NASHVILLE, Tennessee — In the years since starting as the managing director at the Caribe Royale Orlando, Amaury Piedra has led the property's repositioning efforts to capture a different guest mix and better customize guest experiences.
In a podcast interview with HNN's Dana Miller, Piedra said when he started at the resort in July 2020, he and the ownership group realized the drop in demand caused by the pandemic gave them time to try something new.
"It gave us an opportunity to reimagine the hotel, determine exactly who and what we needed to be and where we needed to be positioned, and we were able to execute that during the pandemic," he said. "So, when we came out of it, we were in a great position."
The Caribe Royale Orlando's guest mix had been 35% groups and 65% leisure travelers, but the goal was to attract a miz of 65% to 70% groups and 30% to 35% leisure, Piedra said. Through an extensive renovation, hotel leaders repositioned the property with programming that had the group customer in mind in terms of flexibility of space, banquet menus and better internet bandwidth, among other improvements.
One of the goals of the project was to be different, he said. The property's key stakeholders wanted the resort to stand out as an independent, all-suite convention hotel with a touch of lifestyle in the market.
Meeting planners are trying to provide clients with something different, so that's where the resort's customization comes in.
For one group, the resort turned its two-story reception building into a nightclub, Piedra said. Each of the bars and restaurants in the building had a different theme. That group is coming back again in 2024 and 2025.
"Meeting planners and their companies and their clients, they want to provide unique experiences for their attendees," he said. "They have to keep them entertained. Sitting in a room for eight hours just staring at a screen is not the norm anymore."
For more from Piedra, listen to the podcast above.