Left to right, Dan Piotrowski (Senior Vice President of Operations, Omni Hotels & Resorts), Gayla Guyse (General Manager, Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel), Monica Cepero (County Administrator, Broward County), Kurt Alexander (President, Omni Hotels & Resorts).
Courtesy: Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel
With a ceremonial ringing of a mariner bell, a ribbon cut onstage and a porte cochere packed with local officials, VIPs and hospitality heavyweights, Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel officially marked its arrival on Thursday, December 18. And Broward County hasn’t been shy about its significance.
“The Omni in Fort Lauderdale is the best Omni hotel I’ve seen,” Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen proudly said during the ceremony, noting he’s visited Omni properties across the country. Omni Hotels & Resorts president Kurt Alexander smiled and quickly agreed — a moment that landed somewhere between civic pride and quiet bragging rights. For context, this is Omni’s third hotel in Florida and its 50th worldwide.
County Administrator Monica Cepero put the moment into even sharper perspective, calling the project “the single largest project in our county’s history.” At 2:55 p.m., U.S. Coast Guard Captain Frank Florio rang a mariner bell signaling “a safe arrival and new beginnings," the ribbon came down and Omni Fort Lauderdale officially became the anchor of the expanded Broward County Convention Center District.
Set along the Intracoastal Waterway and directly connected to the convention center, the 801-room hotel - including 82 suites - is designed to serve both locals and visitors while raising the bar for meetings, leisure and waterfront hospitality in Greater Fort Lauderdale. The property introduces seven dining venues, a resort-style pool deck, Mokara Spa and more than 120,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, including the 30,000-square-foot Waterway Ballroom, now the largest in the region.
After the ceremony, the property’s general manager Gayla Guyse spoke exclusively with Browardist from the property’s presidential suite, reflecting on what makes this project unique. “This hotel is designed to make you feel the local,” she said, pointing to a layered, residential design inspired by Florida’s landscapes and the story of the historic Barefoot Mailmen. “It doesn’t feel commercial or stark. It feels warm, approachable and connected to where we are.”
For locals, Guyse sees immediate standouts. The sports bar Fair Ketch fills what she calls “a real void” in Fort Lauderdale, pairing an upscale but approachable vibe with Topgolf Swing Suites. The 29th-floor Ibis Sky Lounge, she added, delivers sweeping views from the beach to downtown and south toward Miami, setting the stage for nightlife programming that feels elevated but unmistakably South Florida.
Food and beverage will be a major draw, too. Led by Fort Lauderdale native and Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef Cristian Mosquera, the culinary lineup ranges from Reef 76 Kitchen & Bar to the waterfront Hidden Key and poolside Tide Coastal Kitchen, with a signature Italian chophouse slated for 2026. “We put a lot of effort into our food and beverage concepts,” Guyse said. “That variety gives people reasons to come back again and again.”
Beyond aesthetics and amenities, the economic impact is significant. The broader convention center expansion is expected to generate more than $450 million for the local economy and create more than 3,000 jobs, with Omni Fort Lauderdale itself growing to roughly 620 employees over the coming months.
For more information or to book, visit omnihotels.com/fortlauderdale.
