Orient-Express Hotels, Trains and Cruises partnered with Miami-based real estate developer the Related Group to build a luxury hotel and condominium complex in South Beach. Expected to open in three years, the $150 million South Beach project will have 100 hotel rooms and 28 condos priced from $2 million.

The obvious challenge for Orient-Express is, well, selling a condominium in South Florida, which has been hit hard by the recent real estate slowdown. There are more than 5,000 condominiums for sale in Miami Beach alone. Condo sales in Miami are down by 30 percent for the 12 months ending in May, according to the Florida Association of Realtors. But given that the project won’t open its doors until 2011, the developer is no doubt betting that the real estate market will recover by then.

Orient-Express currently has investments in 39 international hotels including the famous Hotel Cipriani in Venice. The South Beach hotel will bring the number of Orient-Express properties in the U.S. to eight, including El Encanto, an collection of 1920s cottages in Santa Barbara that is currently undergoing a total renovation. As part of this joint venture with the Related Group, two other hotels—one in Panama City, Panama and another in Cartagena, Colombia—are slated to be built.

Orient-Express only recently branched into the second home market, and is working on high-end lifestyle developments in the Caribbean, Mexico, Thailand and the U.S. that offer a range of full ownership condominiums and villas linked with luxury resorts and spas. Properties include yacht club residences in St. Martin, custom homes situated on a 600-acre private golf club in Charlottesville, W.V., and luxury villas complete with private pools at the Napasai Beach Resort & Villas in Koh Samui, Thailand.

For buyers eyeing Miami for a vacation or even real estate ownership, there are a multitude of other options. The destination club Quintess has two homes in Miami Beach including a four-bedroom waterfront house and a two-bedroom residence in an 1930s art deco building. Another luxury real estate option is the Ritz-Carlton Residences South Beach. Ritz-Carlton offers five different floor plans at this property ranging from townhouses to penthouse triplexes.