After a three-year wait, Airbnb relaunches the iconic Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse. The multi-billion dollar short-term accommodation rental and tourist experience platform first opened bookings for the Dreamhouse in 2019 to commemorate the Barbie franchise’s 60th anniversary. This summer, in anticipation of the Greta Gerwig live-action Barbie film, the Dreamhouse gets a revamping with Ken as host, inviting up to four guests over 21 to 21 July 2023, free of charge. Airbnb explains that “Ken couldn’t figure out how to put a price on Barbie’s Malibu DreamHouse — after all, Ken’s thing is beach, not math!”.
Manufactured by Mattel in 1959, Barbie is a significant and sentimental part of many a childhood across the globe. Recreated to represent women from all walks of life, Barbie showcases both cultural and career diversity while simultaneously upholding a powerful mission to “give all girls a voice”. As Barbie’s inventor, Ruth Handler once said, “My whole philosophy of Barbie was that, through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be. Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices.”
With a fresh update of pink-on-pink, Ken’s hill-side property features one bedroom and one bathroom, a personal cinema, hobby room, infinity pool, outdoor terraces and uninterrupted, panoramic ocean views. The chic interior incorporates kitschy décor, bold pink furnishings and patterned wooden floors. Much of the house is modelled after the famous toy version, featuring large oversized radio speakers, pretty pink balustrades and a stone-clad bathtub with windows high above the California hills. The Ken-update includes Ken’s cow-boy themed room, an outdoor gym and a revamped patio disco dance floor.
“I’ve decked out the place with a little more…well, me! I’m more than just beach! My cowboy stuff is great. And horses! Guitars, games and more. And of course, rollerblades, because I literally go nowhere without them. Now, guests can live it up Ken-style for a neon night in Barbie Land — six-pack not included,” says Ken on his listing page. Guests will also be gifted with their very own set of yellow-and-pink Impala skates and surfboards to bring home the “Kenergy” of the house.
The listing also features Ken’s iconic closet, open for your raiding. An array of Ken’s cowboy outfits are hung pristinely, stirring up Ken-nostalgia for the diehard Ken-fans. Try on his line dancing boots for size, or strike a pose in his varsity jacket embroidered with the signature “K”. His guitar is neatly displayed in his room as well for sunset jam sessions by the pool.
Spend the weekend lazily lounging by the pool or getting a pump in at Ken’s workout corner. If you’re in the mood, let it all loose on the disco dance floor. Or if you’re hungry, get the grill going at the outdoor barbecue pit. The grill even comes with life-sized toy steaks and whole chickens, just as the gym comes with a life-sized tub of “beefy body brine”, all cheeky nods to Ken’s illustrious history as Barbie’s fashionable partner-in-crime and captain of fun. The Ken Malibu Dreamhouse will be a treat for Ken fans indeed.
Booking is available at 10 a.m. PT on Monday, July 17 for two one-night stays for up to two guests each. The Ken Malibu Dreamhouse offers an onsite concierge to ensure a comfortable stay for guests — which includes showing you around and arranging meals. While the one-night stays in the Dreamhouse are free-of-charge, guests will be responsible for their own travel to and from Malibu.
As with the 2019 launch, the Dreamhouse is once again part of Airbnb’s corporate social responsibility efforts to honour female empowerment. The Dreamhouse is re-launched in tandem with a one-time donation to Save the Children, which provides learning resources and support to children, families, and communities in 100+ countries with the mission of of ensuring equal opportunity for women from all ethnicities and classes.
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