Enjoy Southern hospitality in a tropical setting.

Located in the heart of the world's most popular meeting and vacation destination, he Peabody Orlando is the sister property o "the South's grand hotel," The Peabody Memphis. Just 10 miles from the Orlando International Airport and minutes from Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, the Belz Factory Outlet Shopping Mall, downtown Orlando, and the city's outstanding arts and culture, this convenient property offers guests an oasis of elegance and comfort in the midst of vibrant, energetic Orlando.

Location and luxury

The 891-room Peabody Orlando has two main draws for the convention market: its luxury meetings and guest room accommodations and its strategic location directly opposite the 1.5-million-square-foot Orange County Convention Center.

With 57,000 square feet of meeting facilities, the convention level of The Peabody Orlando has 45,000 square feet of meeting space, a 35,000-square-foot reception area near the meeting rooms, a 27,000-squarefoot Plaza International Ballroom, and two 8,600-squarefoot junior ballrooms.

On the mezzanine level, 16 meeting rooms are tailor-made for smaller functions. Between 10 and 945 delegates can be served on this level, which features 32 rooms serviced by professional in-house audio/visual specialists.

The Peabody Orlando has 11 international hospitality suites for VIP entertaining, 2 presidential suites, 4 VIP suites, and 40 executive suites. The Peabody Club has exclusive concierge service, a Club Lounge, and private key access.

Catering to the association market

Since the hotel's opening in 1986, the associations market has been responsible for 50 percent of all total room nights sold and 70 percent of all group room nights at The Peabody Orlando. As a result, the hotel goes out of its way to accommodate its association guests.

"We're really the association hotel in Orlando," says Barry Anderson, vice president of marketing. "We understand and know how to cater to the unique requirements of association group meetings. They're here for educationally motivated meetings for their members and they're very discerning in their choice of venue and environment."

In testimony to its service, The Peabody Orlando has won numerous awards for service excellence for all types of conventions. "Awards are won through guest satisfaction. We consistently go the extra mile to make sure we not only anticipate, but are exceeding guest expectations," says Anderson. "For our association clients, we pre-check our books to make sure the rooms are secure and quiet - out of the way of other convention function activities that may interfere. We also make sure meeting and function rooms are set up exactly right, and that audio-visual demands are met and executed through close communication with our in-house A/V department."

Among the top association groups The Peabody Orlando has hosted: the Florida Homebuilder's Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores, Christian Bookseller's Association, and the National Spa & Pool Institute.

Delectable dining

In keeping with The Peabody Orlando's quest for excellence, the three on-property restaurants continually receive accolades from the world of fine dining. It is one of three Mobil Four-Star/AAA Four-Diamond hotels in Central Florida.

DUX is the signature restaurant of the hotel. To set the stage, the restaurant is decorated in muted gold and bronze tones with a specially commissioned series of paintings depicting the property's cherished mascots, North American mallard ducks. DUX is the only Mobil Four-Star restaurant in Orlando and has been listed in Zagat's "Best of the Best." DUX has also received the Golden Spoon Award.

Capriccio has won both the distinction of the "Best Restaurant in Orlando" by Glamour magazine and Wine Spectator's "Award of Excellence." Northern Italian cuisine including pizzas baked in wood-burning ovens and mesquite specialties are served against a backdrop of Italian marble columns and black-and-white tiled floors.

The B-Line diner is open 24-hours a day and serves California cuisine and blue plate specials.

Ducks - a popular draw

While The Peabody Orlando is renowned for its service and luxury accommodations, it's the ducks that people go quackers about. The tradition began in the 1930s when Frank Schutt, general manager of The Peabody Memphis, and good friends, returned from a hunting trip to Arkansas with their "call ducks," live decoy ducks used to beckon flying ducks into range. Rather than returning the ducks to a pond some distance away, they were placed in the lobby fountain.

The next morning, delighted guests gathered around the fountain to watch the ducks. When management tried to remove them, guests protested and the ducks stayed on. A former Ringling Brothers animal handler was hired to train the birds, and soon they were marching on a red carpet and up the steps for a dive into the fountain, to the stirring notes of John Philip Souza's King Cotton March.

Today, the ducks make daily appearances at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Afternoon tea is served daily in the lobby just before the ducks march back to their Royal Duck Palace. Meeting breaks are often scheduled around the ducks' morning and afternoon appearances.