Taco Bell opens luxury, theme hotel as business booms

·Senior Reporter

Updated 10 August 2019 at 7:50 am

Move over, Hotel California. Welcome to the Hotel (Taco) Bell.

The popular fast food chain officially opened its luxury, four-night pop-up hotel in Palm Springs, California where guests have the opportunity to indulge in a wide-range of exclusive Taco Bell (YUM) dishes — from chipotle butter popcorn to Strawberry Sangria Baja Blast popsicles dipped in champagne.

“This is more of a brand-awareness thing for Taco Bell overall,” said Yahoo Finance reporter Heidi Chung, who covers the food business.

"The Bell" offers guests exclusive Taco Bell dishes, branded pool floaties and more (Courtesy: Taco Bell)

“Taco Bell is one of those brands that is trying to reinvent fast foods for [millennials],” she added, explaining that the Mexican chain’s updated strategy falls in line with consumer demand when it comes to healthier food options, a trend that’s helped newcomers like Beyond Meat (BYND) skyrocket to sizzling success.

The fully immersive brand experience sold out all 70 rooms in just 2 minutes, according to CNN.

Other special offerings include Taco Bell-branded merchandise, hot sauce packet floaties and even a salon complete with — you guessed it — Taco-Bell inspired manicures.

Taco Bell's pop-up hotel sold out in 2 minutes, according to CNN (Courtesy: Taco Bell)

“This is making [fast food] cool again,” Chung added.

Taco Bell is one of three different restaurants under the Yum! Brands umbrella, which also includes KFC and Pizza Hut.

The Mexican food chain has continued to see solid growth, with same-store sales growing 7% during the second quarter, up from the 2% growth in the same period last year.

Alexandra Canal is a Producer at Yahoo Finance.

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