Industry News

LE MERIDIEN, LATEST LAP OF LUXURY IN SUNNY ISLES BEACH

Miami Beach has its art deco landmarks, but Sunny Isles Beach is getting quite a collection of upscale, high-rise hotels.

Miami's Fortune International has signed London's Le Meridien to manage its M Resort Residence, a 25-story, 210-unit condo hotel expected to open late 2004. That adds to the beach town's lineup of the Trump International Sonesta Beach Resort and the Rosewood Hotel announced for the Acqualina project, a condominium under construction.

"We like the concept of having Trump there and Acqualina/Rosewood," said Glyn F. Aeppel, Le Meridien executive VP for business development in the Americas.

Le Meridien, which has 130 properties with 34,000 rooms in 56 countries, has developed an arts and tech concept for rooms that includes 42-inch plasma TVs with high-speed Internet access, etched glass headboards and lighting systems capable of creating a variety of moods.

Fortune had done a similar design on its own and became excited when it saw the Le Meridien announcement about its plans, Aeppel said.

Sunny Isles will be the first oceanfront resort in the United States for Le Meridien, which has urban locations in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Minneapolis, plus a resort spa in Palm Springs, Calif.

Le Meridien was close to a deal two-and-a-half years ago in Miami Beach, which didn't happen, Aeppel said, but gave the hoteliers exposure to Sunny Isles.

"Sunny Isles is a fabulous continuation of the growth Miami has enjoyed," she said.

For more information on condo hotels, please call Condo Hotel Center at (305) 944-3090 or send an e-mail to info@condohotelcenter.com.