Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach
Luxury 24-story resort to open for first guests on Tuesday
Final preparations were in full gear Wednesday at the new Conrad Fort Lauderdale Beach resort as staff members and contractors added the finishing touches to welcome its first paying guests during its Tuesday opening.
“This is probably the most exciting time for us,” said General Manager Chintan Dadhich, during an exclusive Sun Sentinel tour of the property at 551 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. “Yes, the product is beautiful, yes, we’ve got the amenities we that feel are relevant to the luxury market in Fort Lauderdale, but the most exciting part … is building [our] team...”
The team members — about 150 strong — are expected to adhere to the Conrad Hotels & Resorts’ corporate mantra, “Never Just Stay. Stay Inspired.”
“The [busy] season is right around the corner,” Dadhich said. “We’ll start with the boat show, Thanksgiving … and then, of course, the favorite part of the year, which is Christmas.”
The 290-unit, all-suite condominium-resort has a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom suites and three penthouses.
Suite amenities at the 24-story property include galley kitchens with touchscreen stove tops and bathrooms with marble soaking tubs and rainfall showers.
In a condo-hotel, units are professionally managed and rented to visitors when their owners aren’t staying there.
Nightly room rates in October are slated to start at about $339, a hotel spokeswoman said. A daily resort fee of $35 per room per night also applies and includes internet access, two beach chairs and umbrella, two-hour bike rental service, spa discount and local and toll-free calls, according to Conrad’s reservations website.
The Conrad in Fort Lauderdale will feature four dining and bar venues, including a signature restaurant Terra Mare and gourmet marketplace Cornucopia.
“What we’re cooking is modern American food with as much local [sourced ingredients] that I can get
my hands on,” said Johan Svensson, Terre Mare’s executive chef. “We try to find our inspiration through the sea and the land that we’re occupying.”
The Conrad also will offer a 4,000-square-foot, full-service spa, fitness center and 20,000-square-foot sixthfloor Sky Deck with heated fresh water pool and cabanas as well as 10,000 square feet of meeting space.
The nautical-themed condo-resort — previously expected to open in 2016 — will be Conrad’s second location in South Florida, joining the Conrad Miami in downtown Miami. It’s also expected to be the first beachfront resort and residence for the luxury brand in the region.
“We are thrilled that the Conrad is joining our portfolio of fine hotels,” said Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This and other upcoming hotel developments, such as the Four Seasons, is a clear sign that our time has come as a first-class destination. We have demand from affluent travelers, and we are increasingly getting more product.”
Immediately to the south of the Conrad, at a site for the new Four Seasons Private Residences Fort Lauderdale, test pilings are expected to be erected later this month to build a foundation for vertical construction, said Dan Teixiera, the property’s director of sales.
Construction on the project is slated to begin before year end with an opening targeted for some time in 2020, he said.
To date, 35 percent of the Four Seasons’ 90 residences have been sold at an average sale price of $5 million, Teixiera noted. The 20 percent down payment on those firm contracts is about $1 million, he added. The Four Seasons project also will include 130 hotel rooms.
“We’re very excited about the Conrad’s opening,” Teixiera said. It is, he said, another sign of Fort Lauderdale’s coming of age as a cosmopolitan and international destination.