Orlando Hotels didn’t make the list

I can’t believe it; TripAdvisor compiled a list of the 10 hippest hotels in the World and no Orlando vacation hotels were on the list. I’m sorry to say I have not visited any of the hotels on their list, but to think no Orlando hotels were on the list is an absolute shame.

Here is my list of Orlando’s 4 hippest hotels:

1) Omni Champions Gate Resort- This hotel is absolutely awesome! The hotel over looks a 36 hole championship golf course which also houses the David Ledbetter Golf School, so it is not uncommon to see some of his students like: Ty Tryone, Michelle Wei, and Nick Faldo walking around the golf clubhouse. The hotel also has a lazy river which winds its way around the grounds.

2) Marriott World Center- This hotel is absolutely huge. There must be 700 rooms and the last time I was there they had birds flying around their enormous glassed in atrium.

3)Gaylord Palms- This is a smaller version of the Gaylord Opryland hotel, but it has all the glitz and glamour of its large brother. The hotel has a beautifully rustic feel to the property and all the rooms over look tropical indoor oasis.

4) Nickelodeon Hotel- If you have never seen this property you need to visit it. This is the ultimate hotel for children complete with a water park, and Nickelodeon characters running about.

Orlando hotels with Indoor Pools

Mid October is when most clients start to book their vacation for Christmas and a very common question which comes up about Orlando hotels is do they have an indoor pool. Now, this is always a question which is asked when clients are booking a vacation during the winter months.

To tell you the truth, I do not know of a hotel in Orlando which has an indoor swimming pool. Quite frankly, the only place I know which has an indoor pool near the theme parks is the YMCA on near I Drive. Now that is an awesome swimming pool and many Olympic swimmers have trained in this aquatic center.

The reason I guess we don't have indoor swimming pools at the hotels is three fold: 1) it gets so hot here in the summer that an indoor swimming pool would quickly turn into a sauna 2) the weather is quite constant year round with the highs usually always getting above 70% even in January and February 3) It is cheaper for hotels to turn the pool heat on for three months out of the year than it would be for them to build an indoor swimming pools.

When looking for an Orlando hotel, do yourself a favor and find one with a great swimming and playground area for the children. Even moderately priced hotels have great swimming pools.

Personnel Service hotels

While reading the Orlando Sentinel this morning I came across an article talking about affluent travels demanding more personnel service from their hotels.

Now if you are coming to Orlando, and you are like most families you are going to be spending most of your time at the area theme parks. So why spend a lot of money on a hotel room, quite frankly most families are not even at their hotel long enough to get a good nights sleep. However, if you are one of those families who want to have more personnel service, there are quite a few Orland hotels to choose from.

There are a few really nice Orlando luxury hotels to choose from; however, the Omni Champions Gate is in a class of their own. The hotel offers a lazy river which encircles the entire hotel, a zero restriction swimming pool, 36 hole championship golf course which also houses the David Leadbetter Golf School, 3 great restaurants, 1 Irish Pub, full service spa, and beautifully decorated rooms.

The Omni is always a delight to visit and one of my favorite places to take clients to eat lunch. If you are coming to Orlando in the near future and you don’t mind paying for great service, do yourself a favor and check out the Orlando Omni at Championsgate.