Dockside to give tourism a boost
New hotel is an effort for Universal to draw new type of customer.
There’s a little bit of Wet & Wild in Universal’s new hotel, which sits on the longtime water attraction’s former site. But it’s subtle.
At The Oasis Beach Bar, drinks with names like the Bubba Tub and Mach Five pay homage to the rides that had been available at the popular water park, which closed on Dec. 31, 2016.
It’s a nod to the past, but Dockside Inn & Suites represents an effort for Universal Resort Orlando to draw a new type of customer.
“There are a lot of levels of families we are trying to attract,” said George Cronk, the Orlando-based managing director at Loews Hotels & Co. “We think from a price-point perspective, this is something that will appeal to those that need something a little bit more economical.”
Hotel officials on Tuesday opened one of two towers that will make up Dockside Inn & Suites to media, one week before it will host guests.
The opening comes at an opportune time for city tourism leaders, who have been trying to slow a growing concern over business conferences canceling Orlando events because of coronavirus fears.
To do that, they have been focusing on the area’s leisure-based visitors who continue to visit the area for its theme parks and attractions.
The Dockside Inn & Suites, JW Marriott Bonnet Creek and Legoland’s piratethemed hotel will all open within the next month, adding to an already robust industry that boasts more than 525 hotels and 125,000 guest rooms.
Dockside will eventually feature 2,050 rooms, making it the fourth-largest hotel in Orlando. The first tower will open Tuesday with 1,011 rooms, with the remainder planned for October.
As reporters toured the facility Tuesday, the grounds crew could be seen installing planters and hotel workers were giving the kitchen area a test run.
“Most of it is done from a construction and infrastructure standpoint,” Cronk said. Now “it’s process refinement and getting them trained.”
Dockside’s sister hotel, the 750-room Surfside Inn & Suites, opened last summer across Universal Boulevard. The two hotels make up the Endless Summer Resort.
The hotel, which sits on the north end of International Drive’s tourist sector, will offer shuttles to transport guests directly to Universal Studios theme park.
Neighboring hotels have been worried that its arrival could hurt them, as the property will be the company’s first to target value-level visitors.
Some rooms can be had for $89 per night, depending on the time of the year and size of the room. That puts them in direct competition with other long-existing value hotels in the area, with Dockside’s 14-story structure towering over a nearby Days Inn.
The idea to honor Wet & Wild came from a manager during a brainstorm meeting at the hotel.
“We had tons of fun putting those cocktails together,” said Phil Klinkenberg, director of food and beverage at the hotel. “We feel they are going to live for as many years the Wet & Wild theme park.”