LE MERIDIEN CONDO HOTEL

IN SUNNY ISLES

Q: What is your opinion of the Le Meridien condo hotel in Sunny Isles?

A: I liked this condo hotel before they put Le Meridien in charge of the operation of the property. I like it even more now. Le Meridien, owned by Air France, has some name recognition and real drawing power that bodes well for the hotel operation and occupancy. Also, the pricing is very competitive; especially considering it is directly on the beach.

If you like the Le Meridien project, you may also want to consider Sole on the Ocean another good alternative. Sole was patterned after the the success they had at Le Meridien, basically building another smaller, upscale, European-style, boutique property in the same general area.

Q: Is Sunny Isles an up and coming area?

A: Absolutely! With very little or no land available in Miami Beach anymore, many developers have shifted their focus to the sand north of Miami Beach. Just 10 years back, and for the better part of the last 50 years, Sunny Isles was known as Motel Rowe, with dozens and dozens of 50-300 room motels, one right after another. Today, most of those motels are gone, and glorious condo and condo hotel skyscrapers replace these outdated two and three story properties. As a result, real estate values have been soaring like the buildings themselves.

Q: Is Sunny Isles considered to be a little bit off the beaten track?

A: Maybe at one time it was, but no longer. It is midway between both the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale International Airports. The Sunny Isles beaches are beautiful. Sunny Isles has a giant mall at Aventura just to the north and one of the finest collections of upscale shops, (like their own little Rodeo Dr.) just to the south in Bal Harbour.

Another way to look at this is by answering the question: What does Sunny Isles have in common with NY and Chicago? Answer: Donald Trump thought enough about those areas to believe that a condo hotel was worth investing in and having his name on.

By the way, he is now adding another Trump condo hotel in Downtown Toronto, and there may be one coming to Ft. Lauderdale in the not-to-distant future. Does it sound like Trump builds off the beaten track? The answer is no.

The above question(s) were submitted via e-mail by a visitor to www.condohotelcenter.com. The answer was prepared by Joel Greene, a licensed real estate broker with Condo Hotel Center which specializes in the sale of condo hotel units and fractional ownerships in private residence clubs.