In Lake Nona Medical City, a growing health and life-sciences cluster located just outside Orlando, the Aloft Orlando Lake Nona will open its doors in January with 205 guest rooms, 15 suites, and a dedicated 10,000-square-foot conference center alongside another 7,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
Among the medical-research and patient-care facilities in Lake Nona are the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Simulation Center for Excellence; University of Central Florida’s Health Sciences Campus, College of Medicine, and Cancer Center; Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute; and Nemours Children’s Hospital.
Also, with Lake Nona being home to the U.S. Tennis Association’s headquarters tennis facility as well as the Johnson & Johnson Performance Institute, the new Aloft will cater to high-level athletes in addition to medical-meeting groups. Interestingly, the hotel’s conference wing is named Althea Events Center—a tribute to American tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African American to win a Grand Slam tennis championship.
Besides its formal meeting space, the Aloft’s lobby will feature collaborative lounges that can be used by groups during the day and transition into performance spaces at night, in keeping with the Aloft brand’s theme of connecting with the local music community. Tempo + Grace, a full-service restaurant, will also be on the ground level.
A different type of entertainment option that’s next door to the hotel is the Drive Shack golf center, a facility similar to TopGolf with couch seating at each high-tech hitting bay along with food and beverage service. Nearby, Lake Nona Town Center offers several restaurants and entertainment options of its own.
Less than two years ago, a hotel of similar size to the Aloft opened in Medical City: the 234-room Lake Nona Wave hotel with 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space. Also in the district is a 200-room Courtyard by Marriott/Residence Inn. And the 800,000-square-foot KPMG Lakehouse conference and lodging facility opened in Lake Nona in 2020.
Lake Nona is eight miles from Orlando International Airport, a 15-minute drive.
