Best hotels in Orlando: Smart-casual resorts and experimental experiences

These venues offer a lot more than just a place to sleep

Saturday 07 September 2024 15:39 EDT

Orlando is developing into a destination for foodies and romantics, as well as families (Don Riddle/Four Seasons)

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Orlando’s reputation for soulless chain hotels used to be well-deserved – in the 1980s and 90s. Then, hotels were designed as little more than a place to sleep after long days of navigating theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Studios.

Nowadays, Orlando, Florida, is home to luxury names such as Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and Waldorf Astoria, among a growing trend for smart-casual resorts and even bespoke cocktail and mocktail experiences, such as the ette Hotel.

Deluxe brand Fairmont Hotels will arrive in 2025, joining a collection of high-end stylists that have also helped raise Orlando’s proliferating foodie profile. On a culinary level, the city may not offer as much as New York or other major cities, but it is now home to Michelin-rated restaurants. But don’t worry if you have fussy little eaters in tow, as it’s still the US, and the golden M is never too far away.

While there is still a strong family focus in Orlando, there is also a distinctly grown-up approach, making for excellent romantic possibilities for you and your significant other.

The best hotels in Orlando

At a glance

Best hotel for cocktails: Ette Hotel
Best hotel for relaxation: The Alfond Inn
Best hotel for luxury: Four Seasons Orlando
Best hotel for art-lovers: Grand Bohemian Hotel
Best hotel for foodies: Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes

1. Ette Hotel

The hotel has an excellent cocktail and mocktail selection (Ette Hotel)

This sultrily chic hotel wows guests with a wellness programme of rich indulgence that includes power yoga, IV therapy and a delightful spa. Its 126 rooms offer boutique blends of plush contemporary décor and personal touches like carafes of filtered water while signature restaurant Salt & The Cellar sizzles with the Asian-fusion cuisine of Michelin-starred chef Akira Back. But it is the mixology of “cocktail professor” Jari De Vries that provides real X factor, including bespoke spirits along with in-house tinctures and infusions that go into wildly imaginative mocktails.

Address: 3001 Sherberth Rd, Kissimmee, FL 34747

2. Lake Nona Wave Hotel

This high-tech hotel even has a robot waiter in its Michelin-commended restaurant (Booking.com)

Lake Nona’s rep for high-tech wizardry – evidenced by its cutting-edge Medical City complex – now encompasses hotels, thanks to the Wave, which is big on design and technology. The 234 rooms come with digital connectivity, voice and app-enabled controls, “smart” windows that dynamically tint to block 99 per cent of UV light, and (as an upgrade) outrageously comfy Bryte sleep technology beds. Then there’s the Technogym-powered fitness centre and a robot waiter in the Michelin-commended – and fabulously stylish – Bacán restaurant.

Address: 6100 Wave Hotel Dr, Orlando, FL 32827

3. Four Seasons Orlando

From a kid-friendly water park to signature spa for adult fun, this hotel caters to all (Don Riddle/Four Seasons)

Providing true indulgence on Disney’s doorstep is a challenge, as it must include total child-appeal as well as deluxe trappings for mum and dad. The fact the 443-room Four Seasons pulls this off with effortless aplomb is all down to the staff – who we suspect have telepathic powers – and dazzling facilities, from the kid-friendly water park to the signature spa, with its zero-gravity wave loungers. Sumptuous rooms, an adults-only pool deck and six restaurants, including the Michelin-starred rooftop romance of Capa, ensure everyone is cocooned in luxury.

Address: 10100 Dream Tree Blvd, Golden Oak, FL 32836

4. Gaylord Palms Resort

This place is perfect for family fun (Booking.com)

Fans of 1972 sci-fi classic Silent Running will be at home in this uber-cool domed environment encompassing 1,718 rooms and five acres of indoor delights that feel like the great outdoors, including lushly themed sections for the Everglades, Key West and Castillo de San Marcos in St Augustine. When you add the outdoor water park, surf simulator, tranquil adults pool and seasonal activities – notably a Christmas winter wonderland – this is an awesome repository of family fun, with the bonus of six restaurants and sleek Relâche Spa. Old Hickory Steakhouse is also a refined dining destination in its own right.

