Jimmy Buffett’s empire continues to grow with new Margaritaville resort on the Gulf Coast
Jimmy Buffett’s last words to his sister Lucy Buffett were “have fun,” and the empire he built continues to expand on that message and brand a year after his passing, with the announcement of a Margaritaville resort coming to The Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama.
Buffett, who was born in Pascagoula, died in September 2023. In addition to his legacy as a singer, songwriter and best-selling author, he owned casinos, resorts, restaurants, entertainment venues, a campground, retirement community and cruise line.
Groundbreaking for this new Margaritaville Orange Beach will be in the fall. The first phase is expected to open in spring 2027 and the entire resort is projected to be complete by 2029.
The Orange Beach resort will “mix Margaritaville’s laid-back island lifestyle with the vibrant entertainment, shopping and dining offered at The Wharf,” the company website says.
This new resort, along the shores of the Intracoastal Waterway, will have signature Margaritaville bars, eateries and entertainment, some of which are also located at Margaritaville Resort Biloxi.
In addition to hotel rooms, the Orange Beach resort will have single-family resort cottages and luxury waterfront condos.
“Guests will be able to board the ferry to head to The Wharf to enjoy a concert at the amphitheater, shop, eat, ride the Ferris Wheel or take in the nightly laser light show along Main Street,” according to a press release from The Wharf.
Like Margaritaville Resort Biloxi, the Orange Beach resort will have a lazy river, swimming pool and other water features.
Buffett loved to talk about his time spent along the Gulf Coast. He told the Sun Herald his first professional gig was in Biloxi, and he loved to recall his days spent along the Gulf Coast.
For his legion of fans, known as “Parrotheads,” he immortalized two Coast cities with song — “Pascagoula Run” and “Biloxi” — and with fellow Mississippi native Mac McAnally, wrote “Gulf Coast Girl” as a Coast theme song.
His casino in Biloxi closed two years after it opened, and since he died, Margaritaville at at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip closed in April.
Yet most of Buffett’s projects are golden. Margaritaville Resort Biloxi has been a success, with its hotel, indoor arcade, waterpark and amusement park, and the Margaritaville brand continues to open new resorts and restaurants nationwide and internationally.
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is a popular place for Coast families to vacation near Dollywood and the Smoky Mountains, and the new Margaritaville resort opening there will be both family-friendly and luxurious. It promises custom bedding, modern coastal décor, multiple pools with slides and splash pads, a lazy river and a complimentary breakfast buffet.
The company has 40 lodging properties and 20 more in the pipeline to carry Buffett’s laid-back lifestyle. Margaritaville also is expanding the tropical vacation vibe by opening the first ski resort at Lake Tahoe in California and building Margaritaville Hotel Pocono Mountains, with a wilderness garden, luxury camping RV sites and cabins, pickleball courts, a kids’ club, dog park and snow tubing hill.
Among the other Margaritaville resorts coming soon or under construction are: Galveston, Texas; Newport, Kentucky; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Playa Caracol, Panama and Bay Islands, Honduras.
