If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD439.20), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Pool-toting, spa-sporting, gourmet address Ette Hotel is a den of cool design, custom furniture and unique art – a family-friendly stay that doesn’t stint on style. In plain sight of Disney’s thriving theme parks, it brings boutique class to Kissimmee, making it both an excellent basecamp for Animal Kingdom, Epcot and more, but also its stylish antidote. The thought of your walled-garden pool, rooftop drinks at Lipa, and fine dining by Akira Back awaiting your return will get you through all the rollercoasters, flumes and amusements you and any little Smiths in tow can handle.
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £312.88 ($391), including tax at 13.5 per cent.
More details
Rates are room-only, but you can buy breakfast (from $20–$45).
Also
Ette Hotel is wheelchair accessible, with easy-access parking out front, elevators to all floors, and a choice of ADA-compliant rooms with adapted bathrooms and kit for hearing or visually impaired guests.
Please note
You’re encouraged to make dinner reservations for Salt & the Cellar ahead of your arrival.
Ette Hotel does not serve alcohol, but their Bottle Club allows you to bring your own liquor onto the premises if you prefer cocktails to mocktails.
At the hotel
Concierge, luxury goods store, book room, laundry museum, herb-garden courtyard, paid laundry service, free WiFi. In rooms: Peloton bike, weights and a press bench (Wellness King Suites only); mini fridge and microwave (on request); air-conditioning, 55-inch smart TV, dry minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, steamer, USB and international plug outlets, bathrobes, slippers and Le Labo bath amenities.
Our favourite rooms
Cream-hued contemporary interiors, furniture by Sentient, luxury linens and pale-wood floors give all rooms a sumptuous appeal. Elegant kings and two queens are distinct from True-category equivalents by the floor they’re set on – the fifth and sixth floors serving as VIP storeys with better views. For more space, secure a suite: all have separate living rooms, spacious bedrooms and marble ensuites; take a Wellness Suite, for the additions of a Peloton bike, Technogym bench and weights, as well as the services of a spa butler.
Poolside
Through the courtyard to the rear of Ette Hotel is the gated pool area, where wooden sunloungers with Frette-linen cushions line up around a decent-size rectangular pool. The space is walled and planted, so doesn’t feel overlooked, and drinks and snacks from a dedicated menu can be brought to your parasol-shaded side.
Spa
On the ground floor, tucked behind the pool, the Spa at Ette has three treatment rooms, where you can choose from an impressive selection of face and body therapies using Natura Bissé, Florivera and Tammy Fender spa products. The hotel also has a gym, with the same hallmark-sleek design, and cardio machines by Technogym, as well as yoga and weights equipment by Pent.
Packing tips
You won’t want to be outdone by the Missoni upholstery – pack a rotation of glamorous threads for dinner at Salt & the Cellar or Lipa Rooftop (as well as Disneyproof footwear).
Also
Your eyes do not deceive you – that IS Everest on the horizon from Lipa Rooftop – the rollercoaster version at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This is also your vantage point for regular Disney firework shows.
Children
Very welcome. Rollaways and cribs can be added to rooms; Two Queen options sleep four, and there are connecting-room options.
Best for
All ages are welcome at Ette, although it’s those old enough to enjoy the surrounding parks that’ll have the most fun.
Recommended rooms
Some suites connect with rooms, or there’s a choice of two-queen rooms (sleeping four), distinguished by the floors they’re set on, rather than size. All suites come with a sofa-bed that can be made up to sleep two extra in the living room.
Crèche
There’s no crèche at Ette – this a family-friendly stay where the emphasis is on time enjoyed together.
Activities
Island H2O Water Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studio are all within a 20-minute drive of the hotel. Universal is half-an-hour away by road.
Swimming pool
The gated swimming pool is open from dawn until dusk daily; pool service is available, and there are flotation devices you can borrow.
Meals
Salt & the Cellar may be adored by adults, but for little Smiths, it serves enough variety through breakfast, lunch, dinner and even Sunday-afternoon tea, that there’s sure to be something they like at every meal. Lipa Rooftop (Friday and Saturday nights only) feels like more of an adults-only space.
No need to pack
Children are given a signature plush toy on arrival, and an activities cart, often found in the lobby, has creative kits covering origami, balloon sculptures and more.
Also
Rollaways or cribs can be added to suites and some two-queen rooms, if you have a third little Smith in tow – speak to your Smith travel specialist.
At Salt & the Cellar, the first table past the bar, windowside, feels tucked away and romantic. In the courtyard garden, it has to be the Missoni-upholstered sofas beside the fireplace. Any spot at Lipa Rooftop comes with favourable views.
Dress Code
Both restaurants come with a smart-casual dress code and a request to leave any sportswear, sneakers and hats in your room.
