The Delta Orlando Resort, a sprawling, 800-room hotel that seemed ideally located within walking distance of Universal Orlando, has abruptly closed its doors. Owned by a Canadian investment group known as Universal Partners LLC, the 20-year-old Delta had ironically been troubled by, among other things, a shortage of the Canadian tourists who were long its bread and butter. Canadian travel to Orlando has swooned since last year's terrorist attacks, and a weak currency-exchange rate is discouraging a rebound. The Delta was also hurt by the opening of three luxurious hotels on Universal Orlando property, including the Royal Pacific Resort that opened this past spring. The Delta is a "victim of several factors that aren't its fault," said Walter Check, a marketing official at CVC & Associates, an Orlando hotel-renovation company that had recently signed a $450,000 contract to freshen the now-defunct resort's exterior. |