Tuesday, September 1, 2026

The Best Hotels Near The Daley Trade, by the Record

  1. Floor-to-ceiling smart windows that use AI to regulate room temperature set the tone at this 17-story, two-tower hotel in Lake Nona, a tech-forward community about ten minutes from Orlando International. The architecture actually waves, which is either charming or on the nose depending on your mood. A sculpture garden, art collection, and a vivid pool area fill the grounds. It holds a Michelin Key.


  2. The SkyBar rooftop wraps 360 degrees around the Orlando skyline, which is a reasonable argument for staying here instead of somewhere closer to the mouse. This is a hotel in downtown Orlando, lean and stylish in the European AC mold, with 180 rooms and more shared space than the footprint suggests: Foxtail Coffee, a restaurant leaning into the brand's Spanish roots, and that rooftop. A long way from theme park carpeting in every sense.


  3. Five hundred acres of manicured Florida grounds sit at the headwaters of the Everglades, which is a strange and quietly wonderful fact about a resort this polished. The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes holds a Forbes Five Star and a Michelin Key, with championship golf, a Five Star spa, lakefront trails, and a celebrity chef restaurant on site. Disney is close enough to be convenient and far enough to feel optional.


  4. A Greg Norman-designed golf course and a 40,000-square-foot spa suggest this Forbes Four Star resort has no real interest in competing with the theme park circus a few miles up the road. The JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes sits on its own landscaped grounds with a waterpark for the kids and a reimagined lobby lounge for the adults who pretend they don't also enjoy a waterpark.


  5. A 17-million-gallon lagoon sits outside the door, and guests spend their days kayaking, paddleboarding, or simply floating around what amounts to a manufactured beach in landlocked Orlando. The Conrad is a Forbes Four Star resort with 433 rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, and two Jack Nicklaus golf courses competing for attention with the water slides. Walt Disney World is less than three miles away, so the clientele write themselves.


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