As part of Caribe Royale Orlando’s massive renovation project that was started during the pandemic, the resort upgraded all areas of the property. The $160 million makeover launched a transformation of the guestrooms, public spaces, offerings and venues as well as adding several new food and beverage venues designed to set the resort apart from the crowded Orlando hotel market.
Those changes began when the ownership group hired Amaury Piedra, who has more than 40 years of experience managing hotels. “When I saw it [Caribe Royale Orlando], I saw the potential,” Piedra said. “I really saw a gem that just needed to be re-imagined and really put on the map. The vision really came together quickly.”
The ownership group, Sierra Land Group, saw Piedra’s vision and potential for the property, being an independent in a competitive market of primarily branded hotels.
The property previously had a mix of 35 percent group business and 65 percent leisure but Piedra determined that to grow the resort as much as was desired, that mix needed to switch. The resort completed the initiatives to refocus the guest mix such as the tech mix, the increased bandwidth, refocused meeting spaces—everything the meeting planners would desire from a Florida location. But from a leisure perspective, Piedra “didn’t want to forget anyone, either.”
“We wanted to make sure that our amenities, whether it be the pools, the bicycles, the fishing, the health club, the pickleball, the paddle tennis—everything was brought up to speed to what activities people are doing these days,” Piedra said.
The resort is now a “corporate house” Monday through Thursday and flips into “family mode” for the weekend, Piedra continued. “We needed to appeal to both segments and be able to make those switches quickly,” he said.
F&B’s Importance
With those switches in mind, Piedra wanted some new F&B offerings to appeal to both guest segments and brought in executive chef David Hackett, a 45-year hospitality veteran and the executive chef at luxury hotels and resorts for the last 25 years. “He [Piedra] told me what his vision was, where the hotel was positioned at the time, the direction that he wanted to go, the different venues that he wanted to kind of create, fix and elevate,” Hackett recalled. “We really had to elevate the food product. But we started with a blank canvas, which was pretty cool.”
Together Piedra and Hackett were able to take advantage of the Covid-induced furlough that was affecting so many in the hospitality industry to make big hires for their F&B staff. “We took advantage of that opportunity to gather the best individuals in the business in Orlando, and certainly the rest of the Florida market, in order to come here,” Hackett continued. “So many of us have worked together in past lives so it's really a great big family.”
Being an independent property offers some unique benefits to the overall food and beverage program, Hackett said. “We can really set ourselves apart from the other corporate hotels,” he said. “When I was with the big-name brand, they kind of tie your hand behind your back—you have to use specific vendors. You have to use that frozen chicken breast. You have to use that specific salad dressing. Being at Caribe Royale Orlando allows me to be much more creative, using a variety of vendors for the best local ingredients.”
Hackett said the various venues at the resort work with a variety of food and beverage purveyors, with a focus on local, fresh, seasonal ingredients as well as a large procurement company for the more broadline, basic ingredients. The resort doesn’t often have much crossover between its F&B venues, either—aiming to specialize each venue with an unique menu.
The Venues
When Piedra came to Caribe Royale Orlando, the resort had several dining and to-go food and beverage options but he knew they need to be elevated. “We wanted to make sure they aligned with what our customer base was going to be and we fulfilled those expectations,” he said. “We wanted to work with national brands to give Caribe Royale more emphasis on being an independent but it had all the spots everyone desires.”
So the in-house coffee shop transitioned to a Starbucks. The lobby bar became the Rum Bar by Bacardi, again partnering with an international brand name—something “much cooler than a generic lobby bar,” Piedra said. “It has a personality all of its own with the mixologists being very creative.”
Other venues include:
The Venetian Chop House: The upscale AAA Four-Diamond steakhouse is a dining experience that celebrates Italian cuisine. There are signature steaks, chops and innovative takes on classic Italian dishes.
Calypso’s Pool Bar & Grille: Blending Latin and Caribbean influence poolside, Calypso’s is an all-day dining with frozen drinks, savory bites, creative plates amid the open-air.
The Stadium Club: Piedra said the new Stadium Club is Orlando’s most high-tech and immersive sports bar and entertainment destination. It’s a “sports bar on steroids. It’s really a high-end sports bar that, as the night goes on, becomes a little bit more like a nightclub,” he continued. “It’s a really fun environment with lots of energy and a DJ in the evenings.”
Piedra worked with the creative consulting agency Streetsense to develop the Stadium Club. “We started with a vision and it took us more than a year to develop the entire concept,” he said. “The location is an immersive experience between all the large screens, sound system, the light system, the smoke system—you name it. When something happens, it goes off. Somebody scores a touchdown, like they did during the Super Bowl, depending on who scored it, the lights and the music go off so it gives you the feeling of being in a stadium.”
Celebrity chefs Janine Booth and Jeff McInnis, both "Top Chef" alumni and the minds behind the Root & Bone concept, worked with Caribe Royale to create the sports bar menu. The menu has elevated versions of classic favorites, creating a dining experience that complements the game with popcorn, cotton candy and Cracker Jacks also available—just like the stadium.
Piedra said the venue exceeded management’s expectations and the restaurant is getting about 20 percent to 30 percent of its customers outside of the hotel.
“Our group meeting planners love it as well,” Piedra shared. “They love to buy out either the first or the second level. We also have a sky box, which is just like if you're in a sky box at a stadium with its own simulator. It's been a great addition to the hotel to give that excitement at night for guests to stay at the resort.”
On the group side, the resort has been able to differentiate itself by serving restaurant food in a banquet setting. “I think our setups, our culinary team, our events team and our banquet team have done a great job of really separating us from the pack,” Piedra continued. “We hear it from our meeting planners all the time—'best food and beverage experience.' 'Food and beverage experience was great.' 'Banquet experience was great.' 'It was like restaurant food'—and that's exactly what we wanted to achieve.”
Despite the wide array of F&B spots, they all run great margins, Hackett said, and his team is smart about making sure that everything is recipe-tested, costed and priced accordingly. “It's also the menu mix,” he said. “Some items may be high, some may be lower and they sell a lot more. So overall, the menu mix is balanced, as well as the portion sizes.”
This summer, Caribe Royale Orlando named Luciano Sperduto as its director of food and beverage to oversee culinary operations, banquet operations, menu development, elevated service standards and all dining experiences across the property. Sperduto has worked at a variety of area culinary spots, focusing on the Orlando area for the past several years. For the past five years, Sperduto was the director of food and beverage for Walt Disney World Swan, Walt Disney World Dolphin and Walt Disney World Swan Reserve. Sperduto helped create the Swan & Dolphin Food and Wine Classic, which has enjoyed 15 years of success. He is a Certified Sommelier and holds the coveted Beverage Alcohol Resource certification for spirits.
"When our food and beverage offerings were completely overhauled, and we needed a strategic, operations-focused mind to take the reins and usher in our next phase of success,” Piedra said. “Our eight restaurants each have personalities of their own, and we needed someone who could create distinctive experiences that bring out the best in each offering. Luciano brings a bounty of culinary know-how that will challenge our talented chefs to color outside the lines, making our restaurants sought-after options for Orlando-bound travelers.”
This article was originally published in the July/August edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.