While Northerners bundle up for the winter season, Floridians are creating faux winter environments of their own. The new Gaylord Palms Resort has built an 18,000 square foot temporary freezer to house "ICE!" The new holiday attraction is carved from nearly two million pounds of real ice and is cooled to achilly 9 degrees. No worries.., visitors are given parkas to keep warm.

YO HO HO – The latest trend at Florida bars is infused rums. These drinks are created by soaking fruit and other fabulous flavors in rum. Over time, the flavors are infused into the liquor, creating a tantalizing treat for the tongue. Flavored vodkas have taken the nation by storm and flavored rums are the next big thing. The bartenders at Sunset Sam's Fish Camp restaurant in Orlando make these creations on-site and offer dozens of flavors, from Peaches and Cream to Puerto Rican wedding cake.
SAY CHEESE! Artisanal cheese courses are the hottest new restaurant trend in big cities. Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando is offering the first of its kind in Florida. Designed by celebrated New York Chef Terrance Brennan, the cheese course at the Old Hickory Steakhouse offers a fine selection of handcrafted cheeses. A European tradition that is being rediscovered by American diners, the cheese course is served after the entrée and before dessert. Featuring cheeses from around the globe, the Old Hickory cheese program was called "ambitious and exotic" by Travel + Leisure magazine.

No matter what the weather's like in your neck of the woods, it's always a sunny 72 degrees inside the climate-controlled 4.5-acre Gaylord Palms atrium. The 2.1 million-square-foot hotel and convention center offers visitors a multi-sensory entertainment experience that captures the best of Florida, under roof, with perfect weather year-round.

Construction of the resort's signature architectural feature, a 364-foot octagonal grand atrium, was a complex engineering and construction feat. Built like a bridge, the atrium floats on bearings and sits on flat plats designed to take both thermal expansion and hurricane-force winds.

PLANTSCAPING – Those are real orange trees in the St. Augustine gardens. More than 500,000 individual plant materials – including more than 19 different genera of palms – create the uniquely Florida feeling both inside and outside the 63-acre resort. Gaylord's team of horticulturists will happily take a break from pruning to answer guest questions and accept well-deserved compliments.



RADIANT WEDDINGS UNDER GLASS – A wedding planner's dream, the Gaylord Palms Resort offers an opulent ceremony or reception location under its 4.5-acre glass atrium – where the weather is always perfect. Surrounded by lush tropical foliage, cobblestone streets and a replica 16th Century Spanish fortress, the Gaylord Palms Wedding Pavilion stands as the romantic centerpiece of the St. Augustine atrium.

© SPA MANAGEMENT JOURNAL - APRIL 2005

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