The first hotel, announced in June 2007, was slated to open in 2010 at San Diego's Liberty Station. Six hundred fifty rooms were planned, a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) water park, and some attractions. This was to be the first of 20 resorts to be under construction by 2020. The architecture firm Gensler was commissioned for the project. The VPs over at Marriott saw the project as a great opportunity to develop waterpark hotels.[1] Gensler had developed a 'Kid Modern' concept for the new hotel.[2]
The project was the first family friendly resort planned in San Diego in the past fifty years. The investment envelope for the construction was $300 million and was to be built where a long-term parking lot for Lindbergh Field passengers stood.[3]
The project was approved after Nickelodeon had experimented with a pilot hotel, the Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn in Orlando (also managed by Miller Global Properties)[1] since 2005.[3]
A year later, in 2008, Nickelodeon created the Nickelodeon Family Cruise through a partnership with Royal Caribbean, part of its move (along with the resorts) to extend its presence in the vacation industry.[4]
The project was cancelled in 2009 amid the Great Recession.[3] The fate of the remaining 19 hotels remains unclear in light of Marriott's current relationship with Nickelodeon, which is limited to hosting weekend getaways at existing resorts.[5]
