Gaylord Hotels

Gaylord Palms Awards

Gaylord Palms carries out the tradition of excellence that has become synonymous with Gaylord Hotels. The recognition as a premier hotel and resort is direct result of world-class dining and entertainment experiences delivered with flawless service. Gaylord Palms has received awards from Fodor’s Travel Guides, Wine Spectator, Successful Meeting, Meetings South and Rand McNally to name just a few. Take a moment to read about some of the prestigious awards we’ve received during the past few years. And you’ll understand that excellence isn’t just a goal at Gaylord Palms, it’s our passion.

General

2007 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
2006 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
2005 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
2004 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
2003 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
2002 Florida Monthly Best Florida Resort
 Every year, the editors of Florida Monthly magazine feature their "Best of Florida Awards" edition. For six years in a row, Gaylord Palms has been named "Best Florida Resort." In a state known for its hospitality, this is some honor! The award is best summed up by reviewing the properties that received second and third place... each with reputations for stellar service, ambiance and amenities.

2007 AAA Four-Diamond Award
2006 AAA Four-Diamond Award
2005 AAA Four-Diamond Award
2004 AAA Four-Diamond Award
2003 AAA Four-Diamond Award
Every year, AAA's full-time professional field representatives conduct unannounced visits and evaluate accommodations throughout North America. Those facilities that qualify are assigned an overall rating of one to five diamonds. AAA diamonds are a reflection of quality, level of service and range of facilities. A Four Diamond rating is considered outstanding, as recipients of this honor consistently exceed the association's requirements by providing skilled and attentive staff, a high level of guest service and top-of-the-line amenities and ambiance. Only an estimated 3 percent of the nearly 27,000 AAA-rated properties achieve this distinction. Only a handful of resorts in Florida share the Four Diamond distinction with Gaylord Palms.

2007 Best Local Resort, Orlando Sentinel 101 Best Awards
2007 Best Cultural Event/Show, Orlando Sentinel 101 Best Awards (ICE! at Gaylord Palms)
More than 40,000 readers of the Orlando Sentinel cast their votes to share their Central Florida favorites. Gaylord Palms, a favorite of residents of Orlando, topped the list for "Best Local Resort." In addition, the resort’s annual ICE! attraction – hand carved by a team of 40 artisans from Harbin, China – was voted top cultural event/show.

2007 Fodor's Choice Award
2006 Fodor's Choice Award
 Each year, Fodor's Travel Guide editors from around the world select an exclusive list of restaurants, hotels and attractions in their area to represent the best places to visit when traveling to the region.

2007 "Best of the Southeast" Award
As an award winner, Rand McNally, America's largest map company, highlighted Gaylord Palms Resort as a "can't miss" stop in Rand McNally's new Southeast Getaway Guide. The guide blends travel information and recommended stops with maps designed to help vacationers find their way to the destinations featured in the guide.

2007 Best Business Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Business Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Romantic Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Romantic Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Luxury Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Luxury Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Weekend Getaway Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Weekend Getaway Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Hotel Pool, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Hotel Pool, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Family Friendly Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
2007 Best Tourist-Friendly Hotel, Citysearch Orlando
 Best of Citysearch Orlando is an online poll that gives website visitors the opportunity to vote for their favorite hotel or lodging in 14 separate categories. Audience Winners are determined by the number of votes each nominee receives during a certain voting period.

2005 Florida Travel Magazine "Best of the Best" Award
 Florida Travel Magazine editors selected the most luxurious, unique, and not-to-be-missed sights found in Florida. Gaylord Palms received accolades under the category "Best Themed Resorts (When Ambience is Everything)." The editors wrote: "A resort that fully represents Florida - naturally! From the cobblestone walkways found in St. Augustine, to the festivities found in Key West, a tour of the Everglades (complete with alligators!) and a tour of Emerald Bay, visitors can experience everything the Sunshine State has to offer - in one location!"

Food Related

2007 Best Hotel Dining - Old Hickory Steakhouse, Citysearch Orlando
2006 Best Hotel Dining - Old Hickory Steakhouse, Citysearch Orlando
 Best of Citysearch Orlando is an online poll that gives website visitors the opportunity to vote for their favorite hotel or lodging in 14 separate categories. Audience Winners are determined by the number of votes each nominee receives during a certain voting period.

2007 M&C Gold Platter ELITE Award
2006 M&C Gold Platter Award
2004 M&C Gold Platter Award
2003 M&C Gold Platter Award
This annual award, given for more than 20 years, is bestowed upon the prominent catering departments that have continually excelled in their creative and culinary presentations. Maintaining the industry's toughest standards, these meeting and incentive professionals based their selections on seven important criteria: enthusiasm and professionalism of catering staff, quality of food presentation, creativity of menu, originality of theme-party concepts, overall helpfulness and budgeting considerations, excellence of staff service, and ambiance of dining rooms.

