Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes - Orlando, Florida

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Lately, my husband and I have been driving up to Orlando every other week for conferences. We actually stopped at a rest stop on the highway for 20 minutes so we could see each other. I was heading up to Orlando for a blogging conference and my husband was heading home from a work conference.

When I arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes, I was blown away by the hotel and service! This was the perfect choice of hotel for the conference!

Lobby Treats

The lobby is a magical place at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Lakes. First, there is a cold bottled water station right before you walk into the doors. After hours of driving, cold water was a must and they were ready for me!

Then, while killing time between events, a few of us were just sitting around, when a women offered us champagne from this beautiful champagne station with fresh fruits, 4 different kids of champagne (including Rose’ – YAY!) and even chia seeds. I love drinking champagne and this was just perfect timing and so lovely.

Did I mention the candy table?! On the other side of the lobby, there was a super cute candy table waiting for us! They had my faves, Jelly Belly jelly beans! YUM!

The Conference Rooms

I was extremely impressed with the conference setup and how I was able to easily find everything that I needed. During each session, there was paper, pen, mints and water for everyone. I love that they were ready for all our need. The mints were a cute touch and made me feel extra confident during my networking.

Also, it is so cool that the JW Marriott is attached to the Ritz so that you are able to use both facilities like we did. The awards at the end of the conference were held at the JW Marriott right next door.

The Rooms

I was blown away by the room! Wow! It was extremely luxurious and felt so roomy with lots of space to sit and relax. My room also had a huge balcony that overlooked a courtyard and the pool. As you know, I am a huge fan of luxury and my standards are high. Here are the little things that I noticed and appreciated greatly.

Here is the view from my room!

The bathroom had double sinks with a huge mirror and a vanity mirror on the side so I could really get close up while putting on my makeup. The bathroom hardware was awesome quality. You could feel that they were expensive. I notice sometimes in hotels they skimp on this and the water pressure sucks. The water poured out beautifully and I was able to wash my face with nice hot water and then throw on a cool rinse at the end.

The mattress and pillows put me to sleep right away. Usually, my first day of traveling is a restless night, but the bed, pillow and blackout curtains were so perfect they put me to sleep right away. I woke up refreshed and ready to network at the conference

Netflix

I am a big Netflix watcher and barely watch any TV when I am home. When I travel, I end up using the Wifi of the hotel to watch Netflix on my phone or on my computer. The Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes knows me and I suspect everyone else really well because they have Netflix set up on the TV. You just enter your login info and bam you watching Netflix on this giant screen rather than on your phone. This blew me away and I will be asking about this from now on when I book my hotels!!

Highball & Harvest Restaurant

The Ritz Carlton Grande Lakes has a super cute trendy restaurant that I would eat at even if I was not staying at the hotel. They have an amazing menu with fun things like Chicken & Waffles and this amazing drink called the Doc Holiday! I’m dying to try to make it at home, it is similar to a Moscow mule with blueberry jam!! Love this idea and this fantastic restaurant.

Walking Around

After the conference was over, I took some time to take a walk around the property and was extremely impressed with the amenities and the beautiful flowers all over the grounds. There is so much to do and going on that I know I will bring my family back here!