The World's Coming to Miami (And Needs Hotel Rooms)

South Florida’s long been hot for hospitality (remember when James Bond stayed at the Fontainebleau?), but the rise of greater Miami as an international city has added extra sizzle, Menin Hospitality CEO Keith Menin tells us. Hear more from Keith at Bisnow’s South Florida Retail & Hospitality Summit on April 1 at the InterContinental Miami. Sign up here.

Everyone wants to come to South Florida, Keith says, and they all have to have a place to stay. The influx isn’t just Latin American, but from all over the world. That’s driving occupancies as well as developer and investor interest in the sector. But guests are expecting hotels to be more these days, he says. To be successful, a hotel has to be an experience. Guests have to remember it for being more than just a room and a restaurant. (In-room puppet shows are not the answer; we learned that the hard way.)

Menin Hospitality focuses on the boutique hotel experience, Keith says. The next project in the works for the company is 42 Collins, one of the last buildings South of Fifth in Miami Beach that the city's approved for a hotel. Memin plans to undertake a $23M renovation of the 104-room, five-story property, adding some elements of that all-important experiential package: a new restaurant, rum bar concept, pool, and sundeck. (A rum bar and a sundeck... put on enough sunscreen for the day.)

“The hospitality business is pretty simple,” InterContinental Miami Hotel GM Robert Hill tells us. “It's hospitality. That means a loyal customer can be created solely based on how you recover from a service issue they’ve experienced.” (We had a nice man fix a leaky sink at a motel in Paducah, KY in 1981 and we've been back every year. Sink still leaks.) Besides a high level of customer service, he agrees that hotels also need distinctive amenities and an environment that fosters memorable moments. No matter how hot the hotel market gets, properties will have to compete on experiences to stand out.

Thanks to its recent $30M renovation, the InterContinental now has cutting-edge digital arts and technology, Robert says, to help keep it competitive for leisure travel and international business, and attractive for unique events. The hotel’s upgrade seems to be paying off: In 2013, the InterContinental Miami enjoyed record performance, outpacing the market averages in ADR and RevPAR. Also, the hotel’s total occupancy for the year exceeded the market average of 77.9%.

Miami is evolving so that hospitality works synergistically with other property types for the benefit of all. Dacra COO Steven Gretenstein, who will also be at our summit, tells us that original architecture and design and urban landscaping throughout a development makes it a unique experience for the visitor. The Miami Design District fits the bill as a walkable neighborhood in which hospitality and retail will exist together to make a destination not found elsewhere. (Where else would you see ghosts so openly shopping?) Besides more shops and restaurants—and the Buckminster Fuller Fly’s Eye Dome (pictured) and other public art—a boutique hotel is planned for the district.

Highrises in Miami and boutiques in Miami Beach aren’t the only game in town for guests or investors, HFF’s Michael Weinberg tells us. Recently HFF repped Vista Hospitality Co in its sale of Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Lauderdale, a 156-room hotel in Plantation, to Waramaug LS Hotels, for an unspecified price. Hospitality has certainly returned as a favored asset class and South Florida is one of the hottest hotel markets in the country, Michael says. "The combination of these two factors, along with a strong brand and recent renovation, made the Holiday Inn Express a highly desired asset.” (Wanna learn more? Please join us for Bisnow's South Florida Retail & Hospitality Summit at the InterContinental Miami on April 1. Our panelists will also include execs from Ackman-Ziff, Advancit Real Estate Investments, CBRE, Cohen Commercial Properties, Goldman Properties, Hilton Worldwide, KNR Hospitality, and Stiles.)