Margaritaville opening Moments Square outpost: Travel Weekly

Christina Jelski

Christina Jelski

It can be tough to believe of any footwear significantly less quintessentially New York than the flip-flop, but Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts is hoping to problem that assumption when it opens its Moments Square property this month.

Recognised for greeting guests with a towering flip-flop set up in each individual lobby, the life style model is betting major on a hybrid perform in the Significant Apple, hoping to blend a large-city, substantial-rise hotel practical experience with signature island-influenced things typically a lot more suited to a vacation resort place.

It truly is truly worth noting that Margaritaville, which also has an city lodge in Nashville underneath its belt, is much from the only resort-centric hospitality notion planting flags in city settings. 

Luxurious manufacturer Aman ideas to make off the accomplishment of its city vacation resort in Tokyo with a very predicted opening in midtown Manhattan later on this 12 months. And Melia Resorts Intercontinental, a team finest known for beachside all-inclusives, has very long specific metropolis enlargement with its Innside by Melia offshoot, which because its start in 2007 has popped up in marketplaces like Berlin, Madrid, Amsterdam and, indeed, even New York.

Between these manufacturers, on the other hand, Margaritaville is the a single most likely the most overt in its homage to the prototypical tropical getaway. Irrespective of its city surroundings, the Margaritaville Vacation resort Occasions Sq. will function tiki hut and palm tree decor at its sprawling, two-tale Margaritaville Cafe, and hallways and guestrooms will be outfitted in light and brilliant beachy hues. Earlier mentioned just about every bed, a ceiling supporter — an amenity hardly ever seen in New York — will simulate ocean breezes.

Preserving in line with the resort concept, sightseeing things to do, irrespective of whether to the Statue of Liberty or Empire Condition Building, will be referred to by staff members as “excursions.” And the property’s outdoor, heated pool claims to continue to be open just about calendar year-round, or at the very least as lengthy as temps keep over around 36 levels.

And however, throughout a late April difficult-hat tour of the vacation resort, basic manager Kori Yoran instructed me that the house will mostly be linked to the existing Margaritaville franchise in title only, professing the brand’s New York outpost will be not like any other in the brand’s hospitality portfolio.

He pointed to the resort’s 5 o’Clock Somewhere indoor-outside rooftop bar as proof. The smooth area will offer you sweeping views of Manhattan as nicely as unobscured sightlines of the Instances Sq. Ball Fall and a specifically curated menu of upscale food and beverage alternatives. In accordance to Yoran, the bar will be equipped to keep its very own versus any other large-conclude rooftop bar in New York.

It unquestionably seems a bold declare. Yoran, even so, is no stranger to New York’s rooftop scene, having most just lately worked as the GM of Desire Lodge Group’s Dream Midtown, a New York house acknowledged for its nightlife-focused PHD Terrace rooftop.

No matter whether the Margaritaville Vacation resort Occasions Sq. can make its laid-again resort vibe successfully translate in a city as frenetic as New York stays to be noticed, but in a aggressive landscape awash with smooth and in some cases downright significant hospitality concepts, it can be clear that the additional relatives exciting-oriented Margaritaville is most likely to enjoy a higher level of differentiation.

And the move also tends to make perception from a organization perspective. For most brands, it truly is logical to extend to exactly where your company previously go.

Following all, present day travelers are far from static. The Aman loyalist probably feels just as at house in the secluded Bali countryside as in an urban jungle, and a repeat Paradisus by Melia visitor may perhaps ebook just as quite a few all-inclusive stays as they do city getaways. 

And for the Margaritaville enthusiast clean off a household family vacation at the brand’s new Bahamas outpost, why not provide them an alternative for their once-a-year pilgrimage to Broadway, as nicely? 

New York may possibly not have a great deal in popular with Nassau, but Yoran was fast to position out a single large similarity.

“It is straightforward to fail to remember, but we are nonetheless, in point, on an island,” he explained. “The island of Manhattan.”