The plush Lincoln Town Car that picked us up at Orlando's airport now stops inside the porte cochere at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. Within seconds, we're whisked inside the mosaic-floored lobby, handed steaming, lemon-scented towels - and the key to a Mercedes 500SL convertible. Neither Emily, my friend, nor I have ever driven a new Mercedes (the odometer reads 46 miles), let alone one styled like a silver bullet and outfitted with a GPS, manual and automatic transmissions, and a hard top that folds back into the trunk.

Mercedes come complimentary with the hotel's luxury package. Before we can shift into first gear, CDs are loaded into the sound system and Patsy Cline's "Crazy" pours from the mahogany dashboard.

Crazy, indeed, that we were surprised at the hotel's superior service. After all, just four days earlier, the Ritz-Carlton's concierge had called to inquire about any special needs we might have. Were there food restrictions or spa preferences? What type of wine did we like? I asked if this was standard for all guests. "Absolutely," said the concierge, explaining that the hotel is designed to fill certain lodging needs in Orlando. Specifically, the need for world-class luxury and service.

With miles of theme parks at its back door, Orlando has always been the consummate family destination. Yet, when travelers searched for elegance and exclusivity, the city didn't come up on their radar. Now it will. And like us, many will check into Grande Lakes, a $600 million, 500-acre oasis that  opened in summer 2003. Besides the 584-room Ritz-Carlton (imagine an Italian palazzo with armies of royal palms), the elite retreat has the 1,000-room JW Marriott that's managed by the Ritz. The properties blend seamlessly among citrus and rose gardens, winding creeks, golf greens and Everglades-like marshes.

Scenes of cypress wilderness stretch from our 14-floor balcony. Below, fountains flow around a fleur-de-lys-shaped pool guarded by lion sculptures. The only hint of theme parks is a single SeaWorld roller coaster loop in the distance - plus nightly fireworks, compliments of the sealife park. The show is just as spectacular from the verandah at the Club Lounge, another luxury package perk, which offers five light-but-lavish meals daily.

Of course, guests who want a theme park experience need only consult with a concierge, who can arrange VIP tours at certain parks. We choose to park ourselves at the hotel spa, a 40,000-square-foot, three-level haven with Romanesque pathways, a heated outdoor pool and a café with demo kitchen. Deciding on a treatment is a challenge: nearly 60 facials and massages are on the menu, many with an international twist. I settle on a Balinese massage, inspired by the Ritz-Carlton on Indonesia's Jimbaran coast. Finely choreographed, it blends Chinese tapoement (gentle muscle taps) and subtle skin-rolling to awaken yet calm nerve endings.

We park among the Rolls Royces on Winter Park's brick lanes, some dating to the 1880s.


That evening, the choreography is culinary: eight (count them, eight) courses at Norman's, the Ritz's signature restaurant. As chef Norman Van Aken's only satellite restaurant (his main one is in Coral Gables), it's a coup for Orlando diners. Here, Van Aken unveils his exhilarating "New World" cuisine, a fusion of Latin and Caribbean flavors using classic European techniques. We savor yuca-stuffed shrimp with habanero tartar salsa among rose-colored walls and cushioned suede banquettes.

The buttery leather of our Mercedes' interior is the mobile setting for next-day's foray into Winter Park, a historic, class-conscious town on Orlando's northeast fringe. We park among the Rolls Royces on Winter Park's brick lanes, some dating to the 1880s. Along fashionable Park Avenue, Emily and I prowl boutiques that will personalize your Lilly Pulitzer blouse with complimentary monogramming. The height of glass glamour awaits on the avenue's north end at the Tiffany Chapel. Located at the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum, this Byzantine-style "temple of art" was built by Louis Comfort Tiffany in Chicago for the 1893 World Expo. Later disassembled and stored for a century, it was rebuilt in Winter Park, opening in 1999.

Orlando's newest Tiffany collection is at The Mall at Millenia, launched in late 2002. Part of the Tiffany & Co jewelry line, it's joined in the upscale mall by classic designers such as Chanel, Cartier and Furla.