Hotel Winter Garden breaks ground

A new hotel is coming to Winter Garden. 

Local leaders, residents and project companies on Monday, July 20, celebrated the groundbreaking of Hotel Winter Garden, located at 8 N. Highland Ave. 

The idea for the hotel dates back to 2018, which made this week’s celebration all the more special. 

“Today is exciting because we’re not just breaking ground on a building, but we’re beginning a story,” said Vanessa Cardaci, co-founder of Knallhart Management Group. “Long after the construction equipment is gone, we hope that the people celebrate life’s biggest moments, where people reconnect with old friends and many people come here and discover this wonderful town, Winter Garden, for the very first time.” 

The four-story hotel will sit on about .58 acres of land. It will offer 60 suites, restaurants, a 4,000-square-foot ballroom space and a pool with a bar. 

“We wanted to create the kind of hotel we’d be thrilled to discover ourselves — thoughtfully designed, full of personality and one that feels like it has always belonged here,” Cardaci said. “Our greatest hope with Hotel Winter Garden is that when the doors open, it doesn’t just welcome visitors — that it becomes something that this community is really proud to call its own.” 

With the help of local development firm 3R HoldCo., owned by Iliana, Sal and Frank Ramos, the Cardacis now are seeing their vision come to life. 

“It’s going to be luxury at the highest,” Sal Ramos said. “There’s not a boutique, high-end luxury hotel like it. What better place to put it than across the Winter Garden City Hall?”

After the Edgewater Hotel closed, Sal Ramos said a hotel became a need. 

Family, friends, business owners and partners all come visit the city but have no place to stay. 

“There’s a need that we saw that Winter Garden had for a hotel that is functional, (luxurious) and that meets the needs and the look that the history of Winter Garden has had back in its heydays,” Sal Ramos said. “There’s definitely a need for somewhere to stay in Winter Garden besides having to go to another city.” 

Inside the hotel, a restaurant called Paradiso will offer a contemporary-casual dining style and seat about 220 guests. Overlooking Plant Street, it will be Hotel Winter Garden’s center restaurant. 

Another more intimate, fine-dining restaurant, named Iliana, will sit inside the hotel. It will seat about 90 guests and bring the elegance and luxury of the hotel to life through food. 

“This hotel, since inception, has been created by local people, and it is really a family affair here,” Vanessa Cardaci said. “Local families are putting this together so the downtown can thrive. … You want to come stay somewhere that’s just as special as Winter Garden, and I think we’re really trying to match that. … It’s a big hotel, it’s a big project, but we always do a very good job of matching the façade and becoming a beautiful backdrop to what already exists here. It’s insanely local.” 

The goal is to integrate the building with its surrounding areas, making it feel as if it’s been there for 100 years. 

But that doesn’t mean the hotel will look outdated. 

“You can stay here 60 times, and it’ll all be 60 different experiences,” Sal Ramos said. “When people walk in, they’re going to be blown away. They’re going to be super proud.”

And that’s the goal. 

“It will really become something iconic — not only for Winter Garden but for the surrounding Orlando area,” said David Cardaci, co-founder of Knallhart Management Group. 

Beyond bringing entertainment and a luxurious experience to its visitors, Hotel Winter Garden also will generate more than 150 jobs. 

From food and beverage services to hotel services and valet, residents will have new opportunities in the workforce. 

The goal is to have the project completed and open to the public in 18 months, so families, friends, residents and visitors can enjoy the holidays in a new way. 

“The city did a great job working behind us, but it’s Frank, Sal and Iliana Ramos and their family who is helping us bring this home,” David Cardaci said. “They’re really committed to not only the city of Winter Garden but this Winter Garden hotel project, and I thank them.”