Tommy Bahama Brings Beach Vibes to Its First Hotel

21.12.2023 - 19:55 / skift.com / Sean Oneill / Tommy Bahama / Brand Marketing

The retailer Tommy Bahama is best known for its Hawaiian shirts and board shorts. But the yacht-owning multi-millionaires who like the brand’s easy breezy clothes have wanted a similarly ultra-chill hotel to slip into.

That’s the premise behind Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa, the first hotel from the retailer — which opened last month. Tommy Bahama’s headquarters may be in drizzly Seattle, but its heart is in warm-weather spots like Indian Wells, California, where the 215-room hotel is.

“We did about 10 focus groups all over the country, and at the end of each, I’d ask ‘What would you like us to do?’ and they’d say ‘Create a resort,'” said Doug Wood, CEO of Tommy Bahama. “And I would think to myself, ‘That sounds so hard.'”

To get help, Wood’s team hired Lowe, an LA-based real-estate services firm. Together, they bought the Miramonte, a down-on-its-luck resort in the Coachella Valley, out of foreclosure.

The property wasn’t far from Tommy Bahama’s $10 million restaurant in nearby Palm Desert, which they knew was successful at attracting the right clientele.

Translating the three-decade-old Tommy Bahama brand into a desert resort took some creativity and a $20 million renovation and redesign.

Wood’s team drew inspiration from Tommy Bahama’s restaurant business. Customers didn’t come for the apparel or marketing gimmicks. They came for upscale dining that’s set in a decor that would make the prototypical 50-something, upper-middle-class American father feel comfortable.

They decided to create a new restaurant at the hotel with many offerings you couldn’t get elsewhere. They launched brunch seven days a week, with beachy offerings, such as higher-end seafood dishes and its interpretation of avocado toast.

Pieces from Tommy Bahama’s home furnishings brand were placed in the lobby and five guest suites so that woven rattan, leather-wrapped carved bamboo, and weathered driftwood might transport guests to an island paradise. A Tommy Bahama retail shop at the hotel offers some pieces that customers can only get exclusively there.

“The primary missing ingredient in the 12-acre property was a true sort of indoor/outdoor experience that feels casual but luxurious,” said Mike Lowe, co-CEO of Lowe. “We totally redeveloped the restaurant to allow for outdoor seating in warm weather, and the outdoor space just beyond the restaurant was completely revamped to become, in effect, an outdoor lounge.”

From a branding perspective, signs and decor are understated, with selected signature elements. The Tommy Bahama retail shop is central and colorful in the lobby. The team put in touches for landscaping to give it a tropical vibe without hitting you over the head the way Margaritaville does.

Several non-travel brands