Marriott this fall is debuting its first JW Marriott Marquis, in downtown Miami. The hotel, an upgrade of the JW Marriott brand, offers a 50,000-square-foot indoor sports complex that will include a professional-grade basketball court.
The sports facilities on the hotel’s 19th and 20th floors will also include a tennis court, Jim McLean Golf School, Rik Rak Spa & Salon, fitness center and virtual bowling alley (real bowling balls with virtual pins).
Hotel General Manager Florencia Tabeni said the complex was created "as part of our mission to cater to the individual preferences of each guest."
"As a first-to-market brand, and the most exclusive of its kind, the JW Marriott Marquis Miami is able to further our guests’ expectations of what a world-class hotel should offer," she said.
The 313-room hotel, set to open Oct. 15, is the first JW Marriott in the world to bear the Marquis name. A second is being developed in Dubai.
Paul Pebley, head of sales and marketing for the hotel, said the Marquis designation marks it as "best in class" for the JW Marriott brand.
In addition to the sports complex, the building will include a second hotel, the 44-room Hotel Beaux Arts Miami. The boutique property will be housed on the top floor.
Pebley said the downtown properties are designed to offer new levels of amenities for both leisure and business travelers.
"As a luxury brand, we see our guest as being someone who is an accomplished individual," he said. "Whether traveling on business or leisure, they are the midlevel manager. They are really accomplished, and they have gotten to a place where they have some passion and lifestyle preferences. So what we have tried to do with the amenities … is satisfy a need for that."
The hotel will also have 80,000 square feet of meetings space.
Pebley said the hotel will have the largest ballroom in downtown Miami, and the basketball court and sports facilities offer groups a different options for activities.
"We have done very well with the large-group market because we do have an inordinate amount of meeting space," he said. Most of the downtown Miami hotels are older with limited meetings space, he said.
