The South Florida destinations of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, only a scant 30 miles from each other, are two Sunshine State movers and shakers that are augmenting their meetings offerings. And, in the case of Lauderdale, reshaping perceptions by promoting numerous arts and culture events such as February’s annual IGNITE Broward immersive light, tech and art festival, along with hospitality openings and renovations.
Following are some of the major developments propelling both destinations’ meetings and events offerings forward.
Miami
Miami is on the move. Always a favorite leisure travel destination—Miami-Dade County hosted 28.2 million visitors from June 2024 to June 2025, a 4.5% year-over-year increase—the South Florida standout is going all in on meetings with the groundbreaking of the new Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center.
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According to the Greater Miami CVB (GMCVB), the destination hosted 35 citywide events (10 new, 25 recurring) in 2025, which set a record. Miami opened 10 hotels in 2025 and expects to open 27 more by 2027. According to lodging industry data analytics company STR, Miami posted one of the top hotel occupancy rates in the U.S. in 2025, coming in at more than 73.8%. The destination led the nation in March, according to STR, posting an 83.2% occupancy rate.
“These results tell a powerful story about how our destination leaned into global headwinds and the ability of our industry partners to provide the quality of visitor experiences that helped us stand out against our competition,” said David Whitaker, president and CEO of the GMCVB, during the DMO’s annual meeting in November. “Our hotels remained among the nation’s top performers, with a 2.4% increase in average daily rate.
“Building toward 2026, our momentum is clearly defined,” he added, “fueled by signature GMCVB programs like Miami Spice that bring attention to our destination’s 59 Michelin restaurants of distinction, increasing convention bookings ahead of the opening of the new Grand Hyatt Miami Beach Convention Center headquarters hotel, and a slate of major global events like the College Football Playoff National Championship, World Baseball Classic, the PGA Tour, the NASCAR Cup Series Championship and FIFA World Cup 2026, among others.”
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Scheduled for a 2027 opening, the 800-room headquarters hotel is attached directly to the convention center and will offer 90,000 square feet of indoor meeting and conference space on its own. The property will also have 10,000 square feet of outdoor space.
The opening will result in the ability to negotiate room blocks of up to 600 rooms on peak due to an agreement with the city, according to Whitaker, who dubbed the new property a “game-changer.”
“We’ve had headquarters hotels nearby—two blocks away,” he said in an August interview with Meetings Today. “Or, we’ve put folks in three hotels next to each other three blocks away. But never under one roof, physically. That’s a huge selling point.”
Other key openings include the Dream Miami at Riverside Wharf and Virgin Hotels Miami.
Marriott’s UNFRAMED, Autograph Collection Miami Beach is located across the street from the new Grand Hyatt and gearing up for a spring 2026 opening.
Designed by celebrated architect Rudy Ricciotti, the property features a Mid-Century Modern interior designed by Gulla Jónsdóttir and a wave-like exterior design.
The iconic Fontainebleau Miami Beach opened its Coastal Convention Center in December 2024, which includes a 16,500-square-foot ballroom with an outdoor terrace, 9,500-square-foot junior ballroom, 15 meeting rooms and 15,000 square feet of prefunction space. In total, the five-story venue offers 45,000 square feet of space.
Another iconic Miami Beach property, the Delano Hotel Miami Beach, is set to reopen in March following a comprehensive renovation that aims to preserve the property’s Art Deco design. Other highlights include the refreshing of its 171 guest rooms, including the Bungalow and Penthouse suites, and a beachfront pool deck and state-of-the-art wellness studio.
Yet another iconic Miami Beach Art Deco hotel, Shelborne South Beach, wrapped a $100 million renovation in May and reopened as The Shelborne by Proper Hotels. The project modernized guest rooms while preserving its Deco design elements.
Adding to the Miami Beach new and renovated scene, the 287-room Andaz Miami Beach, formerly The Confidante Miami Beach, reopened as the first Andaz hotel in Florida. Located mid-beach on Collins Avenue near South Beach, the property contains 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space and boasts a private beach, two pools and restaurants from Jose Andrés Group.
On the offsite scene, Miami Freedom Park, a $1 billion stadium and mixed-use development, is set to open in early to mid-2026, along with the Miami Live! at LoanDepot Park entertainment complex, next to the home field of the MLB Miami Marlins.
Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale made major industry news with the late-2025 unveiling of a $1.3 billion expansion of the Broward County Convention Center, which boasts a six-acre, tropical-themed waterfront plaza that is sure to be in high demand for special events. The expansion also included the addition of a 65,000-square-foot ballroom.
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The biggest new-property news in Fort Lauderdale is the December opening of the 801-room Omni Fort Lauderdale, a 29-story hotel with more than 120,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is connected to the convention center and offers Intracoastal Waterway views, an event-friendly pool deck and a full-service Mokara Spa.
Meeting space at the new Omni includes the 30,000-square-foot Waterway Ballroom—the largest in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area, according to Omni—and 4,000 square feet of outdoor event space. The property is connected to the newly renovated Broward County Convention Center, which now offers 1.2 million square feet of event space.
January ushered in the completion of a multiphase, multimillion-dollar renovation of the Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort, which includes 219 fully refreshed guest rooms and a new 119-key tower with 8,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space boasting unobstructed Atlantic Ocean views.
The property, located about 30 miles from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and near Pompano’s revitalized pier, is positioned as an alternative to Fort Lauderdale’s busier beachfront.
The resort contains a 2,800-square-foot ballroom for up to 250 attendees, two breakout spaces totaling 1,300 square feet and a 3,000-square-foot oceanfront terrace. The hotel’s new outdoor amenities, including a 3,000-square-foot zero-entry pool with private cabanas and firepit lounges, can also be used for events such as welcome receptions, wellness sessions and other programming.
The project also resulted in two new culinary concepts, The Kester and The Citrus Club, that can be used for group dining and rooftop cocktail receptions. To promote the renovation, the hotel is offering free acoustic music entertainment for up to two hours for groups of 50 or more.
Another new project, Pier Sixty-Six, opened in early January 2025. The multibillion-dollar redevelopment offers 325 rooms, a 15,000-square-foot spa, multilevel pools and 12 dining options. Its 40,000 square feet of meeting space includes the 9,400-square-foot Tavistock Ballroom.
Other Fort Lauderdale happenings set for completion in 2026 include a new Pedestrian Plaza at the Broward County Convention Center, with expanded water taxi service, a park-like plaza, 525,000 square feet of new meeting space and a signature waterfront restaurant.
New group activity options are available at Puttshack Dania Beach, which pairs mini-golf with a full-service bar and globally inspired menu, along with The Fort, billed as the world’s first professional pickleball stadium, with 43 tournament-level courts and dining and social space available for group rental.
Groups can also access a variety of off-session dining, art and retail options in Fort Lauderdale’s Thrive Art District, which opened in 2023 in a former industrial space and is gaining popularity as an offsite events venue.
