Plans are moving ahead for the replacement of the Villas at Grand Cypress, near the Walt Disney World Resort. Developers have announced plans for Evermore Orlando Resort on the 1,100-acre site.
The new billion-dollar resort ultimately will offer 10,000 bedrooms, mostly in purpose-built vacation rental homes from two to 11 bedrooms each. It also will feature Orlando’s first Conrad Hotel, with 433 rooms.
"Our approach solves the number-one problem for vacation renters - uncertainty in the quality of the home," Christopher Kelsey, the president of developer Dart Interests, said. "Almost all vacation rentals are owned by individuals, each with their own unique tastes and willingness to maintain the properties. Our centralized ownership model makes it possible for our guests to be certain that they are getting a first-class home with superior safety standards. Our scale also means that we can deliver a wider array of services to our guests making their visit easier and more enjoyable."
Amenities at the resort will include 40,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and a spa at the Conrad Hotel, plus a 20-acre beach complex and an eight-acre "crystalline water amenity," as well as a new 18-hole Nicklaus Design golf course. The existing links-style New Course will remain open for play throughout construction.
Evermore Orlando Resort's first phase is planned to open in summer 2023 with nearly 1,500 bedrooms. It will include the Conrad Hotel and 69 houses - ranging in size from five to eleven bedrooms - plus 76 four-bedroom flats and 41 two- and four-bedroom villas. Bookings are set to begin sometime next year.
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As someone who works closely with the Florida hotel industry, I’m sorta shocked they’re moving forward with this now. I can maybe understand the vacation rental part, but the hotel part really surprises me. Especially since I think we’ll be lucky not to lose some major properties permanently if things don’t improve soon.
Just what Orlando needs, more lodging and vacation rental units. This smells of a deal that was going to expire if it did not get off the drawing board, so the developers are moving forward with a property that's unlikely to recoup its investment for a decade or more. Optimism for a rebounding market is one thing, but this is pretty ludicrous given the current and near-term market conditions where occupancies are unlikely to get above 50-60% any time soon.
I dunno Melanie, it depends on when they think they're going to be ready. I imagine right now contractors are probably desperate for any work and are willing to price themselves accordingly. If the timing hits in say 1.5-2 years, it could be online right as the market is firmly growing. If existing hotels drop out or mothball in the meantime, that could strengthen them.
I live right next to this resort and always found it kind of weird: so the Grand Cypress Resort is operated by Hyatt, but the timeshare villas across the street apparently are not? The Conrad Hotel is obviously Hilton, and they are changing the name of this development to "Evermore Orlando"..so Dart Interests are the developers "Evermore Orlando" does this mean they own and operate the timeshares? And are they dropping the Grand Cypress branding? From what it sounds like Grand Cyprus is like Bonnet Creek where the developer owns it but I have been researching for days and can't find an explanation anywhere, I think the developers might just be leasing the land to Hyatt and Hilton but can't find any info.
Very bizarre.
I agree with Russell, this sounds like Disney had to rush this to fulfill a deal as opening more with the travel industry still in a huge hit is odd.
@the_man... I haven't looked into it but it's likely just a management contract for the hotels. Meaning the developers builds and pays everything but then contracts the actual work / management to Hilton or Hyatt. This is how you end up with multiple brands in the same complex.
Usually the owners pick the same family of hotels such as the Marriott brands off of Vineland. The same complex has a Fairfield, SpringHill Suites, and a Courtyard but it does happen a lot that they pick competing hotel companies.
I think it's smart for them to move ahead it's going to take a couple of years to build all this and by that time things should be back in full swing. I'm hoping to get my vaccine by September here in Canada and once I do I'll be on a plane the following week for HHN!!! :)
I hope Universal builds something like this I find this is the type of hotel currently missing for them. I like staying on site but we usually end up booking a villa at one of the Marriott properties instead. I hope Epic Universe gets something like this!
Thank you Francis 24 for the explanation, I knew these kind of developments were prominent, but because of the way its branded/looks never thought of Grand Cypress as one of those. I had always thought the whole development was owned and operated by Hyatt (similar to the Marriott complex near Sea World/I Drive) and clearly that's not the case.
The Mega Resort complexes are so ubiquitous in Orlando that I have a hard time keeping track of them.
No problem you actually got me curious so I looked it up. It looks like that the Grand Cypress is owned by Xenia hotels which owns a bunch of different brands from Hyatt, Marriott, and Fairmont. I included their link below.
https://xeniareit.com/portfolio/
I'd never herd of them but there's so many companies out there that build and franchise hotels from the big brands its impossible to keep track of them all!
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That flats image looks good. Very European.