The World Equestrian Center (WEC) in Ocala, Florida, is set to expand this April with the opening of the Riding Academy Hotel on its 378-acre campus. The new hotel will offer 390 upscale suites with separate sleeping and living areas, as well as amenities such as an outdoor pool and sundeck, two fitness centers and a grab-and-go lobby marketplace. The new opening is the latest in a series of planned developments that will also include a new 80,000-sf Event Center, with an anticipated 2025 opening date. The events complex will feature an 8,000-sf Grand Ballroom, more than 9,000 sf of pre-function space, 18,000 sf of outdoor space and 10 meeting rooms.
"This will open the campus up to a host of additional groups," says Allan Tuttle, Director of Marketing & Sales. "The Riding Academy Hotel and Event Center will target more of the corporate and association market, which are accustomed to formal ballrooms, traditional meeting space and breakouts to conduct their meetings."
The World Equestrian Center is the largest equestrian competition venue in the United States. The campus includes The Equestrian Hotel, a four-diamond resort offering 248 rooms across five floors. Its European-style design boasts a grand lobby with 20-ft ceilings, crystal chandeliers and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace. Communal areas showcase the work of local and regional artists and subtle equestrian-inspired design details can be found throughout the property. Current event space on the sprawling campus consists of two Expo Centers totaling over 250,000 sf of flexible indoor space, the open-air 136,900-sf WEC Stadium and the 114,000-sf Grand Outdoor Arena, as well as six indoor arenas offering between 75,840 to 108,000 sf of space.
"Currently we host many social events ranging from 100-200 persons as well as large trade shows and events that can have well over 5,000 people," says Tuttle. "We have seven year-round restaurants ranging from fast-casual concepts like Filo’s Mexican Cantina to our Southern-inspired fine-dining restaurant, Stirrups. We are fortunate to have a very talented hospitality staff throughout all departments of the campus, which makes catering for all types of events an experience guests and attendees truly enjoy."
Prevue visited the WEC when it was hosting the Ocala Food & Wine Festival, one of several lavish annual occasions that planners can opt to coincide with their own event. The 3-day culinary spectacular included food and wine tastings, celebrity chef-led demonstrations and educational classes, culminating in a multi-course celebrity chef dinner that would wow any group, prepared by culinary stars such as Chef Lorena Garcia and Pitmaster Rashad Jones. —Steve Grasso [ON LOCATION]
worldequestriancenter.com; equestrianhotel.com; ridingacademyhotel.com