CARLSBAD, CA—Construction of the 250-room Legoland Hotel at Legoland California Resort, here, created quite a buzz in the community, and now that the themed property has opened, the question is: How will it “stack up” with guests?
From a development perspective, the project was certainly unique as it involved complex design elements, such as fabricated, custom-scaled replica LEGO bricks on the hotel’s facade, for example. Bob Olson, CEO, founder, R.D. Olson Construction, the general contractor on the project, acknowledged that it was not your typical project, even for a firm with experience developing themed properties.
“We have renovated hotels in Anaheim for Disney, but we’ve not done anything where the concept of the park is so integrated into the hotel… and right into the rooms and part of the building, the entrance. That’s what was so unique about it,” he said, further adding that the company was undaunted by the project. “We’re hotel builders. If we weren’t hotel builders, I would say there was a lot of challenges and unique situations in the building, but this is what we do.”
Underscoring that point, construction of the hotel was completed in approximately 15 months, which was two-to-three months ahead of schedule, according to Olson. He noted the company was one of roughly eight companies vying for the project, before being selected by U.K-based Merlin Entertainment Group, an operator of amusement parks worldwide.
While Olson stressed that R.D. Olson’s experience was critical to the success of the project, he added
a lot and there was just an overall enthusiasm for the project from everybody that was there,” he said.
The company worked with a local architect on the construction, Delawie, deciphering metric design specifications and differing construction terminologies, as well as the England-based design team. R.D. Olson also worked closely with Elsinore, CA-based Storyland Studios, a frequently used Legoland vendor, on project theming and engineering.
Olson elaborated on the process. “A lot of the theming was prefabricated and they had their theming installation people, but it was up to us to make sure we coordinated everything. We worked with them hand-in-hand to make sure it all came together coordinated,” he said, in reference to elements such as the guard at the entrance that’s made out of Legos.
As such, Olson noted that when it comes to a project of this scope that the company typically adds personnel, such as an extra field and project management person “just to make sure that we got this part of it right. Because when you’re shipping things from across the country, and out of the country, it better be right. Everything needs to be in place and right and measurements have to be exact in order for it to fit,” he said.
The three-story hotel, which Olson classified as Type 5 construction (primarily wood frame with steel and concrete), includes custom millwork, wallcoverings, lighting, artwork, Lego standard paint colors, carpet and theme elevators. It also provides different Lego theming on each floor, including Pirate, Adventure and Kingdom themes. Guestrooms include a kid’s alcove with bunk beds and a trundle bed, plus a separate sleeping area for adults. Public spaces include Brick’s Family Restaurant, Skyline Café, Mini’s Lounge, event space and an outdoor heated swimming pool.
Other unique features of the property include more than 3,500 Lego models scattered throughout the property, plus a smoke breathing dragon ensconced in the clock tower at the hotel’s entry. Additional elements include multiple interactive play areas such as the 32-ft.-high pirate shipwreck, river of Lego and knight’s castle in the hotel’s atrium.
The property represents the third Legoland hotel worldwide, with the first two located in Denmark and the United Kingdom, which helped operator Merlin to identify where changes needed to be made. “A lot of what they learned in their first two hotels was incorporated into this hotel, both from an operational and theming standpoint” Olson said, adding that Ian Gardiner, executive VP of R.D. Olson “went over and visited the hotels and came back with quite a bit of knowledge and input.”
The new hotel is located at the entrance to Legoland California Resort, which required construction to occur without impacting the guest experience at the theme park. While that was challenging, Olson said his team again relied on its experience. “Having worked in Disneyland on Main Street, our team is very experienced at that,” he said, adding, “everybody’s curious and they want to see what’s going on.”
Olson said his firm would welcome the opportunity to work on such a project in the future. “We’ll see more of these; early results say this is actually a pretty successful venture and the customers absolutely love it. Legoland did a really good job of getting the word out in anticipation of what the hotel was going to be and it lived up to it in every sense of the word,” he said.