Hop to It: South Beach Hotel Wants Playboy Club
Strapped Sagamore in Miami wants to put magazine club in hotel
By BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 9:00 AM EDT, Wed, Dec 9, 2009
The Penthouse suite may not be bringing visitors in, so how about a Playboy Club?
South Beach's chic Sagamore hotel is hoping a little T&A can help stimulate its bottom line, and they're turning to Hugh Hefner and his bunnies.
With its economic prospects dim and on the hook for millions on its mortgage, the hip Miami hotspot is looking to partner with the skin magazine to open a Playboy Club in the lobby, according to the Miami Herald.
It's hard to argue with the business plan. After all, what man wouldn't want a waitress in a skimpy bunny outfit serving him drinks all night as he sits by the ocean?
Hotel owner Marty Taplin thinks the Playboy deal is the first step on the hotel's road to recovery.
"It's an icon," Taplin told the Herald of the Playboy bunny logo. "I thought it was a great opportunity."
Late in payments on a $32 million mortgage, and with many of its 93 rooms sitting empty, the hotel could use a boost.
And Playboy, which once had several clubs across the country in the '60s and '70s, and is now down to just one in Las Vegas, would like to get back in the nightlife business.
"We're very enthusiastic about South Beach," Playboy spokeswoman Martha Lindeman said. "It just has a vibe, for lack of a better word, that we think would be great for our brand."
The deal still has to be approved by the hotel's loan administrator, but for now it looks like South Beach better get ready for even more fake boobs.
First Published: Dec 9, 2009 8:33 AM EDT
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