W Miami Hotel

W Miami, formerly Viceroy Miami, is a luxury hotel located in Brickell, Miami and part of the three tower mixed-use Icon Brickell complex. The hotel, located at 485 Brickell Avenue, opened in 2009 and contains several restaurants, pools, and lounges.[1][2]

Qatari hospitality investment firm Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Al Faisal Holding, acquired the Viceroy Miami hotel in June 2016 for $64.5 million.[3] Following the sale, the hotel was rebranded as W Miami.[4]

Property details

The hotel opened in 2009 and was designed by Arquitectonica, a Miami-based international architecture, interior design, and urban planning company.[5] In 2011, the Viceroy was bought by Pebblebrook Hotel Trust for $36.5 million.[6]

W Miami is one of three towers in the Icon Brickell project. The 10-acre development is located in a waterfront property in the urban Brickell neighborhood of Greater Downtown Miami. Located in Tower 3, W Miami, consists of 148 rooms and suites, 5 commercial units, and 38 condominium hotel units in the 50-story building.[7]

W Miami is best known for its rooftop cocktail lounge on the 50th floor, the signature W Living Room on the hotel's 15th floor, and Florida's largest infinity pool also located on the rooftop.[8]

ARTIC acquisition

On June 1, 2016, Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Company (ARTIC), a subsidiary of the Qatar-based Al Faisal Holding Company, announced its acquisition of the Viceroy Miami hotel and the subsequent rebranding of the property into a W hotel.[9] The acquisition cost $64.5 million and led to the cessation of Viceroy's management of the hotel as Starwood took over management.[10]

The acquisition of Viceroy Miami was ARTIC's fifth investment in the U.S. and the second in Miami, following the $213 million acquisition of St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in 2014.[11][12] ARTIC's U.S. hospitality portfolio includes the Radisson Blu hotel in Chicago, the St. Regis Washington D.C., the Manhattan Times Square in New York, and the St. Regis Bal Harbour Hotel in Miami.[13] The W Miami is the third W hotel in South Florida, in addition to W South Beach and W Fort Lauderdale.[14][15]

Awards

Before the 2016 ARTIC acquisition, Viceroy Miami was mentioned as one of USA Today's "10 Best" 2015 Best Hotel Rooftop Bars.[16] ARTIC also stated that Viceroy Miami had previously been awarded Conde Nast Traveler's Top Hotels in Florida in 2013 and 2015.[17]