B Hotels & Resorts, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has announced its first b2 hotel and the third property for the B brand.
The first b2 hotel will debut in downtown Miami at the site of the former Continental Bayside Hotel. The 243-room property was acquired by InSite Group and affiliates of The Carlyle Group in September 2011. It will undergo an extensive renovation and is expected to open as b2 miami downtown in the first quarter of 2013. Introduced last month, the b2 brand aims to offer access to the full-service lifestyle amenities found at B Hotels at a more affordable price point.
The third B property, meanwhile, is scheduled to open in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in the fall of 2013. The B resort, currently the 394-room Royal Plaza, is within walking distance to Downtown Disney. The property was acquired by InSite Group and Cube Capital in December 2011 and will remain operational during a complete renovation and repositioning. It will join the B Ocean Fort Lauderdale, which opened in March 2011, and the B South Beach, which is planned to open in the first quarter of 2013.
“The growth B Hotels & Resorts has experienced over the past year is very exciting,” said CEO and President Ayelet Weinstein. “The combination of the lifestyle self-expression experience, the unique open-source operation models and the fresh owner-friendly terms delivers tangible value.”