I’m A Travel Editor—After Visiting This Southern Resort, It’s The Only Place I’ll Ever Vacation With A Large Group Again

I learned long ago that the more people you get involved in a trip, the more trouble it can spell. Differing opinions, interests, schedules, habits, and cleanliness standards can all stack up to turn what was supposed to be a fun group trip into something entirely the opposite. But as an avid traveler who also loves bringing people together, that's never been enough deter me from planning a group trip.

In the past, this has mostly looked like weekend jaunts to the Emerald Coast with a caravan of cars traveling down I-65 from Birmingham . A couple years ago, our friend group embarked on our first international journey to a resort in Mexico. But this year, with the addition of five kiddos (all under 16 months) to our group, our destination wish list looked a little different.

Enter Evermore Resort in Orlando, Florida, a 1,100-acre resort situated around a crystal-clear, manmade lagoon with 20 acres of white-sand beaches. A beach destination where you don't have to worry about riptide, sharks, or jellyfish? Sign me up. That coupled with the fact that the resort had houses big enough to accommodate our 24 guests made it a surprisingly easy sell to my friends. I'm sure the 1.5-hour direct flight in lieu of a 4-hour road trip to our usual beach was also comforting to the new parents in the group. Of all the people I asked, only one couple ended up bowing out.

About The Resort

Opened in January 2024, Evermore is a first-of-its kind luxury resort that changes the game for group travel by offering accommodations that range from traditional double occupancy hotel rooms all the way to 11-bedroom houses that sleep up to 32. The resort is centered around the 8-acre Evermore Bay, which provides not only a gorgeous tropical backdrop, but also endless option for aquatic adventure from kayaking and boating to swimming and rope swinging. Twelve distinct dining options, two golf courses, a spa, sport courts, and robust fitness and wellness programming make it so you never need to leave the resort. However, if you do plan to leave for Orlando's biggest attraction, Disney parks are just 20 minutes down the road. Since most of the kids in our group were too young to appreciate the Mouse and all he has to offer, we opted to keep it simple and spend the entirety of our long weekend at the resort. There was more than enough to do and most importantly no car seat wrangling required.

Accommodations

Stays at Evermore include the 434 guest rooms and suites at the Conrad, a AAA Five Diamond luxury hotel; four-bedroom apartment-style Flats; two- to four-bedroom villas on the golf courses, and houses boasting anywhere from five to 11 bedrooms. All are designed to foster togetherness, while simultaneously allowing everyone to have their own private space. Houses are outfitted with oversized living spaces (on every floor!), giant kitchens with ample seating for dining, private pools and outdoor areas, laundry rooms, and even special spaces for kids and teens.

Our home, a 3-story, 11-bedroom palace with with an arcade and a slide between floors three and two, couldn't have been more perfect for our group. Key to the design of all Evermore homes: every bedroom had a private ensuite bathroom. That means no awkward shuffling and scheduling for showers and all the privacy of having your own hotel room with all the conveniences of staying in a rental home or condo.

On top of being the single largest and probably grandest place I'd ever stayed, I was shocked at how supremely functional the space was. Everyone could easily gather around the oversized kitchen island, and there was enough seating at both dining tables for 18 adults, plus five highchairs. Giant sectionals gave space for everyone to sit in the first floor living room, with plenty of floor space for crawlers and new walkers to safely explore. The private pool and patio was the perfect place for parents to take a mid-day dip during nap time and hammock hanging over a tiny plot of sand provided hours of fun for little ones.

When babies had to go down for naps, everyone retreated to their own room, and as far as I know, nobody was ever woken up prematurely by another guest—a pretty big feat when you're sharing a home with 10 families.

The Food & Drink

The name of the game at Evermore is variety, and the food and drink program certainly supports that. The resort has 12 separate dining options, including five full-service restaurants serving cuisine from around the world. More casual spots and bars are sprinkled around the resort, including a taco truck on one beach, a Mediterranean-inspired fast-casual place at the pool, and bayside drinks and dining delivered straight to your umbrella and chairs in the sand.

Sandhill Provisions was a hit for early-morning specialty coffee runs plus pastries, groceries, and other grab-and-go items. The Landing, a food hall with stalls offering everything from pizza to burgers to wraps and bowls, ended up being the perfect solution for our giant group. Everyone could get exactly what they wanted, we could go any time to accommodate impatient toddler appetites, and never had to wait for a table to accommodate us all.

The crowning jewel of our dining experience at Evermore was a private chef dinner hosted inside our home. While we played in the pool, fed kids dinner, and did bath time, a staff of professionals was busy transforming our kitchen and dining room into a five-star restaurant.

Our evening started with an apéritif hour featuring charcuterie and strawberry margaritas. Once we sat down at our dining tables (which were candlelit and professionally set of course), servers came around with bread service and a burrata and fresh stone fruit salad. For the entrée, we dined on beef tenderloin with chimichurri, asparagus, and mini marble potatoes. For dessert there was homemade key lime pies piled with mountains of meringue.

Each course (and all were expertly executed and delicious) was served family style, which only added to the experience. At the end of the night, the staff packed all our leftovers into our two refrigerators, and we enjoyed all the goodness a second time for lunch the next day.  

The Activities

Evermore doesn't seem to do anything halfway and the range of activities, events, and programming is a perfect example of that. The big draw is the giant on-property lagoon and its many white-sand beaches . Complimentary towels and even automatic sunscreen spray stations are set up around the complex, so you hardly have to bring anything but yourself to enjoy a day under a chair and umbrella (setups are also complimentary and plentiful around the resort). On our first day, we scored a giant setup of 20 or so loungers set up in a circle. It was the perfect place for our giant group to relax, but still get to talk to one another between dips in the water and visits to the beach bar housed in a retro VW van.

Kayak and paddle board rentals are complimentary to all guests, as is use of a giant four-person waterslide, rope swing, and diving platforms. Sunset cruises, private cabana and daybed rentals, and private group beach experiences ranging from bonfires to boat cruises are also available for an additional fee. Every day brings a new set of activities and programming. Like a cruise ship, there's literally always something going on. Specialty fitness classes, sunrise yoga, kids' activities, adult crafts, karaoke, trivia—there's something for everyone at all hours of the day.

Under a different set of circumstances, I would have absolutely pushed for a beach volleyball game or to pack every hour of our visit with a different activity. But for the purposes of this trip, I was perfectly content to watch my 15-month-old's unfiltered glee at being able to stomp around in the shallow, still bay water and match her joy while racing friends down the giant waterslide.

Now that I've done group travel the Evermore way, I really can't see doing it anywhere else.

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