ORLANDO
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort opened as Universal Orlando’s fifth on-site hotel.
To celebrate, the first guests were welcomed with a special Caribbean-themed arrival celebration. Cheering team members, a steel drum band, stilt walkers and a colorful burst of streamers inside the hotel’s lobby greeted the Fajardo family from Hollywood, Fla. A video of the first guests arriving is available here.
The new hotel brings Universal Orlando's on-site hotel rooms to 5,200, and coming this fall, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort will add 115,000 square feet to the destination’s 295,000 square feet of total meeting space.
The meeting space will include a 41,000-square-foot ballroom divisible into 12 breakout rooms, a 30,000-square-foot hall, an additional 16 meeting rooms and three meeting planner offices.
There will also be an air-conditioned covered bridge that will connect the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort to the Loews Royal Pacific Resort, which offers 247,000 square feet of combined meeting space known as The Loews Meeting Complex at Universal Orlando and an outdoor event area offering 16,000 square feet of event space.
“The addition of Loews Sapphire Falls Resort provides even more options for meeting planners and their attendees – incredible on-site amenities, enhanced meeting capabilities and overall unique experiences that only Universal Orlando Resort can provide,” said Vince LaRuffa, vice president, resort sales & marketing. “We believe this new addition will continue to position Orlando as the No. 1 meeting destination in the country."
Meeting attendees can experience Caribbean-inspired food at Amatista Cookhouse and take a cocktail journey with a rum captain and sample some of the 75 rums in Strong Water Tavern. Guests also have admission to the Universal Orlando theme parks one hour before open, along with complimentary resort-wide transportation.
“Planners will now have more options and flexibility than ever before for their meetings and events at Universal Orlando Resort,” said Barb Bowden, complex managing director. “We offer the hospitality excellence of Loews Hotels combined with the excitement of Universal Orlando [and its varied attractions]."
