After a frigid, cruel winter with record amounts of snowfall in Boston, it was time to escape to
Orlando, FL, where the only snowflakes of note were the atomic variety on my hotel stationery and the fake snowcapped rooftops of Hogsmeade at
Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
In last year's June issue of
Interior Design magazine, Universal's brand-new
Cabana Bay Beach Resort was featured prominently, and I was immediately taken by its swanky mid-century design.
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| Front Signage at Night |
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| Main Lobby |
The retro curves, expansive open spaces, groovy details, happy color scheme of turquoise, tangerine and chartreuse, and vintage cars parked out front made it all seem so inviting. So, I looked into the details and decided the price was not any more inflated than Miami, my usual go-to winter vacation destination.
The sprawling resort is actually five interconnected hotels with a total of 1,800 rooms, plus two outdoor pools, a bowling alley, gaming room, gift shop, diner/cafeteria, Starbucks coffee shop, Jack LaLanne fitness studio, and plenty of common areas where you can relax at leisure.
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| Groovy spiral staircase with bubbling water feature. |
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| Cool seating area on the upper level. |
Luckily, I brought extra cash for meals because the cost of any food or drink item was not retro – $3.50 for a cup of Dannon yogurt?! It might make sense if Orlando was a remote island, but it's hardly that. The food choices and prices were definitely the weakest part of the resort experience. At least the visuals made it a bit more palatable, including this fun mural in the dining area.
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| Happy Vacation Family mural in the dining area. |
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| Modern sputnik chandeliers |
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Jack LaLanne fitness studio on the upper level
with lots of memorabilia from his life's achievements. |
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| Amoeboid ceiling in the dining area. |
There's also a
cartoon viewing area where you can watch vintage favorites (I watched a bit of Woody Woodpecker).
Naturally, the vintage design theme carries over to the private rooms, including the
retro carpeting in the hallways.
My room was equally swanky – alas, with a view of the parking lot.
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| My Cabana Bay room in the Americana wing. |
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| Sitting area with Charles & Ray Eames chairs. |
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| Fresh mid-century bath products. |
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| Bedding details. |
Best of all, the weather was a mix of sun and clouds every day, with temps in the mid to upper 80s – way better than 25 degrees and snowing!
Almost like being in a Galaxy far, far away.
