Caribe Royale Orlando is celebrating its 30th anniversary this fall with a fitting message: “Thirty years in. Just getting started.”
The milestone coincides with several major enhancements at the resort, including a reimagined The Venetian Chop House, the unveiling of newly renovated two-bedroom villas and the announcement of Tailgate, a new outdoor expansion of Stadium Club opening mid-2027. Farther ahead, plans are also taking shape for a new standalone spa.
Together, the investments represent the next chapter for a resort that has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of meetings and events groups in Orlando, which, in 2026, ranks as the No. 1 meetings destination in North America, according to Cvent.
Over the past several years, Caribe Royale Orlando has invested $185 million into a transformation spanning its suites, public spaces, restaurants and convention center expansion.
While the anniversary honors the resort’s three-decade legacy, Caribe Royale Orlando is treating the milestone as a springboard. The latest investments build on that foundation while giving planners more ways to create memorable, original experiences for their groups.
“You always have to be looking two or three years ahead at what’s next and what can make a meaningful difference for guests,” said Amaury Piedra, Vice President of Operations for Sierra Land Group and Managing Director at Caribe Royale Orlando.
The evolution has helped Caribe Royale Orlando grow from a resort known primarily for leisure travel into a major player in Florida’s meetings market, with groups now representing 60 to 65% of its business.
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A New Culinary Chapter at The Venetian Chop House
The resort’s 30th-anniversary year coincides with the reimagining of The Venetian Chop House, its iconic AAA Four Diamond restaurant. The main dining room has been redesigned with a lighter, more contemporary look, while a visible 1,400-bottle wine cabinet and a dry-aging room offers diners a glimpse into the culinary process.
The restaurant’s evolution goes beyond its interiors. Scott Zachman, the new Executive Chef of The Venetian Chop House, is introducing a refreshed menu, more tableside touches and an approach he describes as “easy elegance.”
“I want everyone to leave eager to come back and curious about what else they can try on the menu,” he said.
New dishes include lavender-honey burrata with peaches and balsamic-marinated figs, USDA Prime steaks from Linz Heritage and Calabrian lobster vodka pasta made with spaghetti crafted in-house. The pasta is topped with a lobster tail, paddlefish caviar and preserved-lemon purée.
One classic remains firmly in place: The Venetian Chop House’s signature lobster bisque. The three-day process begins with an in-house stock made from lobster, sherry and mirepoix. The bisque is poured through a pastry lattice tableside.
The new dry-aging room will be more than a design feature. Zachman plans to use it as a culinary tool, adjusting aging times for different cuts and showcasing special selections from the restaurant’s meat purveyors.
For meeting groups, The Venetian Chop House’s private dining room offers an intimate setting with the feel of an elegant boardroom. The main dining room, atrium and Venetian outdoor patio can also be reserved for group events and buyouts.
Reimagined Villas Well-Suited for VIPs
Caribe Royale Orlando is also renovating its 120 two-bedroom villas, with the full project expected to be complete by the end of 2026. The four villa buildings surround a lake and a pool area that is also receiving an update.
The fresh, tropical-inspired design complements the resort’s overall aesthetic, while the villa layout gives VIPs, executives and attendees traveling with family greater flexibility. Each has two bedrooms and bathrooms, plus a full kitchen, living room and ensuite laundry.
For executives, the living and dining areas can double as comfortable places for a small team to gather for an impromptu meeting or an executive session, Piedra says. The villas are also conveniently located near the convention center.
The renovation is being completed in phases, so villas remain available throughout the project. Caribe Royale Orlando will enter 2027 with refreshed villa interiors, corridors and pool amenities in addition to the resort’s 1,217 spacious one-bedroom suites.
Stadium Club Expands Outdoors with Tailgate
Since opening in 2024, Stadium Club has become an energetic gathering place and one of the resort’s most popular group venues. Piedra says that eight out of 10 groups host a private event in the sports bar, where 360-degree immersive screens and eight pro-level sports simulators create built-in entertainment and team building.
That success is driving the venue’s next expansion. Expected to open in early 2027, Tailgate will transform a former loading area connected to Stadium Club into a covered outdoor venue designed to accommodate approximately 200 guests comfortably.
Artificial turf and yard markers will carry the sports theme outside, while fans and heaters will make the space comfortable across seasons. Tailgate will have its own bar, audiovisual capabilities and law games such as cornhole.
One especially notable immersive touch: Guests will enter through a stadium-style tunnel accompanied by the sounds of a cheering crowd.
“It’s designed to make them feel like they’re walking onto the field,” Piedra says.
Groups can reserve Tailgate as a standalone venue, incorporate it into a full outdoor buyout or pair it with portions of Stadium Club. The added flexibility allows meeting planners to create a variety of event experiences without incurring the additional costs of going off-site.
The People Behind the Resort’s Next Chapter
Looking farther ahead, Caribe Royale Orlando has begun designing a 12,000-square-foot standalone spa expected to open in 2028. Preliminary plans call for 10 to 12 treatment rooms, steam rooms, a sauna, a whirlpool and an outdoor garden facing a pond. The spa could give planners another way to incorporate wellness into their programs, from group appointments to chair massages during meeting breaks.
The addition supports Piedra’s larger vision for the resort’s next chapter.
“I want us to be known as the best all-suite leisure and group hotel in Orlando,” Piedra says. “We’re a great Four Diamond hotel, we provide a great experience, and we take a lot of pride in that.”
But the resort’s continued growth depends on more than new spaces. Caribe Royale Orlando’s associates remain central to bringing those experiences to life. Six have worked at the property for its entire 30-year history, including Event Space Manager Stephanie Meyer.
Meyer joined the resort before it opened and has watched it grow from one ballroom and two breakout rooms into a full-scale convention property with 260,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including four ballrooms, 58 breakout rooms and expansive outdoor venues.
“I love what I do, and I love the people I work with,” Meyer says. “In any department, you see associates smiling, engaging and wanting to help one another. It’s almost like a large family.”
With a reimagined restaurant, renovated villas, an expanded Stadium Club and a standalone spa on the horizon, Caribe Royale Orlando is entering its next decade with new experiences taking shape and longtime associates helping carry its legacy forward. Thirty years in, the resort is just getting started.