2007 Orlando Sentinel Best Brunch (101 Best Awards)
2006 Florida Monthly Best Brunch
2005 Florida Monthly Best Brunch
2004 Florida Monthly Best Brunch
2003 Florida Monthly Best Brunch
2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Sunday Brunch (Best of Osceola)
2005 City's Best Brunch, AOL City Guide
 Served from six stations and featuring more than 70 items, Brunch at Gaylord Palms' Villa de Flora Marketplace & Restaurant is one memorable meal. Just ask the thousands of Central Florida diners who have already enjoyed the experience, making it one of the city's most popular Sunday-afternoon dining activities. And with honors like "Best in the State," this meal will only become more popular!

2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Breakfast (Best of Osceola)
2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Buffet (Best of Osceola)
2003 Digital City Orlando Best Breakfast Award
The buffet at Villa de Flora Marketplace & Restaurant enjoys great "word of mouth" publicity... easily making it one of the most popular dining venues in town! The Digital City review called Villa de Flora Marketplace & Restaurant "a gastronomical merry-go-round." Certainly, the selections at Villa de Flora are plenty and ever changing. With such variety and quality, it easily fits on the list of Central Florida's best breakfast restaurants, as chosen by the editors. The site's user reviews are equally enthusiastic... one user saying, "It rates among the best restaurants I have eaten."

2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Seafood (Best of Osceola)
2004 Florida Monthly Best Key Lime Pie
2003 Florida Monthly Best Seafood Restaurant
With nearly 8,000 lakes, 1,200 miles of coastline and 11,000 miles of rivers and streams, Florida provides a bounty of options. The staff at Sunset Sam's Fish Camp is passionate about serving the freshest seafood, much of it from our local waters. Orlando diners are passionate about Sam's seafood, too. And don't forget the key lime margarita pie!

2007 Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRōNA)
2006 Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRōNA)
2005 Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRōNA)
 The DiRōNA Quality Assurance Program is the only independent and anonymous restaurant inspection program that operates across North America. An extensive criteria and impartial inspection is used to evaluate of all aspects of a distinguished dining experience. Old Hickory Steakhouse has been presented with this distinction, the highest to be achieved in the distinguished dining and hospitality communities.

2008 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
2007 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
2006 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
2005 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
2004 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
2003 Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence
 As an Award of Excellence recipient from Wine Spectator magazine, Old Hickory Steakhouse has been honored for offering a well-chosen selection of quality wine producers, and a thematic match to the menu in both price and style.

2007 Florida Trend Florida's Top Restaurants Award
2006 Florida Trend Florida's Top Restaurants Award
2005 Florida Trend Florida's Top Restaurants Award
2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Steak (Best of Osceola)
2003 Florida Monthly Best Restaurant (3rd Place)
 Florida is home to nearly every big name in upscale steakhouses. But one steakhouse stands out in the crowd. From the outside, the Old Hickory atmosphere is more "stilt house" than "chop house." But inside the dining room, the ambience is first class, executed with great subtlety. The star of the show is the Premium Black Angus beef, naturally aged 21 to 35 days, perfectly executed by the kitchen staff.

Meeting Related

2007 M&C Gold Key Award
2006 M&C Gold Key Award
2005 M&C Gold Key Award
2003 M&C Gold Key Award
2004 M&C Gold Key ELITE Award
 Presented by Meetings & Conventions magazine, the Gold Key Elite Award is given to the top five meeting properties in the world. Winners of this award were nominated and selected by the readers of M&C, who base their votes on the overall professionalism and quality of the property. In addition, the readers honored 182 domestic hotels as Gold Key Winners. These experienced meeting planners selected winning properties based on strict industry criteria, including: staff attitude, quality of meeting rooms, quality of guest services, food and beverage service, proficiency of handling reservations, availability of technical/support equipment, and range of recreational facilities.

2007 Best Ballroom Facilities, Orlando Magazine Hotelier Awards
Gaylord Palms Resort was recognized for outstanding meeting and convention facilities, according to voters from inside the hospitality industry.

2007 ConventionSouth Readers' Choice Award for Excellence, Creativity, and Professionalism
2006 ConventionSouth Readers' Choice Award for Excellence, Creativity, and Professionalism
2005 ConventionSouth Readers' Choice Award for Excellence, Creativity, and Professionalism
More than 18,500 readers of ConventionSouth magazine nominated the hotels and resorts they felt display exemplary creativity and professionalism. As part of this distinction, Gaylord Palms was recognized as being the "Best of the Best" in the South.

