05 JUN 2018: Jimmy Buffett fans can start planning to look for their lost shakers of salt early next year at one of the newest Margaritaville resorts. Taking shape in Kissimmee, Fla., the 187-room Margaritaville Resort Orlando will open Jan. 15, 2019, though residential units will help soft-launch the complex this fall.
“It is Margaritaville,” resort general manager Scott Robbins enthused to Travel Industry Today at the recent IPW travel trade show in Denver, referring to the legendary beach resort in the Buffett song “Margaritaville,” which has become synonymous with the quintessential laid-back lifestyle in a tropical climate.
The somewhat confusingly named Orlando property – at 121.5 hectares, the largest to date in the Margaritaville portfolio – is one of six in active development that will soon join the nine existing resort-hotels. All of which are in the rapidly growing “lifestyle escapism” brand inspired by the American singer-songwriter-author, whose songs evoke a passion for tropical escape and relaxation and have inspired a legion of devoted fans called “Parrotheads.”
Buffett’s “no worries” vibe is “is a great way of life and the hotel will reflect that,” assures Robbins.
Indeed, guests will immediately be put into a vacation state of mind with some of the brand’s signature décor elements, including a giant flip-flop sculpture and upside-down margarita glass chandelier in the lobby.
The resort will also feature a wide range of amenities including:
• 140-hectare lagoon
• Concert stage and live music
• 60,000 sq. m. of festive retail space
• Dining and entertainment district dubbed Sunset Walk at Margaritaville
• State-of-the-art five-hectare waterpark with a ride that simulates going over Niagara Falls in a barrel
• Full-service wellness centre, complete with trendy Himalayan Salt Room
• Extensive wooded fitness trails
• Tram and water taxi system
• 1.2-hectare swimming area, including 1,800 sq. m. of beach and lazy river, and,
• 9,100 sq. m. of meeting space
Like the protagonist in the song, guests can also “stay all season” by choosing to buy into one of the 300 timeshare units and 1,000 Margaritaville-inspired vacation homes, which help give the resort what Robbins calls a true “neighbourhood” atmosphere.
And while the GM acknowledges that Margaritaville clearly has “got a pull” for Buffett fans in particular, it’s not just for Parrotheads. “It’s for families, and everyone,” he says. “It is a destination unto itself.”
The resort is located on booming Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee, just south of Disney World and Orlando. It is expected to be fully built out by 2022 and will welcome up to four million visitors per year. (www.MargaritavilleResortOrlando.com)
“We look forward to creating a one-of-a-kind setting where guests can escape the everyday, kick back and chill out,” said James Bagley, project developer of Margaritaville Resort Orlando. “This will start with our arrival process, welcoming guests in a way that immediately puts them into the Margaritaville state of mind.”