While the curved-glass exterior creates an ultra-modern facade, Azure Hotels CEO Ramon Gomez says the $180 million downtown Kissimmee convention center hotel will be inspired by nature.
“The theme is based on the Florida nature, especially in that area, Kissimmee,” Gomez told GrowthSpotter after the unveiling of the design this week. He said the design “blends water with earth, with wind, and with sun.”
In the lobby, terrazzo floors mimic a stream, and the sculpted ceilings will look like a sky with cloud-like chandeliers. The porte cochère will create an elevated park connected to the second-floor spa and pool deck. With lush landscaping, palm trees, and a view of the fountain and koi pond below, Gomez calls it “the oasis.”
The full-service hotel will have 300 rooms, including a 4,000-square-foot presidential suite with two bedrooms and a private terrace with a hot tub, outdoor bar and chaise lounges. The hotel will also have a full spa, a restaurant, meeting space, and a rooftop bar and jewel-box event space with views of downtown Kissimmee and Lake Tohopekaliga.
“The main ballroom of the hotel is going to be on the 10th floor — all glass — so you’ll have an almost a 360-degree view,” Gomez said. “You can see to the airport, you can see to Disney to see the fireworks … so it’s going to be a very nice venue upstairs.”
Gomez confirmed a major change to the development team, opting for ARC4 Design as lead architect over Pininfarina. He said the decision was made for budgetary reasons.
“So based on the cost and budget, and our agreement with the city, it wasn’t going to be feasible,” he said.
The 10-story hotel will join the Preferred Hotels & Resorts portfolio.
Azure will also build a 45,000-square-foot convention center on the site of the Kissimmee Civic Center. Gomez said demolition of the existing Civic Center would begin in late April or early May, marking the next phase of the project.
“That process will take roughly 90 to 220 days,” he said. The team, which includes a joint venture between Turner Construction and Sky Builders as general contractors, expects to receive permit approval by September and begin construction, first on the hotel in January and then on the convention center a few months later.
“And then we’ll have the hotel ready by January 2029, and the convention center will hopefully be ready for occupancy by December 2028,” Gomez said. “I don’t want the convention center to be finished and then have six, seven months with what we call a white elephant there.”
The convention center exterior will feature white brick, an homage to the historic downtown buildings, with glass and wood mixed in. It will have its own cafe, pre-function space, and a ballroom that can be divided into four spaces.
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