When your hotel is edging closer to foreclosure every day, who do you turn to? Playboy bunnies, of course. Well, at least that’s who the Sagamore Hotel is hoping can rescue their floundering property. I can already hear their reservations lines ringing.
South Beach is known for its beautiful bikini-clad women and late-night party lifestyle, but when it comes to saving a hotel from foreclosure, run-of-the-mill Miami beauties apparently just won’t get the job done. That’s why the Sagamore Hotel is calling upon the professionals and pursuing a licensing deal to open the only Playboy Club outside Las Vegas right in their own fashionable hotel.
The potentially-soon-to-be bunny infested 93-room hotel wants to incorporate waitresses dressed in the infamous Playboy bunny uniforms as they serve drinks in the Sagamore’s cocktail lounge as well as on the beach behind the hotel. And, of course, there will need to be a redesigned Hugh Hefner suite, which the hotel is hoping will bring in top dollar.
According to reports, the Sagamore has missed the last three payments on its $32 million mortgage due to the severe tourist drought Miami has suffered through over the past year in addition to the loss of a high-profile restaurant operator two years ago.
But don’t grab your bunny tails just yet—the deal has not yet been endorsed by the mortgage administrator. Sagamore owner, Marty Taplin, on the other hand, says he “sees the Playboy venture as the key to returning profits to the Sagamore.” Taplin said of the Playboy bunny logo, “It’s an icon. I thought [the collaboration] was a great opportunity.”
Known for its contemporary and expansive collection of art, should the deal go through, the Sagamore plans to maintain its collection with the possibility of Hugh Hefner contributing some works of art too. Playboy could benefit from the venture as well since the brand “wants to move away from the nude centerfolds in its magazine and become a lifestyle brand, with plans for a string of casinos, clubs, and restaurants at hotels around the world.”
Playboy spokeswoman, Martha Lindeman, said “We’re very enthusiastic about South Beach. It just has a vibe, for lack of a better word, that we think would be great for our brand.”
Crisis averted? We may be just a bunny-hop and skip away from finding out.
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