Mickey Mouse country getting luxury touches
Orlando may have built its reputation on theme parks but a variety of new luxury properties are creating widening interest in the area as a luxury and meeting destination.
Gaylord Palms, a $450 million, 1,406-room resort and convention center, for example, has been doing good business, according to owners.
The Palms has catered not only to leisure travelers but also to groups too big for many convention centers but too small for large municipal places like the Orange County Convention Center.
The hotel is far from alone, however, said Hotel Interactive.
Hilton Hotels Corporation recently announced Orlando would soon be home to its first newly built Waldorf-Astoria since the original in New York.
There’s also a small avalanche of other luxury hotels on the horizon.
The area’s luxury market now has 56 properties with 43,197 rooms; three other major luxury properties are under construction, according to Lodging Econometrics.
In fact, in terms of current supply, that ranks Orlando among a “top three total for any market in the United States,” according to Bruce Ford, senior vice president at Lodging Econometrics.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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