Luxury hotel set for '04 debut
By Todd Pack
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 25, 2002
Omni Hotels has broken ground on a luxury hotel at ChampionsGate, a planned community being developed south of Disney World in Osceola County.
The Irving, Texas, company said the 730-room, $175 million property is the largest to break ground in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that worsened a travel economy that was already weak because of the sluggish economy.
Scheduled to open in 2004, the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate will feature 70,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000-square-foot spa and an unspecified number of bars and restaurants.
Luxury hotels generally are doing better in the Orlando area than are hotels in other price ranges, according to research by Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn.
On average, luxury hotels in the market were 51.2 percent full in September, while the average for Central Florida as a whole was 46.3 percent.
Officials say that's because high-end hotels rely heavily on business groups and affluent travelers who haven't cut back as much as those who aren't as well off.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...5,0,4166883.story?coll=orl-business-headlines
By Todd Pack
Sentinel Staff Writer
November 25, 2002
Omni Hotels has broken ground on a luxury hotel at ChampionsGate, a planned community being developed south of Disney World in Osceola County.
The Irving, Texas, company said the 730-room, $175 million property is the largest to break ground in the United States since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that worsened a travel economy that was already weak because of the sluggish economy.
Scheduled to open in 2004, the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate will feature 70,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000-square-foot spa and an unspecified number of bars and restaurants.
Luxury hotels generally are doing better in the Orlando area than are hotels in other price ranges, according to research by Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, Tenn.
On average, luxury hotels in the market were 51.2 percent full in September, while the average for Central Florida as a whole was 46.3 percent.
Officials say that's because high-end hotels rely heavily on business groups and affluent travelers who haven't cut back as much as those who aren't as well off.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...5,0,4166883.story?coll=orl-business-headlines