New Hotel Opening: W Miami Downtown

W Hotel Miami Downtown

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There have been a number of hotel announcements already this year like the new Le Meridien in Rome, the new Andaz set for Vienna and a new Hyatt on Miami Beach but some of those are still a few years away from completion so it’s hard to get too excited about them. Now, however, we have a slew of new hotels actually opening their doors and I’ll be taking a look at a some of them over next few days. The first is the W Miami.

W Miami Opens In Downtown

The W Miami is the reincarnation of what was once the Viceroy Hotel Miami in the heart of downtown, just across the water from the JW Marriott. The hotel only opened it’s doors on 1 June so google maps hasn’t yet caught up:

Screen Shot 2016-06-02 at 10.29.37 copy

I’ve never hidden my dislike of W Hotels in the past but the pictures of this one (courtesy of Starwood) have given me pause for thought:

w-miami-downtown - 3W Hotel Miami Downtown

w-miami-downtown - 1W Hotel Miami Downtown

w-miami-downtown - 2W Hotel Miami Downtown

w-miami - 1W Hotel Miami Downtown

It looks more grown up than a lot of other W Hotels I’ve seen and, although the decor isn’t exactly to my taste, it looks as if the hotel is making an effort to be more “welcome to a bit of luxury” rather than “welcome to our Vegas nightclub” – and that’s a great step to see a W Hotel take.

In fairness to W Hotels (see? I do try to be balanced!) its other Miami property (on South Beach) also looks a lot better than their counterparts in Hollywood, New York, Beijing and a number of other locations so maybe its something they’re doing right in Florida?

The W Miami comes with 148 room and 28 suites. The rooms all come with, at a minimum, what you’d expect from a mid-to-high end hotel – like espresso machines and large flatscreen TVs. WiFi is free to all members of SPG (free to join) as long as the hotel is booked through Starwood (website, mobile app or over the phone).

The amenities and services at the hotel include:

  • WET® Outdoor Heated Pool
  • FIT
  • The Spa
  • WIRED Business Center
  • Computer Workstations in Lobby
  • Valet parking ($38/day)

w-miami - 2W Hotel Miami Downtown

There are two dining options at the property:

Cafe Icon – open from 8:00am to 5:30pm weekdays and to 6:00pm on weekends

15th & Vine Kitchen & Bar – featuring American cuisine. Open 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM (Mon – Fri), 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Sat – Sun) and 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM (Sun – Thur).

Park Hyatt MallorcaW Hotel Miami Downtown – Cafe Icon

Pricing & Awards

The W Miami Downtown is a SPG Category 6 hotel (one category lower than its sister property on South Beach) so award nights will set you back 20,000 – 25,000 Starpoints.

Randomly selected nights in July and August start anywhere from $259 to $399 while the rates currently posted for the winter months are often $500+.

That makes it a poor value for Starpoint redemptions at the lower (where you’d probably be getting around 1.3 cents/Starpoint) but, potentially, a great redemption at the higher end where you could easily get a return of over 3 cents/Starpoint.

Bottom Line

Incredibly, this actually looks like W Hotel that I may want to stay at. I can’t see any obvious signs of style over substance (something which I associate very closely with a lot of W Hotels), the common areas and rooms look very bright and airy (no sign of dark, neon-lit awfulness like at the W Beijing) and, although the location is clearly more for commerce than leisure, it’s still not too badly located if you wan to take in all Miami has to offer. I’d definitely be interested in seeing the property for myself…even if I don’t necessarily stay on my first visit.

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