Why Atton Is Betting Big on Brickell

GlobeSt.com caught up with Francisco Levine, the CEO of Atton Hotels, to get his take on the Miami hotel market.

MIAMI—With Miami’s hotel market hits a fevered pitch, Atton Brickell Miami is opening its doors this summer. Atton Brickell Miami brings a reasonably priced, quality hotel option to Brickell to serve international and domestic business and leisure travelers. Located at 1500 Southwest 1st Ave., the hotel has 275 rooms with city and bay views, 4,000 square feet of meeting space, rooftop pool and Vista bar offering a selection of cocktails and tapas with pisco sour as the signature drink, and full-service fitness center with healthy snacks and drinks. The hotel will also include the Uva bar in the lobby level featuring an exclusive selection Chilean wines. GlobeSt.com caught up with Francisco Levine, the CEO of  Atton   Hotels , to get his take on the Miami hotel market. Francisco has over 15 years of experience in the hospitality market, particularly in Latin America, and has led the company’s effort to open its first US location. GlobeSt.com: What drew Atton to the Miami market in order to open the brand’s first U.S. outpost? Levine: Given Miami’s status as the Gateway to Latin America and Atton’s strong brand recognition across Latin America, we knew that Miami was a natural expansion point for us. It’s the business capital of Latin America, where we already have a large client base that is familiar with the smart travel experience we offer. There are also more than 1,300 multinational businesses based in the city’s urban core, making the Brickell Financial District the perfect location for Atton’s first hotel in the US market. GlobeSt.com: How is the Atton brand different from the hotels currently open in the Downtown Miami area? Levine: Unlike the hotel product currently open in Miami’s Brickell and downtown area, Atton offers a smart business lifestyle experience, this is a compact full service experience at reasonable rates. With hotels located in Chile, Peru and Colombia, Atton is a brand that is known throughout Latin America for providing business and leisure travelers with a reasonably priced hotel option without sacrificing quality and personalized service. For example, our introductory rate for the Atton Brickell property will be $159 a night when we open this summer, Atton also knows smart travel. We focus on meeting the most important needs of our business and leisure guests and delivering a warm and personalized service. GlobeSt.com: How do you feel the Miami hospitality market will perform in 2016? How do you think the Latin American hotel market will fare over the next year? Levine: Miami continues to outperform itself as a magnet for travelers, drawing in a record number of 15.5 million visitors last year, with 6.4% growth in visitorship over 2014′s record year, as the latest data from the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau shows. Of the 1 million additional visitors this year, about 500,000 traveled to Miami for the first time, and so far, 2016 is looking just as strong in terms of tourism travel numbers. Latin Americans will always want to travel to Miami, be it for business purposes, to visit family or simply for leisure. Despite the current economic slowdown that parts of Latin America is facing, Brazil remains Miami’s top international market, accounting for 747,542 travelers in 2015, up 2% over the previous year, followed by other Latin American countries, showing no slowdown in travel to Miami. In fact, our Atton hotels in Chile, Colombia and Peru tend to perform well during tougher economic times because we cater primarily to business travelers and companies are more cost-conspicuous about their travel expenses.  Our hotels offer a very competitive rate for high-value accommodations and amenities. Why so many new hotels? Read my recent column for insights .