Caribe Royale expands, while also helping families in need

ORLANDO, Fla. - As many hotels have had to shut down during the pandemic, the Caribe Royale Hotel is undertaking a multi-million dollar renovation while also helping families in need.

It’s out with the old and in with the new at Caribe Royale as they renovate 1,300 rooms.

"Even though we’re going through some tough times right now, we decided to move forward on our $125 million renovation and expansion project," says Managing Director Amaury Piedre.

According to Piedre, they are at 50% capacity with lots of guests looking for staycations. They believe that the need will increase.

"They’re from 30 to 40 miles surrounding radius, they’re coming in for the weekend to use the pool and get out of the house." 

He says they’ve laid off around two to 300 workers during the pandemic, so as they started their renovation, they decided to donate the furniture, rather than sell it to a liquidator.

"This furniture, even though it’s being replaced, was in the tens of thousands of dollars, much of it custom made when the last renovation happened."

They provided 20 rooms of furniture to Mustard Seed, which helps families.

"We really told them, take everything you want. And they very happily agreed."

Kathy Baldwin of the Mustard Seed says she expects more people needing furniture as evictions increase.

"These donations are very crucial to us as this time."

Amaury says he still has two more towers of furniture available to the Mustard Seed and other organizations as the renovations continue.

"We definitely feel for all those who have been impacted, especially here in Orlando where a lot have been impacted."

Non-profit organizations interested in getting a donation of the old furniture should call Caribe Royale at 407-238-8000 and ask for the Marketing Department.