Marenas Beach Resort, Sunny Isles Beach: What Buyers Should Check

Marenas Beach Resort — registered with the county as M Resort Residences Condo — is a 25-story oceanfront condo-hotel at 18683 Collins Avenue in Sunny Isles Beach, completed in 2005, at the 186th Street end of the beach beside the Millennium. It was designed by Kobi Karp and originally opened as a Le Méridien before being rebranded as Marenas in 2009. Inside are 210 residences, and there are only two shapes: 126 one-bedroom suites of 688 square feet and 84 two-bedrooms of about 1,431 to 1,497 square feet — no studios, nothing larger, and the median home is the smallest one. This is a condo-hotel, not a regular condo: the unit is a deeded residence inside a working hotel, and the hotel rental program, the revenue split, and the owner-use limits are part of the purchase. There are no rental restrictions — owners can live in the home, rent it privately by the night, or place it in the resort's professionally managed hotel program — which makes it one of the most flexible rental buildings on the beach, and also one where the program terms decide whether the income story works. The monthly bill runs about $1.81 to $1.95 per square foot, and the market has gone quiet: no qualified sale has been recorded so far in 2026, after 18 sales in 2023, eight in 2024, and six in 2025.

The facts

• Address: 18683 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, FL 33160
• Completed: 2005 (one source says 2004, another 2006)
• Stories: 25 (other sources say 26 or 27)
• Residences: 210 (county records: 210 residential homes, plus 24 commercial condo folios and one commercial folio for the hotel parcel; other sources say 190 or 226)
• Developer: not verified in a reliable source
• Architect: Kobi Karp
• Unit mix: 126 one-bedrooms, 84 two-bedrooms (county records); no studios, no three-bedrooms
• Unit sizes: about 688 to 1,497 sq ft; median about 688 sq ft (county records); one source says up to 1,995 sq ft
• Waterfront: oceanfront, direct beach access, on a 2.5-mile stretch of Sunny Isles Beach
• Hotel: on-site hotel rental program (Marenas Beach Resort); the hotel operation occupies its own separately-folioed commercial space within the building, and the property originally opened as a Le Méridien

Amenities and day-to-day living

The hotel is the amenity program: an oceanfront infinity-edge pool with a pool bar, hot tub and sauna, a spa and salon, a 24-hour fitness center, a beachfront restaurant (Epicure/Piacere) with room service, a lobby bar, beach service with chairs, umbrellas and cabanas, concierge, valet parking, a business center, a clubhouse, a library, and 24-hour security — plus about 10,000 square feet of event space. Residences are sold furnished and turnkey, with floor-to-ceiling glass, balconies over the Atlantic, full kitchens, and in-unit washer/dryers. Guests pay resort fees on top of nightly rates — recent rental listings report a $35-per-day resort fee and $35-per-day valet parking, plus a $10-per-day administration fee — which is part of the economics of renting here. The building trades at the accessible end of the oceanfront market: the 2026 median assessed value is $464,186, and the most recent full year on the county record, 2025, saw six qualified sales at a median of $640,000, or about $856 per square foot. About 20 residences were listed for sale in November 2026, from about $550,000 to $1,499,000. One note from recent guest reviews: construction on a residential building next door has drawn noise complaints, so ask what is being built beside the tower and how long it will run.

What to check before you buy

• Monthly cost, honestly. No verified building-wide dues figure was found for this building. Current listings give consistent single-unit examples: $1,245 a month for a 688 sq ft one-bedroom (#804, #510, and #1403 all list the same figure), or about $1.81 per square foot per month, and $2,789 a month for a 1,431 sq ft two-bedroom (#2202), or about $1.95 per square foot per month. Get the exact figure for the residence you are considering, including what the dues cover and what hotel services are billed separately — and use the monthly-cost worksheet in the Buyer's Guide, not just the mortgage payment.
• The hotel rental program — read the agreement, not the listing. Owners can enroll a residence in the on-site hotel rental program, which markets, books, cleans, and services the home as a hotel suite, or rent it privately — listings describe no rental restrictions, and nightly rentals are the norm here. No verified revenue split was found for this building's program — do not take a split figure from a listing at face value. No verified owner-use cap was found either. Read the rental-program agreement, the declaration, and any management contract for the exact unit, and confirm the split, the owner-use cap, how nights are allocated between program units, who pays for furnishings and deep cleaning, and what happens to bookings when the owner stays. One current listing reports a 7% return on investment in 2025 for residence #2202 — a single-unit marketing claim, not a verified building figure, and past performance does not guarantee future results.
• Milestone inspection — not due yet, but ask anyway. Florida milestone inspection rules generally apply at 30 years, or 25 years within 3 miles of the coast. This is an oceanfront building completed in 2005, so its first milestone inspection falls around 2030 on the 25-year coastal rule — a derived estimate, not a confirmed date. Ask the association where the inspection stands and whether any assessments are planned. At 21 years old, this building is about five years out from that first milestone — but confirm the association's own timeline, since inspection deadlines depend on the certificate of occupancy and local requirements.
• Reserves and assessments. Ask what reserves are funded, what assessments are planned or already approved, and where the building stands on its Structural Integrity Reserve Study (SIRS). Under Florida's SIRS rules, reserves for SIRS items are no longer waivable — but confirm this building's position with its association. No verified reserve or assessment figures were found in public sources for this building.
• Owner-occupancy and financing. Lenders check the owner-occupancy ratio before approving a mortgage, and many lenders treat condo-hotels differently from standard condominiums — some will not finance them at all, or will require a larger down payment. One financing record for this building notes that 25% was the lowest down payment made in the past six months. Confirm the current ratio with the association and talk to your lender early, before you fall for a suite.
• Rentals. Short-term rentals are permitted here — listings describe no rental restrictions and daily rentals — but confirm the current private-lease rules, any rental caps, the association approval process, and the guest fees (resort fee, valet, administration fee) with the association before buying for income.
• Pets. MLS records for the building indicate pets are allowed for owners, but large pets are not allowed for owners or renters — while the hotel's own guest pages say pets are not allowed at all. Those two descriptions cover different groups (owners versus hotel guests) and do not sit together cleanly. Confirm the current rules — including any size, number, or breed limits — with the association before you buy if a pet is part of the plan.

Who this building suits

Marenas Beach Resort suits a buyer who wants the most accessible oceanfront deed in Sunny Isles Beach with a front desk attached — a furnished, turnkey one-bedroom from about $550,000, beach and pool service downstairs, and the freedom to rent it nightly through the hotel program between visits. It is a poor fit for a buyer who wants a large residence, a quiet residential building, or a straightforward residential condo: the median home is 688 square feet, the building runs as a working hotel with transient traffic, and the program terms decide whether the income story works. It is also a poor fit for anyone buying purely for yield without reading the hotel agreement first — the revenue split and the owner-use cap are unverified in public sources, and no qualified sale has been recorded in 2026. If you are choosing between this and another tower, send Mike the buildings you are comparing and he will walk through the finances with you, building by building.

Next step

Get the free Sunny Isles Beach Buyer's Building Guide — the ten questions to ask before you sign, applied to the tower you are actually considering. Or book a call with Mike to walk through Marenas Beach Resort together.