Lake of the Ozarks Resort to Rebrand as Margaritaville

A mid-Missouri resort located on Lake of The Ozarks will be rebranded as a Margaritaville resort:

Tan-Tar-A Resort, a popular Lake of the Ozarks hotel and conference center for more than a half century, will undergo a multi-million renovation and be rebranded as a Margaritaville hotel, the chain of resorts named after a Jimmy Buffett song.

The 500-room Osage Beach resort 185 miles southwest of St. Louis is joining a growing list of Margaritaville hotels located primarily in coastal vacation spots, including Key West and the Cayman Islands.

It’s new name effective March 2019 will be Tan-Tar-A, a Margaritaville Resort, said the resort’s longtime general manager Fred Dehner. All 500 of the resort’s employees are being retained, he said, and new food and beverage employees will be hired for a Margaritaville restaurant and LandShark Bar & Grill that are being added.

On June 29, Miami investment firm Driftwood Acquisitions & Development acquired Tan-Tar-A Resort from Bethesda, Md.-based CWCapital with joint venture partner Sefira Capital, a Miami-based investment boutique, the companies announced Thursday. Driftwood has a licensing agreement with Margaritaville Holdings, Buffett’s company. Buffett, the 70-year-old flip-flops wearing singer of “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and other songs, has expanded his business empire to include real estate, alcoholic beverages and restaurants. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

The resort will remain open while the property is renovated to incorporate Margaritaville’s ‘casual-luxe’ design elements, Driftwood said.

Driftwood, which manages more than 40 hotels, also announced the acquisition of the Flamingo Beach Resort & Spa in Costa Rica Thursday. Tan-Tar-A and Flamingo will become Margaritaville’s 10th and 11th resorts.

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