Renaissance World Golf Village Resort In Northeast Florida Opening New Italian Restaurant

Named Villagio

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. November 02, 2011

Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Florida - November 1, 2011 - The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort . will open a new casually-elegant Italian Grille named Villagio on November 11, 2011. Located inside of the AAA Four-Diamond resort's picturesque atrium lobby, Villagio will serve a range of traditional Italian pastas, flatbreads, paninis, fresh fish, great steaks, local farm fresh salads, and family-style traditional Italian cuisine. Located in the space previously occupied by 500 South Restaurant, the restaurant will be open nightly for dinner from 5 - 10 p.m. In addition to indoor dining, guests also will have the option to dine outdoors on the resort's beautiful new brick-paved La Terrazza outdoor terrace.

“Villagio will be a leading edge, yet very approachable, restaurant that will feature a fresh 'farm to fork' menu with many of the menu items sourced from local farmers,” said Paul Daum, Beverage & Food Director/Assistant General Manager of the resort. “The restaurant will specialize in Italian fare that uses the freshest ingredients in the region, and will be an outstanding new dining option in Northeast Florida.”

Featuring beautiful architecture, a full-length wine wall, hardwood floors, warm wood tones, colorful accents, and dramatic lighting, Villagio will be under the direction of Restaurant Chef Alberto Avila, who is known for his creativity, flare, and exceptional cuisine. Prior to joining The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort earlier this year Avila served for two years as Restaurant Chef and Restaurant Manager for the AAA Four-Diamond Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel and Spa in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Prior to that, he was the Chef and Owner of Santioni's in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Previous positions include serving as Restaurant Chef at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort for four years, and as Chef and Owner of Antony's Ristorante in Haledo, New Jersey.

“Chef Alberto is a truly-talented chef who creates exceptional Italian dishes,” added Daum. “Diners will be in for a real treat when they taste his cuisine, and experience our fine new restaurant.”

The bar adjacent to the restaurant, formerly named 500 South Lounge, will be The Bar at Villagio . Offerings include a wide range of specialty cocktails, classic cocktails with a twist, great wine-by-the-glass choices, and a host of locally micro-brewed beers that highlight The Renaissance brand's indigenous offerings. The Bar at Villagio will also feature a daily 5-6-7 Happy Hour from 5-7 p.m., where guests can choose items from 5 different specialty food and beverage menus with each item priced at $6. “These menus allow our guests to experience some of our finer items from our beer, wine, specialty cocktail, and food menus at a special price, and the choices are quite extensive,” said Daum.

Open to the public, Villagio will feature a diverse menu, comprehensive cocktail list, and extensive wine list with offerings from Chile, Spain, South Africa and Italy. The restaurant also will be open for breakfast from 6:30 - 11:30 a.m. Monday-Friday, and from 7 a.m.-noon on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, the restaurant will be open for lunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. daily.

Villagio Restaurant and The Bar at Villagio also are available for private parties, and for holiday parties. Options include cocktail receptions in a private section of the lounge, formal wine dinners in one of the two private dining rooms, and chef experiential interactive dinners.

Located within the lush 6,300-acre World Golf Village, adjacent to the World Golf Hall of Fame, The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort is the only Northeast Florida resort and convention center to receive the prestigious AAA Four-Diamond rating. The honor is achieved by less than 4% of the AAA approved properties. Other honors recently bestowed on the resort include Successful Meetings magazine's acclaimed “Pinnacle Award,” Association Meetings magazine's prestigious “Inner Circle Award,” and Meetings & Conventions magazine's acclaimed “Gold Key Award.”

Not resting on its many laurels, the resort recently completed other enhancements, which includes the addition of 15,000 square feet of new outdoor function space, to bring the resort's offerings to 101,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The resort also recently opened a new The UPS Store and Business Center; added a new destination services and event planning department; added a picturesque new fountain called La Piazza; added a scenic new gazebo; and opened The Resort Shop, which serves a full menu of Starbuck's coffees, pastries, breakfast fare, sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps, and desserts, as well as an array of local gifts and souvenirs.

To coincide with the enhanced meeting and event space offerings, the resort also unveiled its new Intriguing Meetings program. Designed to provide distinctive and inspired programs for groups, the resort's Intriguing Meetings program includes unique and intriguing tablescaping in the meeting rooms that are designed to be visually appealing and to inspire creativity. Additionally, the program features R Meeting Experts who are ambassadors dedicated to catering to planners' needs and to ensuring an exceptional program.

Also, the resort launched its innovative White Glove Meetings Services which includes complimentary White Glove transportation to and from Jacksonville International Airport in its own passenger vans for new group business booked in 2011 and beyond. To qualify for the complimentary airport transportation a group is required to contract for a minimum of 50 rooms per night for 2 nights and 2 banquet meals daily.

All of these recent enhancements and new offerings follow a $10 million resort-wide renovation that was completed in 2008, which included the complete remodeling of guest rooms and suites, a dramatically-renovated lobby, newly-remodeled guest room corridors, an expanded fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, enhanced meeting space, and the opening of 500 South Restaurant & Bar.

As part of the renovation guest rooms and suites received new furniture, soft goods, window treatments, lighting, 37” flat-panel screen LCD HDTV televisions, and the Marriott JackPack, which provides complete connectivity to the guests for laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras, and video game players. The rooms and suites feature a contemporary design with an Asian feel, which includes rich red bed coverings, crisp white linens, along with a color scheme of warm neutral gold. In-room offerings also include high-speed Internet access, two telephones with data ports, a wet bar and refrigerator, an in-room safe, and in-room coffee.

The resort also boasts a dramatically remodeled 10-story atrium lobby, featuring a Colonial/Asian theme with lush foliage and a colorful 7-story modern hanging sculpture that is reminiscent of open Florida skies.

Situated adjacent to the World Golf Hall of Fame, the ultimate destination for the celebration of golf with fun interactive exhibits and historic golf artifacts, the resort offers two championship golf courses: the popular Slammer & Squire (just steps from The Renaissance Resort), and the renowned King & Bear (co-designed by Arnold “The King” Palmer and Jack “The Bear” Nicklaus). Guests also have access to four additional golf courses within 15 minutes of the resort, for a total of 108 holes of golf. Additional offerings at the resort include a sauna, pool, hot tub, and full-service concierge.

Guests also are an easy walk to The World Golf Hall of Fame's 18-hole real grass putting course, a 132-yard Island Challenge Hole, an IMAX® 3D Theater, and the Walk of Champions. In addition, guests can take golf lessons at the renowned PGA TOUR Golf Academy.

When visiting the resort, guests and groups have the opportunity to visit nearby pristine Atlantic beaches, take fun eco-tours and chartered fishing trips, enjoy exceptional shopping at two large outlet malls, and explore historic St. Augustine.

To make it easy for its guests to enjoy area offerings, The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort is now offering a complimentary shuttle for individual guests (based on availability) to and from historic downtown St. Augustine. This new service enables guests to easily visit such sites in St. Augustine, which was founded in 1565, as the historic Castillo de San Marcos fort, The Fountain of Youth, and shopping on the charming, brick-paved St. George Street. Additional options in downtown St. Augustine include the Old Town Trolley Tour, The Old Jail, The St. Augustine History Museum, The Spanish Quarter, The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Whetstone's Chocolate Factory, Lightner Museum, Flagler College, and a variety of water activities.

For information on The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center, call 888-740-7020 or 904-940-8000, or visit www.WorldGolfRenaissance.com .