New Aventura goes for contemporary, distinct look

For a recent story looking at the future of hotels in Central Florida, I interviewed Russ Dagon, senior vice president for resort development with Universal Creative, about Aventura, a hotel under construction at Universal Orlando. The structure, set to open in August, is as tall as it’s going to get.

“Things we’ve seen on a drawing board for years are finally coming to life,” Dagon says.

He shared some newsy facts that didn’t fit into that trend story, so here are several Aventura tidbits served a la carte.

Universal is pronouncing the hotel’s name with an “AH” sound at the beginning. Like “ahven-tur-a.”

Although some of the windows look blue now, that is just a film that will be removed. The glass is slightly tinted and will look more like the material in the neighboring Cabana Bay towers.

Wait, which side is the “front”? Guests will enter the property from Adventure Way, which is pretty much a ramp off of Interstate 4.

“The hotel is kind of on-stage from every direction, which is always a design challenge,” Dagon says. “That’s part of the reason for the trefoil shape, the rounded Y shape of the structure. We knew it would be visible from everywhere, so it couldn’t just be a simple block. It had to be something a little more interesting.”

By the way, Aventura will have its own parking garage; it won’t be sharing with its other Universal neighbor Sapphire Falls.

The design goes with Cabana Bay, Dagon says. The story over there, chronologically, remember, is hotel, then motel, then towers next to Volcano Bay water park.

It’s a contemporary design, Dagon says, “but I’d say it’s the next evolution of Cabana.” Aventura is “what would you do after you bought those oval towers.”

Downstairs, “there’s a lot of glass in the lobby as well,” Dagon says. “When you come in, you’ll have a view, immediately, of the pool.” That’s a kid-pleasing design that has worked for Universal at the Hard Rock Hotel, he says.

There will be signage at the tip-top, also similar to Cabana Bay’s towers.

“Those signs turned out well,” Dagon says. “They’re rather subtle during the day, but at night we do get some visibility from them.”

Let’s top it off with a drink. Universal is getting good mileage off Aventura’s rooftop bar. We’ll be able to nosh up there, too. There will be a “significant food component,” Dagon says. Translation: Tapas.