Guests enjoying the splashing at hotels with indoor water facilities

Red Jacket, Hampton Inn indoor water facilities a vacation week hit

April school vacation week is making a big splash in the bottom line of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort, as the North Conway hotel is attracting strong business due, in large part, to its new $14 million Kahuna Laguna indoor water park.It's also been a strong week at the Hampton Inn and Suites of North Conway, which opened its indoor water attraction in February 2007.It's been like Christmas morning all week the kids see the park, and they get very excited, said Pamela Sens, the hospitality accountant for the Red Jacket, when interviewed Monday, April 21. As Sens and assistant general manager Chuck Randall gave a tour of the 40,000-square foot water park, families dressed in bathing attire, flip-flops and robes busily made their way from the Red Jacket's newly redesigned lobby to make their way past the new game room and toward the Tiki Tide Cafe, the resort's new tropically-decorated sandwich and snack stand, which overlooks the cavernous, state-of-the-art water park.Inside the water park, fathers, mothers and children cavorted at the various features, with the energy level resembling a day at the beach, an indoor one at that.The facility features two bodysurfing and two tube slide towers that bring users to a landing pool; a wave pool, an adjacent activity pool with basketball hoops; a kiddie pool, an area that features a large cask that when full empties water onto bather's from above, a spray area and the Jacuzzi.Men's and women's lockers, rest rooms and changing areas are also available.The resort also offers an indoor spa in the main lodging facility, as well as 12 townhouses.As part of the resort upgrade, the lobby was redesigned, a game room was added off the lobby, and the main hallways were widened leading to Hampshire Hall and to Champney's Dining Room.According to industry standards, water facilities are determined by square footage 15,000 square feet or less is called a water feature, 15,000 to 50,000 is a water park, and over 50,000 is a mega-park. Monday was the first weekday of the April school vacation week, and the resort was hopping which is what Red Jacket's management and ownership had hoped it would be when they launched the project.And although the resort had much-publicized permitting problems with the town of Conway when it opened just prior to February vacation week, those concerns have been or will soon be addressed and mitigated, noted Sens and Randall.The Conway Planning Board in February voted unanimously to grant a permit for the water park but mandated that the hotel demonstrate prior to June 26 that a large, on-site mechanical unit is not bothering adjacent property owners. Additional insulation for the mechanical unit and a row of arborvitae shrubs were planned to mitigate the sight and sound issues. We will take care of the [landscaping] issues with the exchange unit outside shortly, now that the weather has warmed up, said Sens April 21, noting that the noise issues said to resemble that of a low fan hum are also being addressed as part of the planning board agreement.The resort which has donated to many community projects over the years, including $50,000 to The Memorial Hospital received much local business backing during the planning board proceedings in February. Still to be resolved are the legal fees and fines issues.Built in 1972 on the site of the former Birchmont estate, the Red Jacket is one of seven resorts owned by Red Jacket Resorts, based in Cape Cod. It formerly housed an indoor as well as outdoor pool but owners, after a year of review, opted to build a new outdoor pool and the new indoor water park.Infrastructure work began in September 2006. Work resumed in spring, with the new outdoor pool completed by June. Work was halted during the summer season, but resumed this fall.Consultant for the park was Aquatic Development Group of Cohoes, N.Y. Project architect was Michael Couture of North Conway, who has done much of the Red Jacket's renovation design work over the past 15 years.Glen Builders began constructing the Red Jacket's Kahuna Laguna in September. The resort had hoped to have opened the park by the busy Christmas vacation week, and then by Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday in January, but the season's heavy snow and the large scope of the project led to delays. Creating a buzzSince opening in February, Sens and Randall said that the response overall has been tremendous.Our bookings have been very strong since the opening in February vacation week. It has been slower during non-vacation midweeks, but strong on weekends, and now that April school vacation week is here, we are at 92 percent, 89 percent occupancy, said Sens. We're looking ahead to a very, very busy summer, said Randall, who said the goal has been to create a destination resort.Given that April vacation week in the past has never been strong, not only for the Red Jacket, but for all resort businesses in the tourism-dependent Mount Washington Valley, Randall said he believes that the water park is creating a buzz of excitement for guests to come and visit the region.I think it brings more people