Italy.
“We did very well with risottos and osso bucco, and also pompano this past season,” said Bordoli.
His son, Christian Bordoli, said the number of meals served by the restaurant increased by double-digit percentages over last year.
“For four months we served at least 100 people a night,” he said.
Beachside Holiday Inn general manager Scott Dipietro said most of their guests left the hotel for breakfast and dinner during season, and went to nearby restaurants.
This past season, he said, they saw a lot of people from the Northeast fleeing the dismal weather, and attracted an increased number of spring breakers.
And, with the barrier island hotel business up, it also meant restaurant business on the barrier island increased. Zachary McCarron, manager of South Beach’s Prestige Hotel – named the Aquarius until September 2014 when Venezuelan-born Miami investor Cesar Barrosso bought it – said they were “92 percent full on average” for the past season.
Now that the season is over, McCarron said he expects next season to be even better after a $2 million renovation is completed, which will include a revamp of the lobby, the parking lot, new furniture throughout and enlarging the bathrooms.
“For hotels and restaurants on the barrier island, things just keep getting better and better,” said McCarron.