2007 Meetings South "Best of the South" Award
2006 Meetings South "Best of the South" Award
Meetings South magazine presents this award, chosen by its readers, to the most outstanding meeting facilities who provide excellent service.

2006 Best Hotel for Large Meetings, Orlando Business Journal
2005 Best Hotel for Large Meetings, Orlando Business Journal
This honor, provided by the readers of Orlando Business Journal, is a title sought after by many of Orlando's world-class hotels. Gaylord Palms is once again the favorite among Orlando's residents, a town known for its hospitality.

2006 SITA Best Competition Event Venue
2005 SITA Best Competition Event Venue
This prestigious award is given by the Spirit Industry Trade Association to recognize an event venue that provides clients one of the most comprehensive and flexible competition facilities. The award also recognizes the enthusiasm and dedication of the venue staff, who provide customer service of the highest standard.

2008 Medical Meetings' Merit & Distinction Award
2007 Medical Meetings' Merit & Distinction Award
2006 Medical Meetings' Merit & Distinction Award
2005 Medical Meetings' Merit & Distinction Award
Medical Meetings' Annual M&D Awards program honors the 40 hotels, resorts, and conference centers chosen by their readers for merit and distinction in serving the needs of medical meeting planners. Readers voted for the hotels that best handled their room quality, meeting rooms, catering and convention services, and audiovisual/technical support.

2008 Paragon Award
2007 Paragon Award
2004 Paragon Award
2003 Paragon Award
 Corporate Meetings & Incentives asks its readers to choose the hotels, resorts, and conference centers that did the best job of handling their meetings and incentive programs in the past year. Nominations for resorts were based on the quality of their meeting services, overall atmosphere, services, and recreational amenities.

2006 Platinum Partners Award
2004 Platinum Partners Award
2003 Platinum Partners Award
2002 Platinum Partners Award
Incentive Magazine recognizes the best suppliers in the Incentive industry. The resort's superb service, upscale guest rooms, world-class spa, and award-winning restaurants position Gaylord Palms as a superior product for the Incentive market.

2008 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
2007 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
2006 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
2005 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
2004 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
2003 Successful Meetings Pinnacle Award
To be named a Pinnacle Award winner, Gaylord Palms demonstrated an unwavering commitment to flawless service. In its 19th year, the Successful Meetings magazine Pinnacle Award has earned a reputation as one of the most credible awards among planners and industry professionals.

2007 Inner Circle Award
2006 Inner Circle Award
2005 Inner Circle Award
2003 Inner Circle Award
 Readers of Association Meetings magazine named Gaylord Palms as one of only 40 members of its illustrious "Inner Circle." Gaylord Palms received kudos for its high level of service, flexible function space, quality of food and beverage, and good value for room rates. In short, Association Meetings readers rated Gaylord Palms among the best of the best within the meetings industry!

2003 Premium Circle Award
As a Premium Circle Award winner for 2003, Gaylord Palms has been given the top honor by insurance meeting planners! For the 12th year, readers of Insurance Conference Planners magazine have selected their favorite hotels and resorts. The 30 top properties are awarded with the magazine's Premium Circle Award, acknowledging excellence as a meeting venue. Insurance and financial services meeting executives cast their ballots based on: meeting room quality, staff, food and beverage service, convention services, guest-room quality, and audiovisual and technical support.

Spa Related

2008 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award
2007 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award
2006 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award
2005 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award
2004 Mobil Travel Guide Four-Star Award
Mobil Travel Guide awarded Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Gaylord Palms the coveted Mobil four stars. The rating - the highest attained in Florida - appears in a new guidebook titled America's Best Hotel & Resort Spas. For the first time ever, Mobil Travel Guide has taken its 45-year-old star rating system into the hotel and resort spa arena. Anonymous inspectors rated spas across North America from the perspective of the "average traveler." The book recommends 48 of the best hotel spas inspected.

2006 NewBeauty magazine Five-Star Beauty Destination Award
 Canyon Ranch has been voted a Five-Star Beauty Destination by NewBeauty magazine. NewBeauty is the first national beauty publication devoted exclusively to providing a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the latest advances in plastic surgery, dermatology and cosmetic dentistry, as well as revealing the best non-surgical beauty secrets, must-have products, top salons and spas and more.

