Omni Hotels & Resorts has opened its Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel in Florida and welcomed its first guests, according to a Dec. 18 press release.
The hotel is Omni’s flagship in the Greater Fort Lauderdale region, per the release, and was opened in partnership with Florida’s Broward County and Visit Lauderdale, as well as developer Matthews Southwest.
The entire project is expected to generate more than $450 million for the local economy and create more than 3,000 full- and part-time jobs, per the release.
“We are deeply grateful to the Broward County Board of Commissioners for their vision and leadership, as well as to our construction, design, and development partners whose collaboration brought this hotel to life — marking Omni's proud return to South Florida after more than 20 years,” Kurt Alexander, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts, said in the release.
Located on Fort Lauderdale’s Intracoastal Waterway, the waterfront luxury property features 801 guest rooms, including 82 suites, a pool deck with ocean views and a full-service spa and fitness center.
The hotel’s dining venues include the signature Reef 76 Kitchen & Bar restaurant, the Fair Ketch sports bar, the Ibis Sky Lounge on the rooftop, the Hidden Key lobby bar, as well as a market for coffee and pastries and poolside and in-room dining.
In addition, the hotel features more than 120,000 square feet of meetings and events space, including the 30,000-square-foot Waterway Ballroom, which Omni claims is the largest ballroom in Greater Fort Lauderdale. The property’s location is central to the convention center and area beaches and close to the Port Everglades Cruise Terminal and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
The hotel’s Florida landscape-inspired design is by Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects, in collaboration with design builder Balfour Beatty and architect of record Stantec. EoA Group conceived of the interiors, inspired by the “Barefoot Mailmen,” who were 19th-century coastal couriers in Florida.
Earlier this year, Omni announced it would begin construction on the 1,000-key Omni New Orleans, located across the street from New Orleans’ Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. That hotel is scheduled to open in 2029.
Omni also completed a $65 million historic restoration of the 170-year-old The Parker House in Boston in October. In 2023, the company wrapped up a $150 million renovation of the 250-year-old Omni Homestead Resort in Virginia.
