Ritz Carlton - Orlando
- Nick, Editor
- Sep 22
- 8 min read
Updated: Oct 23
a luxury lakeside base for your Orlando adventures
Article summary
In this article, you will get our unbiased, independent review and thoughts on the Ritz Carlton Resort - Orlando
First impressions
The look
Rooms & suites
Editors notes
Spa & amenities
Food & drink
Service & vibe
Location
Price
Verdict
Pro's & Cons
Tours & activities
Amid Orlando’s dizzying carousel of theme parks and attractions, the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes offers a kind of counterpoint: 500 acres of lakes, gardens, and manicured golf greens where the pace slows, the air feels softer, and luxury takes its time. Opened in 2003 and freshly reimagined, the resort has matured into one of Central Florida’s most compelling addresses, a place where business travellers, families, and couples alike find space to exhale.
The approach sets the tone. Past palm-lined drives and ornamental fountains, the Ritz-Carlton rises like a Mediterranean palazzo, all creamy stucco, terracotta roofs, and wrought-iron detailing. Inside, the lobby unfurls in marble and chandeliers, but without ostentation. The design is classic Ritz-Carlton: elegant, polished, and layered with just enough grandeur to remind you where you are, while still leaving room for Florida’s easygoing spirit to seep in.
The resort is, in truth, a small country: 582 rooms and suites sharing a 500-acre estate with a JW Marriott resort, plus an 18-hole championship golf course, a 40,000-square-foot nature-inspired spa, and enough water, lawn, and sky to remind you that this part of Florida was wetlands before it was fireworks. That breadth matters, because it lets you write your own Orlando: equal parts park-day launchpad and lakeside refuge.
Where you are:
Set at 4012 Central Florida Parkway, just south of the convention corridor, the Ritz-Carlton sits roughly central to Disney and Universal, close enough to sprint to rope drop, far enough to feel like a resort rather than a staging area. The estate’s Grande Lakes moniker is literal: canals, ponds, and marsh edges, all threading toward the headwaters of the Everglades. Mornings here begin with dew and birdsong; afternoons can be spent in parks or by the pool; evenings return to fireflies and a dusky hush. It’s a gentle antidote to Orlando’s frenetic reputation. (Uber drivers know the address by heart; you’ll be 15-20 minutes from the main gates either way.)
Rooms & suites at the Ritz Carlton Orlando
After a recent top-to-toe refresh, guest rooms hit the modern Ritz sweet spot: cool stone and pale woods, creamy textiles, beds with the kind of engineered comfort you only notice when you wake at 7 am without an alarm. Almost every room opens to a private balcony, big enough for coffee and a notebook, and bathrooms are sized for two people trying to make an 8:05 tee off time. Families should look to Executive Suites for doors and sanity; celebrators have two Presidential Suites and a Royal Suite to plot around. The Club Level sits like a hotel within a hotel on the upper floors, a polished sanctuary with five daily culinary presentations, all-day drinks, a superb staff, and even reserved pool seating, a godsend on busy weekends.
From the balcony of my lake-facing room, late afternoon delivered dragonflies skittering over lily pads and, in the near distance, the line of the golf course. It’s easy to forget you’re in one of the most visited zip codes in America until a distant evening sparkle on the horizon reminds you that fireworks are a local language.
The culinary pitch:
The property’s headline table is Knife & Spoon, chef John Tesar’s steak-and-seafood playground, and MICHELIN-starred since Florida’s guide landed. The room is modern and low-lit; the plates have just enough swagger to make ordering fun; the steaks are serious; and seafood is treated with a kind of tender bravado. If you think “hotel steakhouse” is shorthand for safe, go here to recalibrate. Book the counter seats near the open kitchen if you like theatre with your ribeye.
For daytime, Highball & Harvest is the resort’s warm Southern heart, farm-led (thanks to on-site Whisper Creek Farm), cocktail-savvy, and perpetually welcoming. The shrimp and grits land with a smile; the biscuits argue successfully with your willpower; the cocktails are precise without fuss. Ask about what’s coming in from the garden or the apiary; the team’s pride is deserved.
