W opens for long weekend

Two years after construction began in a boom environment, the W Hotels’ new $500 million South Beach outlet opened to a much worse travel environment. The hotel has sold out its July weekends with aggressive promotional pricing and found buyers for 96 condo hotel rooms, leaving 312 available for guests. The condo hotel project has a total of 408 units. May room occupancy rates plunged 11.5 percent from last year, according to the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. Unemployment provided a huge labor pool, with 12,000 applicants for 400 jobs at the hotel.