Successful resort development has evolved over the decades through a series of strategies that added WOW to the guest experience. Today’s hotel guest is looking for an experience, not just the same old amenities. Meeting planners are looking for resorts that offer a unique on-site experience so they can avoid the hassle and cost of arranging vans to transport attendees to off-site locations. A growing number of resort owners “get it” and are leading the way. And now we are seeing another major trend in resort development — the emergence of Adventure Parks & Resorts. Innovators, sporting enthusiasts and entrepreneurs…
Continue Reading
A white paper about safety and insurance considerations when deciding to install water amusements in your hotel. Recognized expert in the field of waterpark safety issues and insurance. The strong trend to add water amenities in hotels is causing hotel owners everywhere ask questions about slides and waterparks while they look for ways to head off competition from a new waterpark being built nearby or to gain a competitive advantage over local rivals. The two most common options are to add a slide to an existing pool, or to expand through new construction of a waterpark.From a cost perspective, the…
Continue Reading
If you’re planning to add an indoor waterpark to your existing hotel or start from scratch with a new construction project, like the Kalahari Resort or Great Wolf Lodge at Wisconsin Dells, you may want to get the experts involved early. Did you hear the one about the guy who built a yacht in his basement and then had to tear down his house to get the boat out? Well, it can be the same problem in reverse when you’re building an indoor waterpark. Many times, you have to build the water structure first – — you know, the waterslides and the treehouse. Then…
Continue Reading
At a recent conference I asked a panel of great waterpark hotel designers “What Waterpark elements appeal to adults” their answers were okay but I could tell they weren’t really interested. In fact the last guy on the panel, one of the lions of waterpark design simply said “they’ve all answered” and looked to move on. I was baffled, why is it that no one believes that we can have a successful adult oriented indoor water park? Though we’re a young industry, the waterpark industry is slow to challenge our own assumptions. Why just a dozen years ago few believed…
Continue Reading
Within the past five years, a new concept has developed: the water park resort, a pairing of lodging facilities with an indoor water park. The concept was conceived in the Wisconsin Dells, when the Polynesian Resort added indoor water features, in an attempt to improve that property’s occupancy rates. The project was an immediate success and other properties quickly followed suit with indoor water features of their own. At last count, there were 18 properties in the Dells with some type of indoor water features. In addition, some 30 water park resorts have been developed in other parts of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. The…
Continue Reading
Hotels are racing to build indoor water parks, which offer family fun whatever the weather The beaches at the Lake Erie resort community of Sandusky, Ohio, are empty, the marina is closed, and the parks are covered in snow. But the Kalahari resort in town is packed. One of three hotels in Sandusky that have built indoor water parks to lure off-season tourists, the Kalahari offers four acres of rides and one million gallons of water under a giant high-tech plastic roof designed to allow visitors to sunbathe. As infants splash in a wading pool, teens careen through a giant…
Continue Reading
At a recent conference I asked a panel of great waterpark hotel designers “What Waterpark elements appeal to adults” their answers were okay but I could tell they weren’t really interested. In fact the last guy on the panel, one of the lions of waterpark design simply said “they’ve all answered” and looked to move on. I was baffled, why is it that no one believes that we can have a successful adult oriented indoor water park? Though we’re a young industry, the waterpark industry is slow to challenge our own assumptions. Why just a dozen years ago few believed…
Continue Reading
The amount of indoor and outdoor waterpark square footage will grow at a faster rate in 2014 than in any year since the Great Recession. Twelve indoor waterpark resorts or standalone indoor waterparks will be opened or expanded in 2014 compared to 9 in 2013. The projected 370,000 new indoor square feet in 2014 dwarfs the 68,000 indoor square feet added in 2013. Eight private outdoor waterparks are projected to open in 2014 compared to 5 in 2013.
Continue Reading
Numerous hotel owners are considering adding an indoor waterpark to their existing hotel as a way to boost occupancy levels and revenues at their property. How does one determine if this is a good idea? How much does it cost to add a waterpark to a property?
Continue Reading
You have your plans and reports in hand and are ready to start your indoor waterpark resort. Where does the money come from?
Continue Reading
