- April 13, 2026
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Lakewood Ranch continues to reign as the top-selling, multigenerational, master-planned community in the United States, so naturally people want to visit.
Attractions like Premier Sports Campus inside Lakewood Ranch in east Manatee County and Mote SEA in north Sarasota County — both just beyond Lakewood Ranch's boundaries — make the area even more appealing to visitors. And events like the Senior PGA Championship, hosted by The Concession Golf Club later this month, are generating national attention for the area.
Even so, there are just four hotels inside the boundaries of Lakewood Ranch. Those properties have a combined 445 rooms. (There are several hotels just outside Lakewood Ranch, in the UTC district and near Nathan Benderson Park, with a few hundred more rooms.)
That dearth of Lakewood Ranch hotel rooms is now primed to change, as five more hotels are in various planning stages in Lakewood Ranch. Those properties, if all completed as planned, will deliver another 581 hotel rooms — pushing the total number of rooms in Lakewood Ranch over 1,000,
Three of the four current hotels — Fairfield by Marriott, Home2 Suites by Hilton and Hyatt Place — are tucked away on Exchange Way off Town Center Parkway. It’s a location where you might only know the hotels exist because they have been pulled up in an internet search.
Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse likes the addition of hotels to a community because “they're not overly intensive and they pay a ton of taxes.” Hotels don’t cause a lot of traffic or overburden infrastructure.
He notes businesses will stay and expand in an area when their executives have places to stay. Additionally, hotels often offer amenities to residents by way of community meeting rooms, restaurants or day passes for a pool. They also benefit local businesses.
Restaurants, salons, a spa, grocery store and pharmacy are all within a 10-minute walk of the three-hotel block on Exchange Way, and a gas station is a five-minute drive.
So it makes sense to Amanda Zipperer, director of property management and leasing for Lakewood Ranch Commercial, that three of the new hotels will be built on Town Center Parkway, just around the corner from the three hotels on Exchange Way.
“Hotels benefit from being located near one another,” Zipperer says. “As part of the community’s broader vision, it was essential to establish a cohesive lodging node. Clustering along Interstate 75 was intentional, as it creates a critical mass of accommodations that attracts travelers and reinforces the area as a regional destination.”
Zipperer adds that proximity drives performance, and each hotel will serve a different price point and guest profile.
"Lakewood Ranch is massively growing," Kruse said. "And we don't have many hotels off the beach. Sarasota has hotels downtown, off Stickney Point Road and along U.S. 41. We don't have that here (in Manatee County)."
The three hotels being planned for Town Center Parkway, which is right next door to the Manatee County Administration Building, are LivSmart Studios by Hilton, Candlewood Suites and Hyatt Studios.
The existing hotels on Exchange Way offer a total of 317 rooms. When completed, the hotels on Town Center Parkway will offer an additional 358 rooms.
Zipperer says LivSmart is the closest to construction but couldn’t provide a set start date. Manatee County issued a letter approving the final site plan Jan. 9.
The 4-story, 119-room hotel will be built on 4.4 acres across the street from the Manatee County Administration Building.
Plans for Candlewood Suites and Hyatt Studios were submitted to Manatee County as one project on 8.44 acres directly to the south of the county administration building. The pre-application meeting was held in October.
Both hotels will be four stories. Candlewood Suites will offer 120 rooms, and Hyatt Studios will offer 119 rooms.
Straight across University Parkway from Exchange Way is Lakewood Ranch's Corporate Park, where the fourth Lakewood Ranch hotel sits. That property is Even Hotel, on Lake Osprey Drive, which offers 128 rooms, a full-service bar and an outdoor pool.
A 103-key StudioRes by Marriott is planned for the Corporate Park. Rooms will span two buildings, at 6641 and 6645 Professional Parkway.
Marriott debuted the low-cost, extended stay brand in Fort Myers in June 2025 and two more StudioRes locations have since opened in Newman, Georgia and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
A start date for construction on the Lakewood Ranch StudioRes is unknown; Bask Development, a Chicago-based hotel development firm, secured a five-year, $12.44 million construction loan in July to fund the project.
Bask Development is also constructing a second hotel in Lakewood Ranch, on the southwest corner of Silver Falls Run and White Eagle Boulevard. The brand has not been announced yet.
The project narrative submitted to Manatee County calls the hotel the Silverfalls Business Hotel and describes it as a “business-oriented lodging facility” with 120 rooms.
“The hotel will provide large single-room guest units designed for short-term and extended-stay lodging,” the narrative reads. “Supporting guest amenities will include a breakfast buffet bar and afternoon beverage service for registered guests. Additional amenities are anticipated to include a fitness facility and swimming pool. Limited meeting space may be provided to support business travelers and small group functions.”
While intended for business travelers, the hotel is only a few minutes away from the Premier Sports Campus. According to Elliott Falcione, director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau for Manatee County, the campus generates some $45 million annually in economic impact hosting sporting events.
