For the world traveler with discerning taste and an abiding love for electronic dance music, finding a hotel that not only met traditional quality standards — e.g., Egyptian linens, an assortment of erotic art books, and a 60-inch LED TV screen — but also kept European house music on loop in the lobby had always been one of life's biggest First-World problems.
However, that all changed in January when Swedish EDM superstar Avicii released a 43-second teaser video promoting his latest project, a Collins Avenue pop-up hotel.
Between Friday, March 15, and Monday, March 25, the Avicii Hotel will take over the Marlin Hotel in Miami Beach, transforming 16 über-trendy rooms with the finest collection of Swedish house accouterments south of IKEA.
"Music has always been an integral part of this property," says the Marlin's front-of-house manager, Alex Giraldo. "We even have a working recording studio downstairs that's been around for 20 years."
At presstime, Giraldo was still working with Avicii's management to finalize plans for the ten-day pop-up hotel. But he did hint at the possibility of a live event. "I'm guessing there'll be a show at some point, but I'm not sure when that will be."
But whether or not the svelte Swede rocks the Marlin's pool with some sweet uhntz-uhntz, the Avicii Hotel still guarantees the most epic accommodations ever seen by Ultra Music Festival, Winter Music Conference, and Miami Music Week.
"What we do every year in Miami for Ultra week has become sort of an EDM happening of its own," Avicii's manager, Ash Pournouri, said in an interview with Billboard. "Every year we try to break boundaries and do it bigger and better, and this year's no different."
In 2012, the guerrilla marketing plan included a fleet of Avicii ice-cream trucks. And the previous year, Pournouri plastered the Swede's face all over shuttle buses bound for Ultra, helping the baby-faced beatmaker become one of the most recognizable brands in electronic dance music.
But while free ice-cream sandwiches and a ride around town in an Avicii-wrapped bus were widely accessible advertising campaigns, this year's $780-per-night hotel room rate is quite pricey.
Whether you're settling for the entry-level, three-night "Blessed" package for two or splurging on the ten-night "Bromance" option for four, a stay at the Avicii Hotel will set you back about three car payments and a month's supply of groceries. But that's only a small price to pay when you consider that every guest will receive a mysterious swag bag worth at least $400 and an opportunity to shower with Avicii.
From Avicii-brand bar soap to Avicii terry-cloth bathrobes, every inch of the Avicii Hotel will scream, well, Avicii.
"A hotel will be hard to beat," Pournouri admits. "But the challenge is half the fun."
With every hotel in South Florida vying for a piece of Ultra's annual $79 million economic influx, only one can bill itself as the ultimate "Avicii experience" and promise "benefits that no other hotel will be able to give its customers" that week.
Benefits such as complimentary Ultra VIP passes.
Reserved exclusively for guests staying the full ten nights of the Avicii Hotel's South Beach stint, two complimentary VIP Ultra tickets per weekend make the $7,300 price for a bromantic getaway seem pretty reasonable. Add a "personal invite to Avicii's annual private party at a secret location," and $7,300 sounds almost too good to be true.
But you don't have to spend two months' salary to sleep on 300-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and get access to the massive EDM festival. There are other options.
The seven-night "Leve7s" package, which runs $530 to $740 per night, also includes complimentary passes and an invite to Avicii's private set. But you'll have to (1) choose your weekend and (2) sweat it out with the common folk in Ultra's general-admission areas.
You can even spend five nights at the Avicii Hotel for about $3,000 (based on double occupancy) and join the Bromance quartet at the private soiree. Unfortunately, you'll have to buy your way into Ultra Music Festival the old-fashioned way: scalpers.
