Sandcastle Suites Renocation....

So since we know that CP will be renovating Sandcastle Suites, what are some things you guys would like to see done? *** Edited 11/26/2007 1:32:39 AM UTC by Parker17***

Free Wifi in the rooms not just in the lobby area. if you can get free wifi at Dennys & McDonalds why not get it in your room at the point.

Denny's and McDonald's want you to stay in the building to spend money.

Sandcastle wants you to get out of the building to spend money.

I was somewhat surprised about the announcement of this. I stayed at Sandcastle this year and a majority of the room had been renovated from the year before already. There was now lots of storage space, including new wood TV units for both TVs in the room. Pair with that the planting of a lot of new grass and the painting of the building to an awful yellow color.

Seems the renovation started some 1-2 years ago if you ask me.

I hope they make it more like a resort. I would be able to convince my girlfriend stay for a full weekend if the experience was as good as what you pay for.

What could they do at the hotel that would make it feel more "like a resort" but not negatively impact the rest of the company?

For instance, if the pool was larger/nicer/etc would that negatively impact Soak City?

And, if they are really still getting occupancy numbers near 100% for a majority of their season, what is the incentive to add anything?

I haven't stayed at Sandcastle for something like 5 or 6 years now and even then, it felt like a renovation was in order.

However, I still think you're paying for the convenience of an on-property room, not for the quality of the room.

They still sell out the cheap rooms in the old section of the Breakers and those rooms are downright nasty.

We cut our stay short 3 years ago when we stayed there. It was pretty bad. Nothing felt clean and the rooms all had a cleaning fluid smell. The rooms were bland and felt like a cheap Sleep Inn suite. I hope this renovation cleans the place up. Really, there isn't much in Sandusky that can really be considered nice.

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Pagoda Gift Shop said:
Pair with that the planting of a lot of new grass and the painting of the building to an awful yellow color.

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I disagree. The new color of the place is wayy cooler than before. *** Edited 11/26/2007 8:02:56 PM UTC by Parker17***

I realize you are paying for convenience, and there isn't much competition around, but you are paying a lot for a room. They should back it up with a better experience.

They could do a few more things on resort to make the stay better as well. Perhaps a bon fire or luau on the weekends. An outdoor beach side bar. Something to make it feel like a resort, and not a Days Inn next to Cedar Point.

I'm not in disagreement.

But with that said, I suspect they sell those rooms at those prices based on the convenience factor and the convenience factor alone.

If you did slap a Days Inn on property at the point, it would command the same rates.

If rooms go for that much now, how much more would they get for those rooms plus resort amentities? Yikes.

I think the point is a basic, bare bones room in that location goes for that price. Any more and the price will rise accordingly.

I am certainly no business man or anything, but I would bet that if they had a nicer resort, they wouldn't have to add $25,000,000 attractions every other year to sell it out. I don't know, this thread is about what I want to see done and what I really want is the Royal Pacific. :)

The Royal Pacific is open 365 days per year. Sandcastle Suites is open about 90-100 days per year. I understand wanting nicer accommodations but there is a breaking point and that really is what the market is willing to bear.

I don't see occupancy (and thus revenue) increasing by adding any more amenities, no matter how nice they might be. The other thing to consider is the demographics of those who visit. I'm not an advocate of putting a beach side bar out there when a large majority of the beachgoers are kids. But, I do like the swim up bar at Soak City that has limited access.

Kids can't get drinks at Fridays, they wouldn't be able to at my bar. :)

Heck, it could even be an extension of Fridays similar to what Jimmy Buffets at City Walk has. Just a small place outside their big place.

I'd like to see Cedar Point build a supervised child care area so that mom/dad can partake of Friday's or a quiet evening alone while the kids were safe and having a good time.

If Disney can manage it with their cruise ships/beepers and so forth then Cedar Point could figure it out.

The kennel is at the front of the park... :)

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wahoo skipper said:
...if they are really still getting occupancy numbers near 100% for a majority of their season, what is the incentive to add anything?

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With that logic, where's the incentive to paint the exterior of the property? Where's the incentive to renovate the interior?

Even if your property is maintaining a 100% occupancy, you have to continue to update, refresh and upgrade the property to keep people coming back. If you wait for occupancy to decline, you're going to have to spend even more to get those people back.

Cedar Point has always said they have to keep updating the park to keep people coming back. The same can apply to the resorts. If properties outside of the park start getting nicer (or even if there's just a new property), people will stop staying on point because it won't be worth it. So, Cedar Point needs to try and stay with (or preferably ahead) of the curve.

Keeping something status quo just because you can is probably the worst business model possible. There's no growth in that.

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With that logic, where's the incentive to paint the exterior of the property? Where's the incentive to renovate the interior?

Even if your property is maintaining a 100% occupancy, you have to continue to update, refresh and upgrade the property to keep people coming back. If you wait for occupancy to decline, you're going to have to spend even more to get those people back.

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You answered youself on that one. :)

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Keeping something status quo just because you can is probably the worst business model possible. There's no growth in that.

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On the same note, improving or adding things you don't have to is just spending for no reason. There's no growth in that either.

In other words - a simple paint job and an interior re-do every 10 or 20 years keeps people coming and things up to the standard that is needed. Any more than that and it becomes waste.

I too would love for CP "Resorts" to actually do something, anything, to earn the title.

I can certainly see the there-is-no-need argument. Then, there is the they've-never-done-it-before argument. But, the most recent addition, Castaway Bay, suggests that they *can* do better, and that from time to time, they are willing. You could even argue that the Peanuts floor (which is a nice little interior upgrade) and Lighthouse Point are moving in this direction as well.

I know that five years ago, Sandcastle was already well in need of a freshen. I'm glad to see it is actually happening.

Well, Tim, of course maintenance has to be done. I didn't suggest it didn't. (Actually, prior to Breakers East I think you could make the case the Breakers went with a great deal of neglect for several decades even while charging exhuberant prices but embarassment may have finally forced their hand.)

But, think about Sandcastle since 1989. What amenities have been added to the hotel? They put screens on the balconies but that was done, in large part, to aid the maintenance & housekeeeping nightmare that the muffleheads brought. They weren't put in with the expectation that people would spend all days on their small balconies.

What else? It opened with the modest pool. Nothing new there. Not even a little playground out back for the kiddies.

I suspect a good part of the interior renovation was done for a few reasons. First, the older wings that had the foldable "wall" that separated living room from bedroom likely were at the end of the lifespan of those foldable walls. Putting in the "built ins" while eliminating the walls probably killed two birds with one stone. They certainly weren't marketing new and improved rooms because of that change.

Heck, in all those years they didn't add so much as a video game to the place...yet the occupancy remained pretty high. (They did see a downturn in occupancy during Sept/Oct but that could be attributed to the opening of Breakers Tower and Breakers Express. Plus, the staffing shortages at the end of the season made closing Sandcastle after Labor Day a smart business move.