Do not neglect Vitale, Spa Café for lunch on spa days, light, fresh, and pool-adjacent, or the lobby bar for an aperitivo that will make you miss your dinner time on purpose. Together with a constellation of venues next door at the Marriott (from Primo’s MICHELIN-recommended Italian to the lazy-river grill), you can eat in the Grande Lakes bubble for days without repeating a script.
Water, palms, and the luxury of unhurried hours
The Ritz-Carlton’s resort pool is a study in ease: broad decks, palms throwing smartly engineered shade, attendants who appear with cold water just as you reach for your bag. Cabanas are civilised, proper sofas, fans, and a promise that you can hide from the Florida noon, and there’s a kids’ splash zone to burn exactly the right amount of exuberance before nap time. If you like your water with movement, slip next door to the Marriott's lazy river (shared estate privileges are a long-standing Grande Lakes perk), or circle back for sunset at the Ritz pool when the day’s soundtrack softens.
And then there’s the spa, which is, frankly, a destination in itself. Set in a separate low-rise building with its own adults-only lap pool, the 40,000-square-foot Ritz-Carlton Spa delivers 40 treatment rooms, a full salon, and long exhale energy. It’s “nature-inspired” without the cliché: sunlight through slats, water over stone, citrus and cypress in the air. Book a mid-afternoon massage and let the pool do the rest.
Golf, greens, and the pleasure of walkable fairways
The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club is not a bolt-on; it’s part of the estate’s DNA. The Greg Norman-designed, par-72 course winds over wetlands and along lake edges with more topography than you might expect in central Florida. It’s playable for mortals and quietly exacting for better sticks; the par-3 17th is a handsome, breeze-sensitive number you’ll want another crack at. Instruction is available (PGA pro Larry Rinker oversees programs), the practice complex is generous, and tee sheets have enough air on weekdays to make a late call feasible.
The not-so-obvious extras:
One of the joys of Grande Lakes is how much of Old Florida they’ve kept in view. The Grande Lakes Sports team runs guided eco-tours by kayak or canoe into Shingle Creek, the headwaters of the Everglades. It’s two hours of ibis, egrets, and tannin-tinged reflections, and it rearranges your sense of Orlando as efficiently as a good martini. There’s also catch-and-release fishing, a mountain-bike trail, falconry sessions on select days, and the kind of lawn sports that make you wish you’d packed white linen.
Ritz Kids spins all of that into mini adventures, organised around the brand’s four pillars: land, water, environmental responsibility, and culture. Translation: clever, hands-on activities that leave your child both grubby and glowing, and give you two hours to do the pool the way you imagined it.
Service & scene: polished, yes, but also personal
One of the reasons the Ritz brand remains synonymous with reliability is its meticulous attention to detail. Here, that choreography has a Florida accent and a sense of humour. Pool attendants shift umbrellas with the sun before you ask; the club lounge team remembers your daughter’s lemonade preference; the Knife & Spoon host holds your table when the fireworks run a few minutes over. The guest mix is a good-natured braid, multi-gen families celebrating milestones, golf couples with smug morning scores, conference veterans who know that the fastest way to recover from a day of breakouts is the spa pool. It hums, but never feels crowded.
Practicalities & pricing:
This is Orlando: rates are calendar-sensitive. Rates for a standard room start from around £400/night, rising to £800+ and well past four figures for suites. The estate charges a resort fee published at $55 + tax per night; around $61.88 with tax that bundles enhanced Wi-Fi and a slate of amenities; valet is priced like a city hotel. If you’re flexible, late April/early May and September tend to marry good weather to saner rates. For more information, offers, and bookings, click here
A quick 3-day itinerary:
Day 1 - Land, float, feast. Drop bags and head directly to the spa pool (even if you’re not booked, a treatment unlocks the facilities; plan ahead). Lunch at Vitale, something bright with citrus and herbs, then claim a lounger at the main pool and practice doing nothing. Dress up for Knife & Spoon; share a steak and something from the raw bar; conclude with a citrus-leaning dessert and a stroll under palm silhouettes.