Hotel restaurant
Starred chef Akira Back oversees all food and drink – even the poolside menu – at Ette Hotel, and came to acclaim at revered Japanese dining spot Yellowtail at the Bellagio in Vegas. You’ll need to book ahead for dinner at ground-floor Salt & the Cellar. A swish dining room of pistachio-velvet upholstery and mid-century-style furniture (and courtyard tables when it’s warm enough), it has a varied menu of Mediterranean-Asian fusion plates. The tomahawk steaks are made for carving up at the table, and served with six types of gourmet salt; our tip is the hot oil monkfish – a crispy-sweet aromatic wonder. Breakfast is taken here, too – an à la carte affair featuring acai bowls, omelettes, waffles and togarashi-spiced avo toast. As well as lunch options from salads to burgers to burritos, on Sundays Ette has a fine line in afternoon tea involving delicate morceaux of sandwiches, madeleines and scones. Lipa Rooftop is only open on Friday and Saturday nights for dinner: take the elevator and alight in an arty lobby of Renaissance-referencing murals, then head outside to the timbered deck, where tables are punctuated by potted olive trees, and a giant block-letters installation frames the skyline. The cuisine is predominantly modern Japanese – nigiri and sashimi, speciality rolls, plus South Korean kkochi meat skewers, all of which are a triumph of artistry and flavour.
Hotel bar
Mocktails have been made into an art form at Ette – their ingredients prepared hours if not days ahead, using herbs from the courtyard garden to create concoctions that set out to please all the senses. The bar is integrated into Salt & the Cellar, or you can take drinks outdoors in the courtyard, plus there are alfresco bars at Lipa Rooftop and by the pool. If you prefer your mixology with the hard stuff, the hotel’s Bottle Club allows you to bring your own measures, and they’ll provide a personal Thermos bag to keep tipples cool.
Last orders
At Salt & the Cellar, breakfast is served 8am until 11am; lunch is from 11.30am until 2pm, and dinner between 6pm and 10pm. On Sundays only, afternoon tea is from noon till 5pm. On Fridays and Saturdays, Lipa Rooftop is open, 7pm until midnight.
Room service
A menu devised by Akira Back covers breakfast, lunch, ‘linner’ and dinner; for the latter, we’re ordering yuzu black cod followed by ‘Chocolate in a Cup’. A small selection of sandwiches and salads serve night-shift cravings (10pm until 7am).
Ette Hotel is in Kissimmee, south of Orlando, and handy for Highway 192’s shops and restaurants, as well as all the Florida Disney parks, of which Animal Kingdom is the closest.
Planes
Orlando International is a 20-minute drive from Ette Hotel (30 minutes in traffic), and the hotel can arrange transfers at varying costs by taxi, Uber, or chauffeured sedan or limousine. Regional connections to Orlando-Sanford, 50 minutes by road from the hotel, are your domestic-only option.
Trains
Orlando station is a 25-minute drive from Ette Hotel, with connections to Tampa, Miami, Washington DC and New York City. The hotel can arrange private transfers from $60 one-way.
Automobiles
There’s ample parking out front at Ette (a former motel), with a free valet service, and its location just off 192 makes driving around simple. If you have any intentions of visiting the Disney parks in the wider area, having your own wheels will give you the most freedom.
Worth getting out of bed for
However calm and cosseting Ette Hotel is, it’s unlikely you’ve come to Kissimmee for this stylish boutique bolthole alone… Having Walt Disney World on your doorstep is geography worth embracing, so here’s a whirlwind tour of all that Mickey and co have to offer. Animal Kingdom is home to an ornately carved Tree of Life, and the World of Avatar. Magic Kingdom is where favourite cartoon characters line up and the towering Cinderella Castle welcomes you to Fantasyland. Epcot is the place to indulge your inner Buzz Aldrin; for Buzz Lightyear, you’ll want Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – not to be confused with Universal Studios, a half-hour’s drive away (Minions, Men in Black, and Harry Potter fixes abound, including a full-size Hogwarts Express).
Local restaurants
You’ll never be short of dining options in this made-for-pleasure pocket of Florida: nearby areas to explore include nostalgic Old Town, the indie vibes of Celebration, and Promenade at Sunset Walk. Ask the concierge at Ette for up-to-the-minute recommendations nearby.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this polished boutique stay in Florida and unpacked their Mickey-ear headbands and handbuilt lightsabers (when in Rome…), a full account of their Disney World dalliances will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Ette Hotel in Kissimmee…
Toto, we’re not in Kissimmee any more… In a pocket of Florida best known for its coachloads and ’coasters, Ette Hotel is a gleaming bastion of style that looks like it’s beamed down straight out of a European city. A courtyard garden fragrant with potted herbs, fine dining masterminded by Akira Back, a walled pool area, spa and gym, plus a Zen rooftop restaurant are its upscale lures – matched in finesse by shades-of-cream contemporary rooms and suites. The temptations are not restricted to Smiths à deux, either. For families, a welcome toy for your child, a cart of creative activity kits, family-friendly fare and connecting-room options ensure all ages feel welcome. And if there’s any hint of theme park, it’s in owner Alex’s open approach to hospitality: the book room where he works is open for walk-ins, and you can take your coffees to a bench by the ‘laundry museum’, which is less of a history piece, and more an open-fronted temple of linen washing, pressing and folding. When Disney calls, all Kingdoms, Epcot and Hollywood Studios are within easy driving distance (Universal, too), and what a place to return to after a long day at the Parks…
