Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2007, Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and was headquartered in Orlando, Florida, until April 2018, when the corporate offices were relocated to Davie, Florida. As of July 2018, Hard Rock International has venues in 74 countries, including 172 bar or cafe-restaurants, 37 hotels, and 11 casinos.
A seaside resort is a city, town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the German Seebad. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.
Morris Lapidus was an architect, primarily known for his Neo-baroque "Miami Modern" hotels constructed in the 1950s and 60s, which have since come to define that era's resort-hotel style, synonymous with Miami and Miami Beach.
Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a 541-acre (219 ha) theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. Following the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, MCA moved forward with plans to expand from a single park into a large resort hoping to compete with Walt Disney World. In 1999, a second theme park called Universal Islands of Adventure opened in addition to Universal CityWalk, a shopping promenade and nightlife district that incorporates a variety of themed hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets. A third park, 30-acre (12 ha) water park Universal Volcano Bay, was added in 2017, and a fourth theme park, Universal Epic Universe, is scheduled to open in 2025.
Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), formerly Universal Parks & Resorts, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.
Great Hotels is a television show on the Travel Channel. The show, hosted by Samantha Brown, travels around the United States to show some of its most renowned hotels. Brown stays at the hotel and walks the viewer through the layout, the rooms, and extra features the hotel has to offer that make it unique and desirable.
Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville is a United States-based hospitality company that manages and franchises a casual dining American restaurant chain, retail stores selling Jimmy Buffett-themed merchandise, and hotels.
Holiday Inn Resort Orlando Suites – Waterpark is an all-suite hotel in Orlando, Florida, United States, near the Universal Orlando Resort and one mile from Walt Disney World Resort. It is a Holiday Inn Resort. From 2005 to 2016, the hotel was themed after the cable television channel Nickelodeon.
The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is an international non-profit association that represents creators, developers, designers and producers of themed entertainment. It is also noted for its THEA Awards, which were founded in 1995 and are distributed annually in a range of themed entertainment categories.
Martin Stern Jr. was an American architect who was most widely known for his large scale designs and structures in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is credited with originating the concept of the structurally integrated casino resort complex in Las Vegas.
Universal Creative is the division of Universal Destinations & Experiences responsible for designing, developing, engineering, and producing themed attractions, rides, and, resorts. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, the company operates at Universal Parks & Resorts locations around the world in the United States, Singapore, Japan, and China.
Extreme is a 2009 television series that aired on the Travel Channel. The series covered so-called extreme activities that features "the absolute best of what the US of A has to offer—to the total EXTREME". Produced by Sharp Entertainment, the show traveled around the United States to document and showcase various places, events, things and people that are "extreme" in some way.
The Chartres Lodging Group, is an American advisory and investment firm focused on the property management, asset management, renovation and development of lodging assets. It has been responsible for over $9 billion of hospitality investments and assets comprising over 100 upscale and luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers. As of 2006, the company is responsible for a $4 billion, 12,000-room portfolio of luxury and upscale hotels, conference centers and resorts in the United States.
Convergence is an annual North American social gathering of gay men of size (chubs) and their admirers (chasers). The event is considered the longest running social gathering of its kind in North America and serves a particular community, also known as the Chubs and Chasers community; a vibrant sub-culture of the gay community at large. Convergence is held during the US Labor Day holiday weekend. The event has a history that goes back to 1986, when the first Convergence was held in Seattle, Washington. Since then, the event has been hosted annually in different cities across North America.
The Parliament House Motor Inn chain was started by Kansas City, Missouri investors Ned Eddy and his sons Ned, Jr. and James. They started in the food and beverages business running the successful Eddy’s Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. They gave the Parliament House properties an English royalty theme with the slogan, "Built for the House of Lords... priced for the House of Commons." Their goal was a nine city chain by 1964. They never made their goal and filed for bankruptcy on June 8, 1965 when they claimed to operate 8 properties. They listed liabilities of $5 million in the court filings.
Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program accepts nominations and identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained their authenticity, sense of place, and architectural integrity.
Universal's Endless Summer Resort - Surfside Inn and Suites and Dockside Inn and Suites are a pair of hotels located in Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida forming a single resort. The resorts are built on the former site of Wet 'n Wild Orlando, which had closed in 2016. The hotels were built as value-level hotels for Universal Orlando.
