Details on Margaritaville Beach Hotel

The Gulf Breeze News has a great article on the recently announced Margaritaville Beach Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. According to the article, the ball began rolling back in March. In fact, the March 31st impromptu show at the Panama City Margaritaville came after Buffett toured the hotel property.

Marilyn Hess feels as if she won the lottery. As head of Little Sabine, Inc., she was finalizing the details to open a Gulf-front hotel on Pensacola Beach, replacing the Holiday Inn that Hurricane Ivan washed away in 2004.

A phone call from a friend turned her plans upside down.

She met the friend, who is also involved in hotel development in Atlanta, when in walked Jimmy Buffett and the CEO of Margaritaville Holdings, John Cohlan.

A few days later, Buffett came to tour the nearly completed hotel and invited Hess along on a road trip to his Margaritaville Café in Panama City where he planned an impromptu performance.

Hess said she couldn’t believe she was on a road trip with Jimmy Buffet, music legend and connoisseur of the laidback lifestyle, and felt like a teenager.

“He is charming and delightful,” Hess said of Buffett.

To top it off, Buffett insisted on stopping each and every Budweiser beer truck he encountered to chat with the drivers and talk about his Land Shark Lager.

“He pulled into the Circle K in Navarre because he saw the beer truck there, and he took pictures with everybody,” Hess said. The employee behind the counter begged for a photo to show her boss, a Parrot Head who otherwise wouldn’t believe he missed the chance to meet his idol.

The article also reveals some details on the hotel:

To meet the target opening in mid to late June for the Margaritaville Beach Hotel, workers are retrofitting the kitchen to accommodate “Frank and Lola’s” restaurant inside the hotel so it can serve signature Margaritaville Café dishes such as the “cheeseburger in paradise.” A pool bar is being constructed as well as an outdoor bar and entertainment area tentatively named “Land Shark Landing.” The Margaritaville Café is scheduled to open on a parcel adjacent to the hotel in Spring of 2011.

Room rates will range from $195 to $450 per night depending on the season and accommodations. Margaritaville Beach Hotel will offer meeting space, a board room and a spectacular view of the Gulf of Mexico through massive glass windows.

“It will have the most beautiful bar area you can imagine,” Hess said.

The article also says that USA Today will feature a spread on the hotel this Friday.

Read the full article here.