As the sun set over the intracoastal on Thursday, June 7, 2018, eight Margaritaville University ambassadors rolled out of their taxis and ubers into the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort for the 2nd annual MargU Roundtable event. The Roundtable, hosted by Margaritaville brand executives, is an all-expense-paid, four-day immersive Margaritaville experience at the beautiful Hollywood Beach Resort (here’s what went down at last year’s event). Eight standout ambassadors, out of the 250 over fall and spring semesters, were selected to attend the event.

This year’s group came from around North America, from Texas to Toronto, and included the following students: Adam–Providence College, Alex–York University, Christian–The Rutgers University, Danielle–Penn State University, Isabelle–University of Mississippi, Katie–University of Delaware, Lauren–Baylor University, Tiffany–Queen’s University.

The lobby’s flip flop, margarita glass chandelier and welcoming resort hospitality ensured everyone arrived in paradise. This was an important first impression as it was the first time most of these ambassadors visited a Margaritaville Hotel or Resort.

If you’ve strolled through the entrance or spent the afternoon with your feet up in a lobby cabana, you know what we mean. It’s a great place to meet, mingle, and relax with new friends who have a common bond, Margaritaville.

We broke out parrot pool floats for the ocean, reserved an hour on the Flo-Rider surfing machine and enjoyed a paddleboard tour meets photoshoot on the picturesque intracoastal. This trip was a reward after all.

When it came to downtime, the crew got to relax in a cabana by the LandShark Pool, take in the views from the 11th floor License to Chill Pool or spend the afternoon at the St. Somewhere Spa. A private tour of the top floor Coral Reefer Suite made it on the relaxed itinerary, too. This suite boasts views of both the ocean and the intracoastal, and the spacious balcony alone is twice the size of a dorm room.

With seven branded dining concepts on site, the ambassadors tasted everything from Cheeseburgers in Paradise at Margaritaville Cafe to sushi & oysters at JWB Steak & Seafood. Margaritaville Concept chef and the island-style mastermind behind the acclaimed Margaritaville: The Cookbook, Carlo Sernaglia, joined the group for dinner in the private room of JWB, for what was an extraordinary multi-course dining experience.

To test the ambassadors’ creativity, we held the second annual Fins Up Cup, a group competition to see who can best capture photos of Jimmy Buffett lyrics.

It’s a true test of wit for the younger generation and the creativity is boundless. The hotel backdrop, personalities and friendly faces on and off property make for a lot of fun, loads of stories, and a pretty cool trophy, too.

After this activity rundown it’s hard to believe this experience was not all fun and games, but the Margaritaville execs hosting the event sat down in the boardroom on the resort’s 9th floor (with a panoramic view of the ocean!) to talk more about the Margaritaville brand, where it has come from and where it’s going. The ambassadors, equipped with a fresh perspective, knowledge from the universities and a passion for creating and delivering fun and escapism, shared their input on the brand and college initiatives. As you might imagine, Margaritaville’s sense of fun and escapism is well received.

The Roundtable is a resume booster and a start of some great brainstorms for the crew, but we all know the real ideas come mid-wave at sea, or lounging under the sun listening to waves roll in. So, MargU will continue to do a little more playin’ than workin’ while bringing the Margaritaville state of mind to college campuses. Because we know as well as anyone, relaxation inspires creativity.

Luckily, the activities were captured on video too, so be on the lookout for our Roundtable 2018 Recap video. In the meantime if you’d like to know more, or see what happened last year, check out MargaritavilleUniversity.com.

Applications will be open for the fall until July 1, 2018. Fins Up!