BETHESDA, Md. --
Marriott International is banking part of its future on slime. The
Nickelodeon TV network variety, that is.
Although ground has
not broken on its first Nickelodeon resort in San Diego, the
company last week outlined aggressive plans for expanding the
concept globally.
Dennis Nau, vice
president of Nickelodeon Resorts by Marriott, said the company
hoped to have 20 to 25 of the waterpark and entertainment-themed
resorts in the works over the next decade.
The company is
currently focused on opportunities in key gateway and resort cities
in North America and Hawaii. It also is looking at the U.K.,
Australia and China.
The resorts will be
developed in partnership with Nickelodeon and Denver-based Miller
Global Properties, which developed the first Nickelodeon resort in
Orlando.
The Florida property
currently is operated under InterContinental Hotels Group's Holiday
Inn brand, although Nau indicated it could be reflagged in the
future.
Marriott in May
entered the partnership to expand the Nickelodeon resort concept,
with its first property scheduled to open in San Diego in
2010.
Nau described a
Nickelodeon resort as one that is "first and foremost an
entertainment venue that happens to have sleeping
rooms."
He said the resorts
would all have waterparks as well as studios for live performances
and family-based contests where winners get doused with
Nickelodeon's trademark green slime and "losers will be able to
walk up to their dad and hit him in the face with a
pie."
The resorts will also
offer Nickelodeon-themed restaurants, in addition to more
traditional dining venues for adults. They will feature three
different spas: one for adults, one for tweens and another for
kids.
And while the focus
will be on families, the resorts will also offer meetings space for
business that want to hold more nontraditional retreats and
meetings that encourage participants to bring their
families.
To
contact reporter Jeri Clausing, send e-mail to [email protected].