The hotel being developed by global hospitality and entertainment company Delaware North in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center is targeting a March 2022 opening.
The Courtyard by Marriott Titusville – Kennedy Space Center hotel has been under construction since summer 2019 on Riverfront Center Boulevard off State Route 405 on part of the former site of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. The hotel is just 7.1 miles from the space center and 6.4 miles from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Construction was paused for a year due to the pandemic but resumed this summer.
Among its 152 rooms, the five-floor hotel will feature 14 extended and one-bedroom guest suites and eight ground floor walkout rooms, four of which will have firepits. The hotel will also have a large outdoor resort-style pool with a children’s section, cabanas and a bar; a ground-floor Bistro featuring a bar and outdoor seating and serving full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus as well as Starbucks products; a 700-square-foot meeting room; and charging stations for electric cars.
The signature feature is the rooftop deck with a bar and restaurant called The Space Bar, offering an elevated evening experience and views of the Indian River, which is part of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway, as well as Merritt Island and Kennedy Space Center. The hotel will be the closest to the space center’s launch complexes, 39A and 39B, with the rooftop bar offering unobstructed views.
“The Space Bar will offer a unique experience for local residents, visitors who work in the aerospace industry along with space enthusiasts of all ages,” said Wayne Soard, general manager of the hotel for Delaware North. “It’s going to offer once-in-a-lifetime views of rocket launches and also be a fun night out in a cool setting for corporate and association retreats, government meetings, weddings and other group events.”
Delaware North will serve a broad menu of casual but chef-driven fare at The Space Bar, including salads, bowls, flatbreads, specialty desserts and space-inspired cocktails.
Increased interest and activity in the space program prompted Delaware North to undertake the hotel project, which has been focused on creating a new, family-friendly hotel near Kennedy Space Center and the visitor complex.
“The hotel is going to offer a new level of convenience and comfort to make it easier for Space Coast visitors to prolong their stays at the visitor complex and experience rocket launches,” Soard said.
The American Police Hall of Fame and Museum is also located nearby.
The project is creating about 50 construction jobs and 50 permanent part- and full-time jobs.
The hotel will be the first in Florida for Delaware North, which operates lodging properties across the United States and Australia. Among them is another hotel under a Marriott flag, The Westin Buffalo at Delaware North’s global headquarters.
Soard has more than 30 years of hospitality management experience, primarily with Delaware North. He comes to the general manager position at the Courtyard by Marriott Titusville from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, where he was district manager for Delaware North, overseeing two lodges and a cabins complex, along with food, beverage and retail operations. Prior to that he served as vice president of operations and in various hotel management positions at Delaware North’s Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack in West Virginia.
