Gaylord hostess |
Gaylord’s New
Resort
For Business and Pleasure
 HE
entire state of Florida in one resort? That’s what the new Gaylord
Palms Resort and Convention Center at Kissimmee promises. I had to
check it out.
The impressive massive
complex is divided into three mini-resorts:
 Key
West with calypso music along the wharf and a 60-foot sailboat
where you will find an onboard seafood bar and lounge with tropical
drinks.
Or you may want to drop
into Sunset Sam’s Fish Camp. The night I visited, general manager
Jeff Harrison and executive chef Scot Prince created a menu that
offered potato crusted snapper, red bliss potatoes, roasted
vegetables, creamed leek sauce as the main course.
Gaylord atrium |
The guest rooms in this
area had a tropical motif.
The
Everglades offers an atmosphere of mystery with its rugged
wooden walkways. At some points fog shrouds the path while the
sounds of frogs fill the air. Wicker furnishings in the guest rooms,
with butterfly and firefly designs, create a private jungle retreat.
You’ll find dinner
waiting for you at the Old Hickory Traditional Steakhouse.
St.
Augustine, with its majestic atrium, is like a journey back in
time to the 18th century. Take the cobblestone walkway to
see a replica of the oldest Spanish fort in the New World.
The Villa de Flora
Marketplace and Restaurant features six market stands with entrees
and cooking methods from the Mediterranean.
I stayed in this part, in a
guest room with walnut furnishings and burnished gold.
Gaylord chef and waitress |
When you check in, you’ll
get a colorful pocketsize map that will guide you to your room and
all the sites in the three neighborhoods.
With your room you get
bottles of juice and water, coffee, local and toll-free phone calls,
high-speed Internet access, and free shuttle to nearby DinseyWorld.
There is a supervised kids
program, various eating places, retail shops, and the Canyon Ranch
Spa Club, the largest spa facility in the state with 25 treatment
rooms and fitness center.
The Gaylord brand is the
new name for the formerly known Opryland Hotels and Resorts. The
company is reaching out not only vacationers but to business groups
seeking exciting new venues for conventions, meetings and
exhibitions.
Gaylord St. Augustine |
Along with the Gaylord
Opryland in Nashville, Tennessee, and this newly opened Gaylord
Palms in Kissimmee, Florida, there will be a Gaylord Opryland
debuting February 2004 near the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, Texas.
The resorts are a property
of Gaylord Entertainment, based in Nashville, Tenn. The company owns
the Gaylord Hotels, the Grand Ole Opry, Acuff-Rose Music Publishing,
and WSM radio.
For reservations to Gaylord
Palms call 407 586-2000 or visit www.gaylordhotels.com. |
