Here's a look at the best new and renovated venues in Orlando such as hotels, meeting rooms, outdoor spaces, restaurants with private rooms, unique venues, and more. These event and meeting spaces can accommodate groups large or small for fall entertaining including business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, and private and corporate events.
The Rosen Inn International, formerly known as the Quality Inn International, recently added a 1,000-square-foot meeting room and a 300-square-foot boardroom. The hotel has also remodeled the existing lobby, restaurant, and lounge. The 240-seat Fountain View Restaurant, which serves buffets and à la carte items, has a new design, flexible seating, and a more efficient floor plan.
The Alfond Inn opened August 18 in Winter Park. The hotel, owned by Rollins College, has 10,000 square feet of event space, including a boardroom for corporate retreats or dinner meetings. The 5,000-square-foot ballroom can be divided into five spaces and there is a 2,000-square-foot meeting room. A glass-domed prefunction area is ideal for registration or buffet-style meals. The hotel has 112 rooms and a restaurant, Hamilton’s Kitchen, that serves modern Southern fare with a private dining area. Throughout the inn’s public spaces is the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art, more than 100 pieces of painting, photography, sculpture, and mixed media.
Hilton Orlando is creating a 50,000-square-foot outdoor event space adjacent to the hotel’s ballroom foyer. Known as the Promenade, the area will be divided into four distinct venues and is expected to open in October. The 10,500-square-foot Sky Terrace will be an elevated area that can accommodate a banquet for 700 people or a reception for 1,000. The Grande Lawn will have 9,800 square feet of turf and can also accommodate 700 people seated or 1,200 for a reception. The Fountain Plaza is a circular patio suited for cocktail receptions or a sit-down meal. The smallest area is the Sun Garden; at 4,500 square feet, it's suited for parties of as many as 350 people.
Downtown Orlando gets its first new hotel in several years when Starwood’s Aloft brand opens on Orange Avenue October 17. The hotel occupies what had been the Orlando Utilities Commission building. It has 118 guest rooms and 7,000 square feet of event space, including three meeting rooms on the lower level ranging from 825 to 2,600 square feet. There are also seven 350-square-foot boardrooms on floors two through eight, and the front patio may be used for events. The hotel will offer full catering services.
Disney’s California Grill, which sits atop the Contemporary Resort and offers sweeping views of Magic Kingdom, reopend September 9 following an extensive renovation. The restaurant has a new design and a new menu focusing on seasonal ingredients and light fare. The new wine list offers 250 wines, with 80 by the glass, 10 varieties of sake, and signature cocktails. California Grill has two private dining options: the Napa Room accommodates 70 people and the Sonoma Room hosts as many as 50 people.
Restaurant and bar Don Jefe’s Tequila Parlor opened in downtown Orlando in May. The 7,000-square-foot restaurant serves modern Mexican fare and has four bars serving 100 tequilas and house-made margaritas. A semiprivate area seats 100 and has a patio. For buyouts, it can accommodate 750 people.
Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive is wrapping up its property-wide renovation. When the project is completed in October, the resort will have 60,000 square feet of flexible event space and a technology lounge for meeting attendees. In March the resort unveiled its 613 renovated guest rooms and suites.
In July, Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando added two new meeting rooms: the 1,025-square-foot Magnolia Room and the 435-square-foot Camellia Room. Both rooms are connected to a 720-square-foot covered patio overlooking the hotel’s tropical gardens and one of its pools, ideal for prefunction activities or a cocktail reception.
Open since August 17, Underground Public House is an “American Pub with an English twist” in downtown Orlando that accommodates 150 people. The owners have retained the original brick walls in the building, which was built in 1892, and added accents such as a custom mural of an American flag fading into an image of the British flag. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner items such as fish and chips, bangers and mash, and grass-fed burgers. The bar offers craft beers and cocktails, plus eight 60-inch televisions.
Disney has a new spa at the Saratoga Springs Resort that creates custom options for groups. The atmosphere of Senses, a two-story full-service spa that opened July 25, evokes the mineral springs of upstate New York with trickling fountains, branch-like fixtures, soft amber lighting, wood floors, and stone accents. The spa offers massage, facials, body wraps, a steam room, and a 24-hour fitness center.
