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The name Gaylord Palms brings to mind a small, elitist stuffy inn--or person. So it's a happy surprise when you enter the grand Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando and find yourself in a spectacular modern four-and-a-half acre glass-enclosed self-contained atrium with no pretensions except for total pleasure.
This giant climate-controlled atrium-- which truly gives you the feeling of being outdoors while indoors --is so large that it would be easy to get lost in it. Fortunately, it's divided into different areas, with landscaping to reflect each region. For example, the Key West section is bright, tropical and funky while St. Augustine is more rustic.
The most interesting section is the Everglades, and it's what you'd expect of a "jungle" in a hotel near Disney: a semi-sanitized version of the real place. No snakes. No alligators. No mosquitoes. Yes, the water lilies, orchids, and moss are all real, but the fog is fake, the chirping crickets recorded, and the croaking frogs ceramic. You'd never confuse it for a real jungle, but it's fun anyway.
And that's what they're striving for here. Fun. For example, at Sunset Sam's Key West Restaurant (one of three fabulous restaurants in the atrium), stilt walkers wander around, amusing children as well as adults. Outside, you can climb aboard a 60-foot sail boat where wave machines slap the water up against the sides.
A few other creative ideas from Gaylord Palms' super management team: your pool drinks are brought to you quickly because the server is on roller skates. (Why didn't anyone else think of this?) The in-room safe has a charger in it, so you can recharge your laptop while you're out or sleeping. The air conditioning is automatically reduced when you leave your room, so you won't freeze when you return (and the hotel saves energy.).
You'll be leaving your room a lot, too, because there are so many fun things to do here. The evening entertainment is lively. The restaurants are outstanding. The shops are beautifully stocked. There's a Canyon Ranch SpaClub. And outside, a separate children's pool so the adult one is quiet. Sure adults could also use the pool with the octopus slide but they'd probably be happier to leave their kids and grandkids there and have the adult quiet pool to themselves. And somebody came up with another great idea for that pool. If you want to do some work while you're sunbathing, there's high-speed Internet access in your cabana.
One last surprise at this hotel is that you can still find peace and quiet here even though it holds over 1400 guests. Deep in the "Everglades" is a hidden shack where you can sit contentedly on a rocking chair, wondering why life isn't always this peaceful, and hotels aren't always this imaginative and fun.
GAYLORD PALMS ORLANDO RESORT HOTELS & CONVENTION CENTER
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