2007 Orlando Sentinel Best Day Spa (101 Best Awards)
2005 Florida Monthly Best Spa
2004 Florida Monthly Best Spa
2003 Florida Monthly Best Spa
2005 Orlando Sentinel Best Spa (Best of Osceola)
2004 CitySearch Top Spa Treatments for Men
2003 Digital City Orlando Best Day Spas Award
Canyon Ranch has been named the best spa in the Sunshine State three times by Florida Monthly -- and with good reason. The two Canyon Ranch Health Resorts in Arizona and Massachusetts are the most highly regarded in the industry, and have earned a reputation for being among the very best spas in the world. The Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Gaylord Palms lives up to the legend, offering unparalleled service in Florida. The editors of CitySearch called Canyon Ranch SpaClub at Gaylord Palms one of the top facilities in the nation for men's treatments.

Employment Related

2007 Orlando Business Journal's Best Places to Work
 Gaylord Palms has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Central Florida by the Orlando Business Journal. Gaylord Palms was recognized for its achievements in creating a positive work environment that attracts and retains employees through a combination of benefits, working conditions and company culture. The Business Journal's decision was based on Gaylord Palms' unique benefits programs, along with employee evaluations, that painted a picture of work-life balance, respect and caring for employees, recognition of accomplishments, feeling empowered, team spirit, and commitment to community service.

2006 Best Hotel Staff, CitySearch Orlando
 Best of CitySearch Orlando is an online poll that gives website visitors the opportunity to vote for their favorite hotel or lodging in 14 separate categories. Audience Winners are determined by the number of votes each nominee receives during a certain voting period.

2007 Orlando Sentinel Top 25 Companies for Working Families
2006 Orlando Sentinel Top 25 Companies for Working Families
 2005 Orlando Sentinel Top 25 Companies for Working Families
2004 Orlando Sentinel Top 25 Companies for Working Families
2003 Orlando Sentinel Top 25 Companies for Working Families
2002 Orlando Sentinel Top 100 Companies for Working Families
 The Orlando Sentinel-sponsored award honors companies that put employees and their families first. A panel of experts reviewed hundreds of entries from Central Florida businesses and evaluated them on the quality and quantity of each company's family-friendly benefits. The judges singled out Gaylord Palms as a company that promotes "fun," and featured photos of the resort's "promotion celebration" -- the rowdy rickshaw ride.

Horticulture Related

2006 Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Award of Excellence for Coquina Dunes Putting Course (Landscape Construction)

 2006 Professional Grounds Management Society of America's Honor Award for Exterior Grounds Management

 2005 Professional Grounds Management Society of America's Grand Award for Hotel Interior Landscape

 2005 Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Award of Excellence for Exterior Commercial Maintenance

 2005 Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association Award of Excellence in Floriculture

 2004 Associated Landscape Contractors of America Environment Improvement Grand Award in Exterior Landscape Maintenance

 2004 Florida Nursery, Growers & landscape Association Award of Excellence (Interior Maintenance, Best of Category)

Gaylord's amazing collection of more than 500,000 specimens has received many regional and national awards.

Miscellaneous

2006 William C. Schwartz Industry Innovation Award
 The Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission honored Gaylord Palms with this "celebration of innovation" in honor of the resort's Gaylord iConnect in-room computer systems. As a winner, Gaylord Hotels was recognized for being a vital asset to our community and representative of the cutting-edge, innovative work being done by thousands of companies all across the Metro Orlando region.

2005 American Hotel & Lodging Association's Outstanding General Manager of the Year – John Caparella
This "Stars of the Industry" award recognizes "outstanding accomplishments and exceptional service in the lodging industry."

2006 American Hotel & Lodging Association's Outstanding Special Event Award - ICE!
 This "Stars of the Industry" award recognizes "outstanding accomplishments and exceptional service in the lodging industry."

2007 American Hotel & Lodging Association's Outstanding Hospitality Employee of the Year – Maria Kelly, Front Desk
This "Stars of the Industry" award recognizes "outstanding accomplishments and exceptional service in the lodging industry."

2007 Flagler Award
2004 Flagler Award
At the 2004 and 2007 Florida Governor's Conference on Tourism, Gaylord Palms received a Flagler Award. The award recognizes the outstanding tourism marketing achievements of Florida's travel businesses, destinations and attractions. The Flagler Awards program is sponsored by Visit Florida, the state's official tourism agency, and is one of the highest tourism marketing honors in the state. Gaylord Palms was honored in the "Special Events" category in 2004, in recognition of outstanding tourism marketing efforts for "ICE!," the resort's holiday attraction. In 2007, Gaylord Palms was awarded in the "Creativity in Public Relations" category.

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