Design: Hotel Guest Rooms
Often times in our industry, resort guest rooms are viewed as “parking places”, or pleasant places to put guests and their belongings. The thinking behind that notion assumes that guests spend most of their time in the hotel’s public areas (the pool, spa, restaurants, etc.) While there is certainly some truth to that, our work with Margaritaville (more than 15 years now!) has led us to think a little differently about guest rooms. We seek to infuse these spaces with thoughtful brand signatures that are unique to the particular experience offered at a hotel/resort destination.
As our portfolio of Margaritaville work expanded from restaurants to casinos to hotels and resorts, we had numerous discussions about how best to extend the elements of the brand across all of these different types of entertainment and leisure categories. When it came to guest rooms, we wanted to ensure that they felt like the Margaritaville lifestyle experience and provided more than just a comfortable parking place for sleeping and storing luggage.
Margaritaville’s hotel guests know they’ve entered a uniquely Margaritaville room from the moment they swipe their key card. The guest rooms at the brand new Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, for example, are equipped to provide an authentic Jimmy Buffett-inspired vacation experience right in the room. The typical mini fridge is replaced by an Island Provisions bar – a solid teak fixture of every guest room, where patrons can order food, beverages and party supplies ranging from kid-friendly family packages to packages for the complete party experience, complete with a blender, tequila and margarita mix. This provides for a fun, in-room experience that brings some of the entertainment amenities typically only found at the resort’s public spaces right into the guest’s room.
What’s another key feature of the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort guest rooms? Each one has a larger-than-usual balcony. We think of it as an extension of the living room, so perhaps an in-room party that started at the Island Provisions bar can migrate outside for a fresh ocean breeze and water view.
