Haute Event: The World’s First JW Marriott Marquis Opens in Downtown Miami

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the JW Marriott Marquis (the Marriott’s very first Marquis hotel) celebrated its grand opening with a special gala and celebrity basketball exhibition.

The evening began with an intimate cocktail party at the hotel’s signature restaurant, Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne. After sipping on signature cocktails, guests moved on up to the 19th floor entertainment and lifestyle complex. DJ Irie provided the tunes and Tim Hardaway hosted as celebrities like Alex Rodriguez, Helio Castroneves, Stephanie Sayfie Aagard, Rick Leventhal and Dan Lebatard competed for a grand prize of $10,000 to be donated to the charity of their choice. A-Rod won the event (who knew he was also a basketball superstar?), and plans to donate it to the Boys & Girls Club of Miami-Dade County.

Other attendees included Brooke Shields, actress Angie Harmon, Venus Williams, Anna Kournikova, Jim McLean, Alexis Thompson and more.

The following day, to officially mark the opening of the hotel to the public, chairman and CEO of Marriott International, Bill Marriott made a special public appearance at the hotel, which began with the unveiling of two over-sized, bronze and aluminum signature Marriot Griffin statues.

Marriott was joined by other prominent international Marriott figureheads including the COO and president Arne M. Sorenson, global officer of brand management, marketing and e-commerce Ken Rehmann and the principle of MDM development and developer of JW Marriott Marquis Miami Ricardo Glas to answer questions and speak about the hotel and the future of the brand.

The JW Marriott Marquis is a welcome addition to Miami’s budding downtown area, particularly the 50,000 square-foot entertainment complex, which is one of the more impressive event spaces in all of Miami. The complex spans two floors, and in addition to doubling as a full-sized basketball arena and tennis court, includes the Jim McLean Golf School, a fully equipped fitness center, billiard room and virtual bowling alley.

The new JW Marriott Marquis is located at 345 Avenue of the Americas, Miami.

Like Haute Living South Florida? Join our Facebook page. Want Haute Living South Florida delivered to your in box once a week? Sign up for our newsletter.