Taco Bell is opening a Taco Bell-themed hotel
SUMMARY
Taco Bell is opening a hotel.
On May 16, 2019, the fast-food chain announced it would open The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort in Palm Springs, California, on Aug. 9, 2019.
Taco Bell said the hotel would be fully Taco Bell-themed, with new menu items, a gift shop, and a nail-art, fades, and braid bar inspired by the chain.
And executives want to be clear: This isn't a stunt, but part of Taco Bell's wider strategy of moving the brand beyond the traditional fast-food experience.
"This idea of allowing people to kind of fully experience and embrace and immerse themselves in every aspect of the Taco Bell lifestyle led us to the idea of doing a hotel," Taco Bell's chief global brand officer, Marisa Thalberg, told Business Insider.
The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort.
(Taco Bell)
Thalberg said Taco Bell's experience with hosting weddings in Taco Bell's Las Vegas Cantina instructed the chain's thinking around the hotel. Since Taco Bell began hosting weddings there in 2017, more than 165 couples have gotten married at the festive location.
"We're really just creating experiences that feel like a reflection and extension of the essence of Taco Bell at its very best," Thalberg said. "Oftentimes they're born out of real consumer insights or behaviors. And I think that's what makes them very valid and very legitimate."
Taco Bell fans can book reservations at the hotel starting in June 2019. Reservations are first come, first served, so be ready to book if you're looking for a Taco Bell-inspired vacation this August.
While The Bell is set to be open only for a limited time, Thalberg said she would "never say never" to a full-time Taco Bell-themed hotel.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