Day 2 - Creek at dawn, parks at pace. Book the Shingle Creek eco-tour for the morning cool, then choose your adventure: Disney’s lanes or Universal’s coasters. When stamina flags, retreat to Highball & Harvest for late afternoon Southern hospitality on a plate and a properly made cocktail. If you’ve still got fuel, request a terrace table at the lobby bar, watch the sky go watercolour, and remember that tomorrow there’s golf.
Day 3 - Greens, goodbyes. Tee off early at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club and let the wetlands soundtrack your round. Breakfast in the Club Lounge if you’ve booked it, or one last coffee on your balcony. Pack with that pleasant drag-your-heels feeling.
What it’s like to sleep here (and why it matters)
Travel editors carry a quiet obsession with sleep: it’s the baseline on which everything else rests. The rooms here get the fundamentals right, blackouts that really black out, AC that whispers, mattresses that don’t bite your shoulders. The result is that you hit the parks brighter, taste dinner more clearly, and enjoy the pool more fully. It’s not glamorous to write about, but it’s the reason the Ritz-Carlton name still means something in a city dense with logos.
The verdict:
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes isn’t trying to be the new kid; it’s intent on being the best version of itself: a resort that edits Orlando into a livable rhythm. Mornings with birdcalls and paddle strokes; afternoons that toggle between roller coasters and cabanas; evenings that put you in front of food worth dressing up for. Add a MICHELIN-starred dining room, a serious spa, a Greg Norman golf course, and staff who organise your day without making a show of it, and you have the address I recommend to travellers who want theme-park joy with grown-up calm, not alternatingly, but simultaneously.
Bottom line: For travellers who want Orlando’s headline thrills paired with grown-up downtime, The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes remains the area’s most coherent answer, a place where you can chase coasters in the morning and kayak a quiet creek by late afternoon, then dress for a MICHELIN star after sundown.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Central Grande Lakes location: quick access to Disney and Universal, but far enough for proper resort calm.
Knife & Spoon on site with a MICHELIN star, destination dining without leaving the property.
40,000-sq-ft spa with outdoor lap pool; strong wellness program.
Greg Norman 18-hole course and robust instruction; scenic, playable routing.
Ritz-Carlton Club lounge with five daily presentations, drinks, and reserved pool seating.
Nature-forward eco-tours into Shingle Creek; activities that feel Floridian, not generic.
Cons:
Rates rise steeply on peak calendars; resort fee and valet add up, watch for packages.
Pool scene can feel lively on school holidays; cabana reservations recommended.
You’ll need rideshare or a car for off-estate dining beyond the JW/RC bubble.
Key facts at a glance:
Location: 4012 Central Florida Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32837; 15–20 minutes to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando
Hotel rating: Luxury five-star resort under The Ritz-Carlton brand.
Hotel vibe: Grand-estate classicism meets modern polish; lush, water-edged, and quietly grown-up.
Food & drink:
Knife & Spoon - MICHELIN-starred steak & seafood by John Tesar.
Highball & Harvest - farm-led Southern with on-site Whisper Creek Farm inputs.
Vitale, Spa Café - light, bright wellness fare beside the spa pool.
Plus lobby bar & access to JW venues (e.g., Primo).
Hotel amenities: Resort pool with cabanas; Ritz-Carlton Spa (40,000 sq ft; adults-only lap pool); Ritz Kids; Greg Norman 18-hole golf; Grande Lakes Sports (eco-tours, fishing, bikes); estate-wide lazy river at the Marriott.
How many rooms: 582 rooms & suites (including multiple Executive and signature suites).
Pricing: Highly seasonal; £400-£800/night most weeks (possibly slightly higher at peaks); resort fee $55 + tax.
Location recommendations & attractions:
Shingle Creek guided kayak eco-tour (on property).
Golf at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (on property).
Walt Disney World & Universal Orlando (short drive); SeaWorld even closer.
Day trips to Winter Park for lakes and boutiques when you’ve had your fill of parks.
For more tours & activities in Orlando, see below or click here.
All hotels & resorts on The Five Star Edit are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive a small commission from advertisers when using our affiliate links.
Ritz Carlton Orlando (Florida) Review 2025
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