Tucked away in Aventura, in northeastern Miami-Dade County, you’ll find a resort oasis with lush tropical gardens, Mediterranean-inspired architecture, marble walkways, sparkling fountains and a 100-year-old Banyan tree—meet the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa.
Spanning 300 acres and featuring 253,252 sf of total event space, this resort provides endless possibilities for crafting unique events. Beyond its four ballrooms and 22 breakout rooms—many bathed in natural light—the property offers expansive outdoor areas, including the Surfhouse Loft, Oasis Deck, Cascata Pool, Magnolia Courtyard and Sabal Terrace.
Says Alice Land, the resort’s Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, “Last year, we partnered with our preferred DMC, ETHOS Event Collective, to help [create] personalized, curated, customized [events]. This collaboration has really enabled us to be highly unique—[think] Havana Nights, Under the Sea, Neon Nights and Miami Vice themes. Whatever you want to make happen, we can make happen.”
When it comes to the resort’s renowned onsite water park, Tidal Cove, Land says that “we’re uniquely gifted to have that space.” Accommodating up to 3,000 attendees for a nighttime event, it features seven slides, a FlowRider triple-surf simulator, a lazy river, 25 luxury cabanas and a VIP oasis pool. Here, planners can create events with themed decor, custom lighting and interactive and unique experiences.
She says, “every group that has had an event [in that space] has been extremely wowed by the experience. Not every resort has something as unique as Tidal Cove—it’s a one-of-a-kind experience.”
Another major selling point for the resort is its wellness and fitness offerings, says Land. The resort features two award-winning golf courses, with the opportunity to include lessons by golf pros or even do a nighttime neon golf gathering. The 25,000-sf âme Spa & Wellness Collective, meanwhile, spans three floors with 18 treatment rooms, a Himalayan Salt Room and an attached 3,600-sf fitness center. Groups, says Land, can buy out the spa, plus the resort offers “more than 50 [fitness] classes a week.” With “a 5K nature trail around the resort, planners can even coordinate runs around the property,” Land points out. “Wellness is very much threaded into what we do here. We have an entire package dedicated to just group spa, so if you want to have a green room or a neurodiversity room, oxygen bars, vitamin B shot tents, mocktail stations or if you want to set up pop-up spas within the group arena, we can do that anywhere on property.”
Speaking more broadly in terms of its meeting capabilities, Land says that the resort offers a 120,000-sf conference center, featuring the 25,000-sf Majestic Ballroom, which can accommodate over 2,000 attendees theater-style, and the more intimate 7,000-sf Garden Room as well as a range of outdoor spaces. She says that groups—with a sweet spot for capacity at 400 to 500 attendees—have enough onsite options that “they don’t really have to go off property. We’ve got so many outdoor spaces that we can curate, so they can be in a different spot every night.”
Another perk of the resort’s size is the Buy-Out Dining Experiences, where groups can choose from several onsite F&B options, including Bourbon Steak by world-renowned chef Michael Mina. Plus, notes Land, the resort’s location can’t be overlooked, located between two major Florida airports—Fort Lauderdale International Airport and Miami International Airport. Meaning, says Land, “that a lot of people don’t have to connect; you just fly into either Fort Lauderdale or Miami.”
She concludes by saying, “I think the fact of the matter is that this destination resort is in Miami, but we’re not South Beach. [We offer] something very serene, very tranquil and very group-minded. I think our location, in and of itself, is a huge selling feature.” —Paloma Villaverde de Rico
marriott.com/en-us/hotels/miajt-jw-marriott-miami-turnberry-resort-and-spa/events