Fyre Festival launches tropical hotel this summer with $1,500 stays

Fyre Festival is back…this time with a hotel pop-up (Picture: FYRE)

It’s not often that an event synonymous with disaster manages to revive itself continuously, but the Fyre Festival brand has consistently defied expectations. 

Yesterday, the infamous brand announced the Fyre Hotels experience, scheduled to take place from September 3 to September 10 at the Coral View Utila in Honduras, the Caribbean. 

According to a new website, the hotel experience stems from the initial 2013 incident that inspired Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland’s original festival: ‘A software engineer and hobbyist pilot challenged Billy to leave NYC and to try and fly a small plane from NYC to a remote Caribbean island.’

‘Along the way, Billy overshot, ran out of gas, and was saved by a landing strip on a remote island. The magic of the island created a legend that quickly spread back home. These trips grew from a single engine propeller plane with four crazy entrepreneurs to the talent lead and adventure infused trips that became FYRE Festival.’

For those not in the know, FYRE Festival was a 2017 luxury music event in the Bahamas that disastrously collapsed.

Marketed by influencers and co-founded by Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule, it promised lavish villas, gourmet food, and top artists – but delivered disaster tents, cold sandwiches, and chaos.

Attendees were stranded, and the event quickly became a viral scandal, with McFarland later being convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison. The festival sparked multiple lawsuits and became a symbol of social media deception, later chronicled in two popular documentaries.

So is this new hotel scheme redemption or just another ruse for McFarland? At this point, it’s hard to say for sure.

Hotel packages range from $200 (£147) to $500 (£370) a day – making the entire trip cost around $1500 (£1,109) – with packages supposedly including boat excursions, guided snorkelling, beach fitness sessions, kayaking, beach volleyball, nightly entertainment, and beach bonfire parties.

The brand promises ‘adventure’ for guests (Picture: Fyre) Packages include snorkeling and other activities (Picture: FYRE)

The island reached out to the brand specifically. The website states: ‘They have tapped FYRE to bring global attention to this off-the-map gem, programming unforgettable experiences, and simply enjoying life at the edge of the reef.’

While the original disastrous festival touted a luxury experience, this is intentionally more rustic: ‘We’re not chasing luxury. We’re chasing stories. Our trip is about deep dives, street food, late night bonfires, and waking up to something unexpected. This location is the essence of beauty, energy, and potential for adventure.’

The news of the hotel comes shortly after Fyre Festival 2 was officially canceled. It may not have existed at all.

The festival was reportedly due to take place in Isla Mujeres, Mexico, from May 30 to June 2. However, the local Playa del Carmen government said there is ‘no event of that name’ expected to take place in the city, as per The Times.

Billy McFarland ended up in jail for six years following the original Fyre Festival (Picture: Reuters) Despite big promises of luxury, the festival ended up delivering trashed accommodations (Picture: Daniel William McKnight) The food was equally apalling (Picture: Twitter)

It remains unclear whether he was referring to the new hotel experience when he insisted it was ‘all real’ on social media. Still, given McFarland’s track record, many are skeptical about the brand’s new venture. 

But Heath Miller, former New York concert promoter and one-time vp and talent buyer at Webster Hall in New York, who reached an agreement with McFarland for the hotel pop-up, is optimistic. 

He told Billboard: ‘This event isn’t for an artist looking for a $100,000 fee. Honestly, for me, this is a promotional vehicle for my hotel and it plays into my grand plan — I’m working on writing a book on my music career, and the book was supposed to end last June [with a story about] Jack Antonoff in Asbury Park. But instead, I guess Fyre is going to be the final chapter of the book.’

He went on to say that though Fyre Festival has a bad reputation as a brand, it’s valuable in its ability to drum up publicity. 

He added: ‘Billy has issues and one of his biggest flaws is that he tends to trust people more than he should,’ before going on to explain that he has personally ensured all of the pop-up’s permits and other paperwork are in order.

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