ORLANDO, Florida – A lot of destinations – golf and otherwise – claim that guests can walk with the greats who preceded them. Some of that is hyperbole, some is true. At Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, that sentiment of walking in footsteps of great people – in this case Arnold and Winnie Palmer – not only is true, it’s palpable.
Set in a quiet neighborhood of Orlando of Bay Hill, the club and lodge is as accessible as the Palmers were during their lives. No gates, no guards, no pretenses. It wasn’t unusual to see Arnold Palmer, who died Sept. 25, 2016, anywhere at Bay Hill, from the front desk of the Lodge, to first tee of the Champion Course to the Member’s Lounge and to the Bay Window restaurant, where he loved chicken pot pie and meat loaf. Pictures of Palmer with world leaders, entertainers and as a record-setting pilot, hang in hallways of the 70-room Lodge.
Now through Bay Hill’s “Perfectly Palmer’’ package, guests can experience the same Bay Hill as Arnold and Winnie Palmer.
“Bay Hill is about the lifestyle and relationships that Mr. and Mrs. Palmer developed over the years,’’ said Bay Hill Club & Lodge President/General Manager Don Emery. “We thought a wonderful way to do that was to sort of walk in the footsteps of the Palmers and get to know the things that we unique and important to them.’’
The package includes a full daily breakfast and a custom suite of amenities curated only for Perfectly Palmer participants. During a round on the Champion Course (host to the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational), lunch is provided at the Champion’s Turn halfway house. Post-round, after enjoying the atmosphere in the champions’ locker room where Palmer spent so much time, guests head to the Bay Window restaurant a cold beer, nice wine, Ketel One or complimentary Arizona Arnold Palmer beverage.
Later, guests may relax with a signature cocktail in Bay Hill’s storied Members Lounge, a neighborhood pub where VIPs gather and which is exclusively accessible to members and guests of Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
Bay Hill Club & Lodge, which features 70 guest rooms, a spa, and Arnold Palmer Golf Academy, has set aside a limited number of Perfectly Palmer packages for each week, available now through Jan. 15, 2020. Rates begin at $330 plus tax person (double occupancy).
“The Palmers, through their lives (Winnie Palmer died in 1999) had unique abilities to build lifelong relationships, whether you are the Queen of England or the plumber, they we able to relate and spend meaningful time with you.
“The package really is about the relationship experience at Bay Hill and about being part of the family of members, guests and staff. It’s about the ability to go back to a simpler time. A time of respect – when people had conversations and weren’t on their cell phones. Today, people are looking for that. They’re looking for authentic experiences. I think the Palmers represented that – and that’s what the package represents.’’
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