San Antonio’s Pink Valley Paradise Airbnb invites guests to live their Barbie dreams out in a pink-themed house, perfect for parties and nostalgic getaways.
SAN ANTONIO — What started out as a toy for girls in 1959 has become a worldwide cultural icon. Barbie has been the dream doll for billions of people. Who didn’t want to be Barbie, or Ken, growing up? KENS 5‘s Danny Hermosillo takes us on a trip to San Antonio’s own Barbie’s dream house where you can make that dream come true.
When you walk into the Pink Valley Paradise Airbnb, you are most definitely stepping into barbie’s world. Everywhere you turn, there’s pink. Pink bedrooms, pink skating rink, everything around the kitchen sink is pink.
This life-sized barbie’s dream house is a dream come true for Mandy Taylor. She’s been hosting Airbnb’s for a while. But she felt it was time to for one where people can channel their inner Barbie.
“I wanted to be able to gear to a certain audience, which was women, of course,” says Taylor. “And bachelorette parties are always happening. We always got little girls that love barbie. Even older women love Barbie.”
Like countless little girls growing-up, barbie had a special place in Mandy’s life.
“I loved Barbie growing up. Dress up all the time. I was around a lot of girls who loved barbie and just generally loved the color pink.”
Mandy realized that many women like her never outgrew Barbie. In fact, they were looking for a place to reconnect with her.
The Pink Valley Paradise Airbnb is the perfect place for that. It features six bedrooms, sleeps 23, has a movie theater and a luxurious backyard straight out of Malibu. And of course, it’s not a true Barbie experience unless you play dress up.
“A lot of the women, they just let loose,” says Taylor. “They get dressed up and all of the clothes that we offer, and they’ll run around here, and the barbie dresses, all the barbie clothes. It brings a lot out of the women. And the little girls, especially.”
Mandy says surprisingly a lot of men come to visit as well, as long as they remember that it is barbie’s world.
“We have gotten a lot of men come in here with their wives, with their girlfriends or sisters, and they dress up right along with them and they fit in just fine. I mean, they love it.”
There’s no shortage of good times in this pink palace. It’s a place where people come to re-live fond memories and create new ones.
“There was one guest that I had, she grew up in poverty, so she had been saving for this, this house,” says Taylor. “She was wanting to book this house for quite some time. So she saved up for months for her daughter to have her, I believe her 13th birthday here. The daughter cried. The mom cried. I mean, I get a lot of tears, but that was one amazing story that I was able to provide a dream for the mother and the daughter.”
And after all, isn’t that what barbie is all about?
“So when you come here, you’re going to feel and a barbie dream land,” says Taylor. “You are going to always, always feel in character here. And that’s what we wanted.”
If you want to book barbie’s dream house, it will cost you between 425 to 600 dollars a night. But just round up some friends for a slumber party and split the cost.
For more information, visit pinkishhideaway.com.