Gaylord Palms Hires Almost 1,400 for February Debut

ORLANDO-Gaylord Palms, formerly the Opryland Hotel, has hired almost 1,400 employees at a four-day job fair that drew 12,000 applicants and highlighted one of the most successful recruiting blitzes in Central Florida’s hospitality industry.

The 1,406-room hotel and 400,000-sf convention center, being completed at an estimated hard construction cost of $404 million, is slated to open in February amidst one of the worst industry depressions on record.

Occupancies are in the 50% range and lower at many of the 460 hotels and motels in metro Orlando, according to Smith Travel Research of Hendersonville, TN. Average daily room rates are off by 40% to 60%.