| Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center | |
|---|---|
| Gaylord Palms, as viewed from the front | |
| Location | Kissimmee, Florida |
| Opening date | February, 2002 |
| Architect | Hnedak Bobo Group, Inc. |
| Owner | Gaylord Hotels |
| Rooms | 1406 |
| Suites | 106 |
| Restaurants | 4 |
| Floors | 9 |
| Website | Gaylord Palms |
| References: [1] | |
Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center is a hotel and convention center, opened in Kissimmee, Florida, on February 2, 2002. It also acts as the de facto convention center for Osceola County, Florida, until plans for their own dedicated convention center are realized. With 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2) of total meeting space, the Gaylord Palms has the second most meeting space of any hotel in the state of Florida. It also has a total of 1,406 guest rooms.
Gaylord Palms is owned and operated by Gaylord Hotels, a division of Gaylord Entertainment Company, and is a sister hotel to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, and Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. It is located at the corner of International Drive South and Osceola Parkway, about ½ mile (800 m) east of Interstate 4, ½ mile (800 m) west of the Central Florida GreeneWay, 1-mile (1.6 km) north of US 192 and only a few miles away from Walt Disney World Resort.
Gaylord Palms was originally to be named Opryland Hotel Florida. However, when Gaylord Entertainment decided to re-brand their Opryland Hotels division to Gaylord Hotels on October 26, 2001, the name Gaylord Palms was given to the Florida hotel.
To local residents, Gaylord Palms is best known for its Christmas programming with large-scale events like Best of Florida Christmas and ICE!, an attraction hand-carved from two million pounds of ice.
Gaylord Hotels has a tentative plan to expand the Gaylord Palms. This expansion may include an additional atrium containing up to 500 more rooms. There will be an added entertainment center, (which may contain a night club/disco), along with two new restaurants as well. This project will include and additional 400,000 to 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2). of meeting/convention space, in effect doubling the current convention space. This planned expansion will also add at least one parking garage to the property.
Gaylord Palms is a member of Great Hotels Of The World alliance. It was featured in the top 150 hotels in the 2011 Great Hotels Of The World Pure Hotels Collection [2].
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Gaylord Palms is built around a 4.6-acre (19,000 m2) glass-covered atrium, divided into four areas, each with their own activities and guest rooms.
The Gaylord Palms Convention Center has 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2) of dedicated meeting space. More than half of that space is one large bay called the Florida Exhibition Hall, which has 210,300 sq ft (19,540 m2) including prefunction space. It also features a permanent 101- by 40 ft (12 m). performing stage with green rooms and dressing rooms connected to its Osceola Ballroom.
Osceola County, Florida, at one point had aspirations to build its own convention center. One of the available plans was to give $103 million to Gaylord Hotels to expand the Gaylord Palms' convention center to 1.1 million ft². Under the agreement, the convention center would be renamed the Osceola County Convention Center at Gaylord Palms, and profits would be shared by the county and the hotel.