Posted on Sunday, 10.24.2010 New Downtown Miami Hotels - Places to Stay in Miami Florida Miami’s tourism boosters are hoping more visitors seek out new places to stay in Miami, particularly, in downtown Miami hotels. The JW Marriott Marquis is latest high-rise hotel to open up downtown Miami, the City’s urban corridor. Opening Friday, the new hotel will sit across the street from the Epic condos at the intersection of Southeast Third Avenue near Biscayne Boulevard, just north of the Miami River. Nancy Novogrod, editor for Travel and Leisure says it will add a bit more shine to downtown Miami's status as one of the more popular places to stay in Miami Florida. The 41-story Marriott will add another 357 rooms, including an exclusive boutique ``hotel within a hotel'', to an area that has grown by more than 2,000 over the last 10 years.
Other downtown Miami hotels opening earlier this year was the budget-oriented 65-room Hotel Urbano, a former Hampton Inn on Brickell Avenue near the entrance to Rickenbacker Causeway and Tempo Miami, part of a condo tower near American Airlines Arena. These newest places to stay in Miami followed the Viceroy Miami in 2009 and the Epic Hotel, part of the boutique Kimpton chain, in late 2008. Earlier luxury downtown Miami hotels that paved the way for the rebirth included the Four Seasons in 2003 and JW Marriott, both on Brickell Avenue, and Brickell Key's Mandarin Oriental in 2000.
Downtown Miami Hotel Recovery
Occupancy rates for downtown Miami hotels have rebounded so far this year to nearly 69 percent from 61 percent last year, as business travel has picked up and groups have slowly started venturing into markets that were off limits during the economic downfall. Mary Brickell Village which is a shopping and dining area is full of people for both lunch and dinner. New Miami restaurants are causing excitement downtown like Zuma at the Epic Hotel and the JW Marriott Marquis' soon-to-open DB Bistro Moderne from award-winning chef Daniel Boulud. In 2006, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts opened and has added popular new programs plus a restaurant and lounge. In 2013 and 2014, the long anticipated Miami Art Museum and Miami Science Museum is to open. LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, the Miami Heat's new superstar lineup, has upped enthusiasm for the area -- leading to promotional potential for Miami hotels eager to their rooms filled up. Eric Jellson, area director of sales and marketing for Kimpton and the Epic Hotel, said he has a few guests checking in for an upcoming game as part of a Miami Heat offer that includes a room discount, transportation to the arena and a food and beverage credit. |