Orlando
- Expected to open in phases beginning early summer 2012, Disney’s Art of Animation Resort (407.934.7639; www.disneyworld.com) will feature more than 800 standard guest rooms and more than 1,100 family suites, which sleep up to six people. In addition, the Walt Disney World Resort recently announced plans to build a luxury residential resort community, Golden Oak, which will include a new Four Seasons hotel with a golf course.
- Slated for an Oct. 1 opening, the 400-room Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort, Bonnet Creek (407.390.2300; www.wyndham.com) will include the Blue Harmony Spa, a zero-entry pool and 25,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
- The Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate (407.390.6664; www.omnihotels.com) is planning an expansion in two phases. The first phase, scheduled for early 2013, will add 55,000 square feet of meeting space, 150 new hotel rooms and a sports complex with eight multipurpose ball fields. Phase two will include 110,000 square feet of meeting space and 500 new hotel rooms.
- The Peabody Orlando (407.352.4000; www.peabodyorlando.com) recently completed a $450 million expansion and now offers 1,641 rooms and 300,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including the pillar-free, 54,700-square-foot Peabody Grand Ballroom.
- The Caribe Royale Orlando (407.238.8000; www.thecaribeorlando.com) unveiled the Island Spa in July, a boutique-style retreat offering nail, massage and complete body treatments. Meeting facilities here include the Grand Caribe Convention Center, with two ballrooms and 29 breakout rooms.
- Visit Orlando (407.363.5872; www.orlandomeetings.com) is holding a “Meeting Makeover” contest to the tune of $50,000 (in goods and services) for the meeting planner who gives the best reason, in 350 words or less, why their next Orlando meeting needs a “reinvention.” The deadline is the end of September.
Kissimmee
- A new Embassy Suites hotel (www.embassysuites.com) is due to open in late 2012 in Kissimmee, offering 300 rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting space.