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Castle Hotel will open Friday in Carlsbad, marking Legoland's second on-site hotel in five years.
The 250-room hotel has a medieval castle motif full of Lego-built characters and themed rooms. Nightly rates are expected to range from $205 to around $400, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
On-site hotels are smart business for theme parks, in part because they encourage patrons to stay longer.
“Having a hotel makes the park feel more like a resort, which are popular because everything is taken care of [for] you and you get all those characters in your room,” theme park expert and Farmingdale State College business management professor Martin Lewison told the SDUT. “And it’s definitely worth noting you can charge a lot more for a room that has all the bells and whistles than the Days Inn down the street.”
Average occupancy at Legoland's first on-site hotel is around 80% and the hotel generally sells out during the summer. The new hotel goes a step further in ambiance, adding more Lego models and more interactive elements, as well as larger hotel rooms and an elaborate outdoor area with a pool, a playground and a stage for live entertainment.
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