Address: 6000 W Osceola Pkwy, Kissimmee, FL 34746

5. Grand Bohemian Hotel

A mix of fine dining, spa experience and a rooftop pool (Booking.com)

If you’ve wondered what it would be like to stay in an art museum, downtown’s flagship hotel is for you. Its mix of fine dining, spa and rooftop pool is the recipe for a multi-course sojourn of gourmet proportions. It starts with the hotel’s extensive art collection and gallery, continues with the 247 velvet-enhanced rooms, and concludes with dinner at The Boheme, where the $195 Tableside Tomahawk steak is flambéed faultlessly. Us? We were happy just hanging out in the swanky Bosendorfer Lounge for that Sunday’s special jazz brunch.

Address: 325 S Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801

6. The Alfond Inn

With ‘just’ 112 rooms, it’s a boutique hotel by Orlando standards (Booking.com)

When eminent Rollins College needed a hotel for visiting guests, it built its own. This refined, artistic haven in Orlando’s upmarket suburb quickly developed status way beyond the college, thanks to contemporary design, award-winning Hamilton’s Kitchen restaurant, serene rooftop pool and superior service. With just 112 rooms, it is ‘boutique’ in Orlando terms and just a short stroll from ritzy Park Avenue. With all profits going to the college’s scholarship fund, guests can also relax in the knowledge their final bill helps pay the way for a deserving student or three.

Address: 300 E New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789

7. Waldorf Astoria Orlando

Classic chic meets informal opulance, with a touch of Micky Mouse (Hilton)

New York’s grand hotel was looking to take its traditional luxury beyond the Big Apple for the first time in 2009 and settled on non-traditional, casual Orlando. But, seeing as this is tropical Florida and located in Disney surroundings, it required a relaxed touch for the happy holiday vibe. Formal elements such as Oscar’s Brasserie and famed Bull & Bear steakhouse were retained, along with ornate styling in its 502 rooms, but in came a huge family-styled, zero-entry pool, a kids’ club and a golf course. Classic chic meets informal opulence, with a touch of Mickey Mouse.

Address: 14200 Bonnet Creek Resort Ln, Orlando, FL 32821

8. Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes

There are 10 dining options to choose from – a true foodie paradise (The Ritz Carlton)

Remember that Orlando foodie focus we mentioned? It’s encapsulated in the magnificent, 582-room Ritz-Carlton, set within a 500-acre nature reserve but just 10 miles from all the attractions. It has the brand’s eye-pleasing sophistication, with architecture inspired by Italy’s grand palazzos, plus lavish creature comforts such as a 3,700sq m spa, marbled bathrooms and Greg Norman-designed golf course. But its real pay-off is the 10 dining choices, including Michelin-starred steak and seafood doyen Knife & Spoon; Highball & Harvest, with its creative menu and cocktail classes; and Vitale spa café. There’s even a working farm that produces some of the fresh produce.

Address: 4012 Central Florida Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32837

Book now

9. Rosen Shingle Creek Resort

Outdoor pools, golf, tennis courts and more mean you never have to be bored (Rosen Shingle Creek)

Just off the tourist frenzy of International Drive is an expansive realm of Spanish Revival architecture and old-fashioned charm, all wrapped up in a colossal exterior encompassing 1,501 rooms and a multitude of dining choices. It’s hard to imagine an amenity that’s been overlooked. Four outdoor pools, golf course, spa, tennis courts and wildlife trail ensure it’s packed with enough activities to make the theme parks an afterthought. And, in the classy confines of golf-club restaurant A Land Remembered, you might just have the best steak of your life.

Address: 9939 Universal Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819

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