Caribe Royale celebrates 30 years with fresh property upgrades and long-term plans
As Caribe Royale Orlando prepares to launch its 30th anniversary campaign this month, the resort is capping off $156 million in multi-phase property investments, completing a business approach shift that began several years ago.
When Caribe Royale first opened its doors in October 1996, the resort was a distinct trio of 10-story pink towers on 23 acres near the intersection of State Road 535 and World Center Drive, about 1.5 miles from Walt Disney World. At the time, the surrounding landscape consisted largely of undeveloped pastures, scrub palms and newly extended road corridors, with the property operating primarily as a family-friendly, three-diamond all-suite hotel catering to leisure tourists visiting nearby theme parks.
Over the years, the resort gradually expanded its property to 60 acres, though it remained focused on the leisure market for much of its history. The major shift in direction came in 2020, when Managing Director Amaury Piedra joined the executive leadership team and launched a strategy to reposition Caribe Royale as an upscale, four-diamond destination targeting corporate groups.
“When we shut down during COVID, we went down to the studs, replaced plumbing and reimagined every aspect of the hotel,” Piedra said of a $140 million, three-year overhaul at the property that was finalized in 2023 and included the remodel of its 1,215 one-bedroom suites, a modernized lobby and the addition of a new 50,000-square-foot grand ballroom. “We completely flipped our business model. We used to be primarily leisure with group business second. Today, we are primarily a corporate group hotel with high-end leisure built around it, and we have more than doubled our total property revenue compared to 2019.”
Now, that strategy is wrapping up its next phase to coincide with the resort’s official 30th anniversary campaign, “30 Years In. Just Getting Started,” which launches Sept. 16. The projects in this round of renovations cover several key areas across the property.
The Venetian Chop House, the resort’s signature AAA Four Diamond restaurant, is unveiling a $1 million renovation in late September. The refreshed space features a new 1,400-bottle glass wine display, an on-site dry-aging room for prime meats and an updated culinary menu.
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A dry-aged cowboy ribeye steak served with compound butter and roasted vegetables at the resort’s signature restaurant. (Caribe Royale)
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A dry-aged cowboy ribeye steak served with compound butter and roasted vegetables at the resort’s signature restaurant. (Caribe Royale)
The culinary updates lean into house-made components, highlighting the steakhouse’s Italian roots.
“Our specialties are our steaks, which are dry-aged, and our pastas, which are homemade every day,” Piedra said. “The Calabrian lobster pasta is amazing, and on the steak side, the rib eye just has a tremendous flavor and marbling. We get our meat from a boutique purveyor, and you can just taste the difference.”
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The refreshed living area of the resort’s two-bedroom villas features updated furnishings opening to a private screened lanai. (Caribe Royale)
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The refreshed living area of the resort’s two-bedroom villas features updated furnishings opening to a private screened lanai. (Caribe Royale)
A $10 million phased overhaul of the resort’s 120 two-bedroom villas, which represented the last guest accommodations to be updated on site, is introducing a modern West Indies theme. Early next year, the property will roll out a dedicated villa concierge service aimed at multi-generational families and corporate VIPs.
Capitalizing on strong demand for its 2024 addition of the 6,500-square-foot Stadium Club sports entertainment venue, which draws a mix of 60% locals and 40% hotel guests, the resort is infilling another existing 3,000-square-foot loading dock to build an extension called Tailgate, which will come in at about $5 million. Scheduled to debut in late 2027, the covered outdoor venue will seat 200 people and feature artificial turf floors, yard markers, interactive games, big-screen displays and a bar.
That sports focus extends to the resort’s corporate partnerships. Caribe Royale serves as an official hotel partner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, designating Stadium Club as an official watch party location with team activations, game-day specials and former player appearances.
Beyond team sports, Caribe Royale built a presence in combat sports through an ongoing partnership with Boxlab Promotions, hosting regular championship boxing cards broadcast on networks including DAZN and CBS Sports Network.
“Partnering with Boxlab Promotions to bring professional boxing and combat sports tournaments directly to Caribe Royale has been a significant driver for us,” Piedra said. “It fills rooms, brings thousands of fans onto the property and gives us national televised exposure that showcases the resort to a whole new audience.”
For Piedra, who serves on the executive board of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission, expanding these entertainment options supports both local sports fans and visiting corporate groups.
“Stadium Club gives us a distinct anchor that resonates with local residents and national meeting planners alike,” Piedra said. “Whether hosting official watch parties, boxing broadcasts or interactive team-building events, sports entertainment allows us to deliver an experiential offering that sets us apart in the market.”
Caribe Royale’s reinvestment effort mirrors broader structural changes across Central Florida’s tourist corridors, where older economy lodging properties are systematically being removed from inventory.
Across submarkets along International Drive and U.S. Highway 192, older budget hotels are frequently being converted into workforce housing or demolished to make room for higher-density apartments or luxury hospitality brands.
“What we’re seeing is a clear structural evolution toward higher-tier products,” said Paul Sexton, a local hospitality real estate consultant. “The older, budget-level inventory built decades ago is becoming economically obsolete for lodging. Developers are finding that the highest and best use for those sites is often conversion or redevelopment into residential housing, while the hospitality segment concentrates capital into upscale, experiential resorts that hold pricing power.”
That positioning has helped Caribe Royale maintain consistent demand. While regional convention center calendars have shown periods of softness, Piedra noted that Caribe Royale’s self-contained meeting infrastructure, which can host groups of 800 to 1,500 attendees independently, has driven group booking pace for 2027 and 2028 to historical highs.
Looking past its current projects, property owner Sierra Orlando Properties Ltd. has also filed preliminary pre-application plans with Orange County, looking to integrate neighboring parcels, including a former tree farm tract on World Center Drive, alongside easement evaluations and a new guest jogging loop around existing property ponds.
Piedra noted those filings are meant to clean up parcel lines and easements ahead of future development, though he won’t have any specific announcements to make for another year.
“We’re putting everything together, so whatever we decide to do down the road, we’re ready to go,” Piedra said. “We don’t have concrete plans for those specific parcels just yet, as that is something we’ll begin looking at over a five-year horizon. As older inventory exits the market, guests and group planners are looking for modernized, fully integrated resort experiences, and we’re continually reinvesting to ensure Caribe Royale stays ahead of where guest demand is heading.”
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