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Indoor Water
Parks Create Occupancy Typhoon
7/31/2006
By Krista Giannak
NATIONAL REPORT -- Water parks aren’t just for
beating the heat anymore as indoor water parks offer year round summer style fun
even when the mercury dips below freezing. And hotels that are adding this
family friendly amenity are being rewarded
with premium rates and selling more rooms.
As an amenity, water parks can
boost a property’s ADR while attracting more guests. When school is out, a water
park will draw children from all over the country. Such properties appeal to
multiple demographics. The
Grand Rios and the Water Park of America are in the
middle of a “heavily-trafficked business district,” and are adjacent to the Mall
of America and Minneapolis International Airport. They’re upscale properties,
which have arcades, restaurants, meeting rooms, private spas, high-speed
wireless Internet access and a “multi-million dollar home feel.”
The
Grand Rios has 45,000 square feet of water fun, which was
incorporated into the $45 million renovation project that transformed an old
Ramada Inn (with an ADR of about $70 and a 30% occupancy rate) into the Grand
Rios (with an ADR of about $129 and an occupancy rate over 90%). The Water Park
of America is Minnesota’s largest (and America’s biggest) water park, featuring
70,000 square feet of wet and splashy fun.
According to David Sangree, President of the hospitality consulting
firm Hotel & Leisure Advisors, guests are willing to pay anywhere from $20 to
$150 more per night for this amenity and that hotels with water parks achieve
are getting anywhere between a five and 30 point occupancy bump over similar
hotels without a water parks. “Indoor water parks will become a necessary
amenity, particularly in seasonal resort communities for properties wanting to
attract year-round demand,” Sangree predicted.
In 1994, there were just five indoor water parks in the United
States and Canada. By 2004, the number of water parks had already exploded to
63. According to the World Water Park Association, in 2005 alone, United States
and Canadian developers added 644,000 square feet of additional water park
space. Today, there are 71 indoor water parks in the United States, 42% of which
are in Wisconsin.
The first large scale hotel to open an indoor water park was the
Polynesian Resort in Wisconsin Dells in 1994. “We decided to take [the Water
Factory] indoors to protect our shoulder seasons... Spring and Fall,” said Stan
Anderson, President. Guests here enjoy a four-acre outdoor water park, or the
38,000 square foot indoor water park, which includes two-story water slides, a
lazy river, small slides for kids, and two whirlpools.
“Based in the Upper Midwest we recognize that our weather is more
conducive for this type of getaway. The concept may be more difficult to succeed
in warm weather climates,” said David Merritt, Senior VP of Development for
Marcus Hotels, which has two indoor water parks located in the Wisconsin area.
As a result, families from nearby Milwaukee or Chicago are the parks’ prime
demographic. At Marcus’s Hilton property, the water park helps fill rooms on
Fridays and Saturdays when the convention center is less busy. At the Timber
Ridge Lodge and Resort, a condo hotel, the 50,000 square foot water park (30,000
square feet are indoors) is the primary amenity, and brought in ADRs above $200
from the start. Marcus Hotels is currently conducting feasibility studies for
future new constructions.
However Merritt believes it’s crucial to make sure the property
does not rely on the water park to fill its rooms year round. He said other
amenities for business and leisure travelers, as well as area attractions are
critical to help boost occupancy during the quiet times when school is in
session. For example, Timber Ridge has restaurants, golf, skiing, horseback
riding and more in the surrounding area. The Hilton Milwaukee is home to five
ballrooms and 18 meeting rooms, which help buoy business year round.
Angela Greer, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at The
Wirth Cos., owner of the Grand Rios and the Water Park of America agrees that
shielding the property from relying on seasonal business is a smart way to go.
“Where you see seasonality issues with most water park facilities, we’ve
upscaled all of our sleeping rooms... in order to attract both the corporate and
leisure market,” said Greer.
The largest current developer of indoor water parks is Great Wolf
Resorts, according to the world Water Park Association. Since 1997, Great Wolf
Resorts has opened six Great Wolf Lodge properties in the United States and one
in Canada, with three more set to open in late 2006 and 2007. The Blue Harbor
Resort in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is also a Great Wolf property.
“The water park is the big draw, and we have dozens of additional
things to do for families. Think of it as a cruise ship on land,” explained John
Emery, CEO of
Great Wolf Resorts. The properties offer indoor water parks
ranging in size from 34,000 to 82,000 square feet, and have fun and refreshing
water slides such as the Howlin’ Tornado™ - a six-story extreme tube ride with
65-foot funnel drops in
Wisconsin Dells. Each property also features traditional
pools, wave pools, and hot tubs, as well as themed suites and restaurants. Many
also offer a spa to rejuvenate the weary. “A commercial hotel with an indoor
water park attached to it is a great amenity, but... it may not constitute a
vacation destination. There is a difference between a hotel with a nice amenity
and a destination resort that is designed for family entertainment,” Emery said.
Family vacationers are about 95% of their revenue, and Great Wolf
staff pride themselves on a clean, family-oriented atmosphere. The water parks
are exclusive to Great Wolf Lodge guests, and Emery believes that, in addition
to reducing lines for slides, this policy makes families feel safer and more at
home.
Other properties, such as
Cape Codder Resort and Spa in Hyannis,
MA, use indoor water features, or smaller versions of the larger indoor water
parks, to supplement their other amenities.
Cape Codder Resort and Spa has an
8200 square foot wave pool, complete with 2-foot waves, two water slides (an
80-footer and a 50-footer), waterfalls and fountains, and a whirlpool. According
to Debra Catania, Vie President of Catania Hospitality Group (which owns the
resort), this $2 million project has been profitable, and increases occupancy
during rainy weather.
Universally, the prime demographic for water parks is young people,
especially children. Destination resorts allow a one-stop, stress-free vacation,
while water features and water parks as amenities whet a family’s appetite for
more fun. “We put a lot of labor into entertaining people. It’s a very expensive
business model to run, but if you do it right, families will keep coming back,”
Emery said.
Courtesy
of Hotel Interactive.
www.hotelinteractive.com.
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