Located about 40 minutes north of Miami Beach, Hollywood is still Old Florida, land of grim souvenir shops, jai alai courts and low-slung cinder block motels. “Hey! Good to see you!” he hollered to an employee as she stopped to tell him how proud she was to work at the hotel. Cohlan in March, as he held court in the hotel’s light-flooded lobby, which is accented with palm trees and a lime green and turquoise carpet. “I personally sweated every freaking detail of this place for eight years,” said a beaming Mr. Buffett was probably not reaching before. Buffett’s hard-core fans are known, make up less than 50 percent of the bookings: The hotel is attracting people that Mr.
Relying almost entirely on word of mouth, the hotel has reached an occupancy rate of 93 percent, the lodging equivalent of a smash hit.Įuphoric Margaritaville executives estimate that Parrot Heads, as Mr. To understand the evolving Margaritaville, consider the 349-room Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort (that’s Hollywood, Fla.), which cost $190 million to build and held its grand opening in November. Schoen added, “It has the potential to be a major global brand.” Not Just for Parrot Heads But it’s much, much bigger than I initially thought.” “It’s not for me, and it’s not for most journalists. Schoen, who has conducted extensive consumer research for Margaritaville. In success, could Margaritaville be a candidate for a public offering? “The brand isn’t yet for everybody,” said the political polling expert Douglas E. Cohlan are co-owners of the rest of Margaritaville. The company also wants the masses to buy Margaritaville food at their local grocery store (items like iced tea, frozen shrimp and tortilla chips are already on shelves), watch Margaritaville-produced videos on their phones (“The Best Beach Bars of the Caribbean” is one idea in development) and maybe even sleep on Margaritaville bedsheets (in various designs, including “Strawberry Daiquiri” coral, starting at $19.98). Buffett’s 67 restaurants or stayed at one of his seven hotels and time-share resorts. Last year, an estimated 15 million people ate at one of Mr. (One casual game coming in July will have users searching for their lost shaker of salt.) He hired Laura Lee from the Google ranks, where she was a senior executive at YouTube, and charged her with building a digital content studio, improving Margaritaville’s social media presence and introducing mobile games. Cohlan expanded the company’s digital media efforts, which already included a SiriusXM satellite radio channel. Cohlan said, “Jimmy Buffett is an American treasure,” and changed the subject.Ī more robust media presence beyond Mr. Asked about how the company thinks about a future without its public face, Mr. Cohlan, who is Margaritaville’s chief executive, was not especially keen to discuss.