Kalahari named Business of the Year in Erie County

I was pretty impressed by some of the stats I read in today's Register article about Kalahari.

- Kalahari has 1,200 full-time employees

- The resort/waterpark hits around 1 million guests a year.

- At 884 rooms, Kalahari is the largest hotel in Ohio.

Those are some pretty impressive numbers. I think it says a couple of things. First, there's a lot of room for tourism growth in Erie County. Second, I think Cedar Point is missing a big opportunity for the convention and meeting business.

Back in August last year My family and I stayed at The Kalahari and it was pretty impresive. The only negative about it was waiting 30-45 minutes for a 20 second slide.

I guess there was a kid who actually drowned there a few days after we left.

I thought cedar point had a convention center? Is it in the breakers?

crazy horse said:
I thought cedar point had a convention center? Is it in the breakers?

They do, right by the beach. That's were they held the CoasterMania presentations for the past years I've been there.

Im looking on my map(2009) and its right by the Joe Cool Cafe and Coral dining room. Ocean Motion appears to be the closest ride to it, unless things have changed this year.

Actualy, you are thinking of the building next to the coral courtyard. The convention center I am thinking of is actualy inside of hotel breakers.

^ Ah, I see. Well that building does say convention center on the map. I guess there are 2 convention centers then.

Neither of which are anywhere near the size of what Kalahari has to offer.

The Wife and I stayed at Kalahari a few weeks ago, and came away impressed, which left us wondering why CP seems to be missing the boat on a more adult-centric audience (especially with regard to night life activities). While we certainly wouldn't do this frequently, we paid over $200/night for a nice suite, and spent plenty more money at the bars and restaurants in the resort. And we came away without feeling like we'd been taken advantage of.

And there is SO much to do there. Plenty of space for adults to relax, drink and eat. Tons of cool stuff for kids, including a cool zip line that encircles the entire outdoor water park.

And yes, the hotel is absolutely massive.

Cedar Point has meeting facilities, but they don't really get into the convention/meeting business like Kalahari or Sawmill Creek does.

djDaemon said:
The Wife and I stayed at Kalahari a few weeks ago, and came away impressed, which left us wondering why CP seems to be missing the boat on a more adult-centric audience (especially with regard to night life activities). While we certainly wouldn't do this frequently, we paid over $200/night for a nice suite, and spent plenty more money at the bars and restaurants in the resort. And we came away without feeling like we'd been taken advantage of.

And there is SO much to do there. Plenty of space for adults to relax, drink and eat. Tons of cool stuff for kids, including a cool zip line that encircles the entire outdoor water park.

And yes, the hotel is absolutely massive.

I agree. We have been there a few times, and plan on returning again. We had a great time and wlked out of there a little lighter in the wallet, but not disappointed.

There was always something to do. They had a lot for the little one to do, and plenty for the adults as well. Not to metion that the water park is the whip. The water park at kalahari, is better than most larger outdoor waterparks I have been to.

When we stayed, we got a deal on the room. I think we paid around $160 a night, and got free pizza coupons and arcade tokens. It was a lot cheaper than the much smaller castaway bay when it was all said and done.

After going to kalahari, I have no desire to return to castaway bay or any other indoor water park. It is our indoor water park of choice.

Yeah, we'd certainly like to go back, though I imagine we'll try to go during the less-expensive pre- and post-summer seasons.

After reading reviews and such, both here and on sites like TripAdvisor, we never even considered Castaway Bay.

We have been to castaway bay twice, and it was a near ghost town both times. There were maybe 10 other people in the entire waterpark. After being in the waterpark for an hour, we got bored. They just don't offer much in the water park. The wave pool is a joke, as the waves may be a foot tall at best. There are 3 water slides, a bucket play area, basketball pool, childrens pool, hot tub,water coaster, and a wave pool. Not much of an offering. The staff was very friendly(except the life guards), and the decor was nice.

The rooms at castaway bay were ok , but not worth the money we paid. And this was durring the off season once, and opening weekend for cp as well. There was nothing to do after the water park closed. The bar inside the hotel was closed, and none of the restaurants were open. We ended up going to ryans for dinner. Not worth the $200.00 a night we spent.

It woulden't be a bad place if the water park had more to do, but the price is too high for what they have to offer.

crazy horse said:

There was always something to do. They had a lot for the little one to do, and plenty for the adults as well.

djDaemon said:
The Wife and I stayed at Kalahari a few weeks ago, and came away impressed, which left us wondering why CP seems to be missing the boat on a more adult-centric audience (especially with regard to night life activities).

Can we merge this with the thread on how CP doesn't have enough things for families to do together?