to the valley. We certainly have seen it in our customer count, said Randall. I think it's a good thing for the valley because it shows we have an attraction that other places don't have.Added Sens, It has always been more of a week where people in New England headed south. We have seen a boost for this week, no question. Of course, with gas prices and the changes in the marketplace since September 11 [2001], people have wanted to stay closer to home as well.Randall said the new attraction and upgrades have not changed the demographics of the resort's customer base, but it has brought new customers.We have always been family-based, and that has stayed true, said Randall.He said in addition to vacationing parents and children, the new water park has also brought grandparents and grandchildren.What we see is grandparents come and visit the water park just to get an idea of what we have and then they return with their grandchildren, said Randall. Added Sens, We even had one couple who said they left their kids at home so they could come up by themselves and check it out!While the children romp at the pool, other moms and dads head to the spa for some restorative relaxation, they noted.The Kahuna Laguna is open to overnight guests of the Red Jacket and its sister Red Jacket resort, the Fox Ridge Resort, also of North Conway.We are not open to the public at large, as we offer the water park only to our overnight guests, said Sens.In addition to the room fee, water park rates are $35, with a fee of $15 per each additional room guest. Those who do not use the park are not charged the fee. However, rates for rooms have increased over the past year, Sens and Randall said. Guests purchase the bracelets for the park the day they check in, and it gives admission the day they check-in as well as the following day to check-out at 11 a.m. Asked if the resort was considering opening up the park to local children, Sens and Randall said several options were being examined including possibly the idea of opening the water park to children on their birthdays, or to open the resort up to children involved in local swim programs. We are looking at various ideas but nothing has been set into place as of yet, said Sens.Randall and Sens said the renovations and new water park are part of the need for resorts to stay competitive in the marketplace.Nowadays, guests want more. They want more options under one roof. Luckily, our owners are smart enough and had the foresight to do that. It was a huge project, and they went ahead and did it, and they have proven it's been a great thing, said Randall. Added Sens, This is part of staying ahead of the competition there are many parks in the Mid-West, but we are the largest in northern New England. This is pat of the new millennium families want to be entertained at a resort without having to leave the property once they get here.During February vacation week, she said it was not uncommon to see children head to the water park in the morning, and then to local ski resorts for the afternoon, followed by more game room time and water park time in the afternoon and evening. They are pretty tuckered out at night, but it's a good tired. We guarantee to put the kids to sleep at night, laughed Sens, who is herself a mother.For further information, go to www.redjacketresorts.com or www.redjacketmoutainviewresort. comWater attractionsThe Red Jacket joins North Conway's year-old Hampton Inn in the water resort business. Backing up the idea that water attractions can add to a resort's ability to attract customers, general manager Tom Spaulding said the 97-room Hampton Inn and Suites of North Conway has seen steady business since opening its water attraction in February 2007.The North Conway facility is the only one of Hampton's 1,300 properties to have a water attraction.The Hampton Inn's 5,000-square-foot amenity features two slides a green tube that is covered and a yellow one that is not. A second pool offers a smaller slide for younger children, presided over by Fernando the Frog, a large frog-shaped slide.A Jacuzzi is located next to the landing pool, and next door down the hall is a weight room.Unlike the Red Jacket, the Hampton Inn does open its attraction to the general public, depending on occupancy, said Spaulding.We do offer the amenity for birthday parties and special events but there are blackout times. If someone wants to be absolutely sure of being able to use the facility, they need to book a room, however, said Spaulding, formerly of the Tolley Group and now of the Hampton Inn as of six weeks ago. Like the Red Jacket, he said room bookings for the once-slow April vacation week were in the 92 percent range.It seems to be especially strong and busy this week I think the weather has something to do with that, as everyone is thinking summer and they want to get wet, said Spaulding. And since our room rates are higher than some of our competitors, I would have to think we are getting that strong occupancy because of our water amenity.He said unlike the Red Jacket, the use of the Hampton's water facility is included in room rates.We have heard that people like that about us a lot, said Spaulding.For further information, call Hampton Inn & Suites at 356-7736 or go to www.hamptoninn.com.