Travel Trade MENA: Tell us about the LEGOLAND® Dubai Resort concept and its staycation offering?
Ramesh Ganeson: LEGOLAND® Dubai theme park and LEGOLAND Water Park have been re-introduced to the UAE residents and visitors as LEGOLAND® Dubai Resort, with the launch of the first LEGOLAND Hotel in the Middle East in January of this year. This unique hotel offers UAE resident and tourist families an ultimate LEGO® adventure from the moment they check in, until the moment they leave. Here, children are our VIP guests that are accompanied by their parents, where all facilities and services are dedicated to them to enjoy the ultimate LEGO adventure at LEGOLAND Hotel, LEGOLAND Dubai theme park and LEGOLAND Water Park. LEGOLAND Hotel offers services and facilities that are suited to kids’ heights, whether the kidheight check-in counter, the kid-height buffet counter in Bricks Family Restaurant or the kid height peep hole in all the rooms.
Furthermore, the hotel lobby is different than any other hotel lobby in the region, as it is dedicated to the young guests with many playful activities featuring a Castle Play Area, Creative Workshops for children for different age groups and Model Builder, where kids fuel their imaginations by watching Master Model Builders at work. All this is topped by LEGO play pool in the lobby and LEGO walking characters appearances to interact and entertain the children.
With 250 themed, fully themed rooms and suites, offering five different room themes, LEGOLAND Hotel presents a unique family LEGO adventure for every stay. Each family room sleeps up to five, with a separate area for kids complete with a bunk bed and trundle bed, plus a king-sized bed for their parents. Families can choose from five enchanting room themes, including ‘Pirate’, ‘Adventure’, ‘LEGO® NINJAGO®’, ‘LEGO ® Friends’, and ‘Kingdom’. Larger families can also opt to stay in one of the hotel’s suites, which are designed to accommodate up to eight people, to be extended to 26 people with connected suites and rooms.
Travel Trade MENA: Please elaborate in the resorts target audience and source markets?
Ramesh Ganeson: Dubai is a preeminent travel destination for leisurely and exciting travel experiences alike and attracts travellers from across the globe, while LEGOLAND Hotel is the only fully LEGO themed hotel in the region. So the target audience of LEGOLAND Hotel is families with children aged 2- 12 years old, while our source markets cover the local market (UAE), the regional market (GCC countries), as well as the international market covering European – Asian and South American countries - based on the travel restrictions of each country.
Travel Trade MENA: What are the goals and vision for the future for resort?
Ramesh Ganeson: Our goal for LEGOLAND Dubai Resort - which features LEGOLAND Dubai theme park, LEGOLAND Water Park and LEGOLAND Hotel - to be the first choice for families looking for a unique kids’ friendly destination in the region that delivers memorable experiences for families coming together.
Travel Trade MENA: What makes LEGOLAND® Dubai Resort different from any other UAE hotel?
Ramesh Ganeson: At LEGOLAND® Hotel we prioritise the children as our VIP guest and that alone is unique experience. The parents and children can check-in together as we have child-size check in counter, LEGO themed castle in the centre of lobby, creative workshop for children keen in exploring their creativity and scavenger hunt in the room. So, what’s a scavenger hunt in the room? It’s an exclusive opportunity for quality family time, where parents and children work together to resolve a quiz that will enable them to unlock a treasure chest. Once they unlock the treasure chest, they will discover LEGO gifts for the little ones.
LEGOLAND Hotel offers themed dining experiences featuring ‘Bricks Family Restaurant’, a fully LEGO themed child-friendly restaurant for breakfast and dinner with kid-height buffet counter, kids’ menu, walking characters and more. You will find small bite size foods available for children in the buffet. We have made food signages highlighting the benefits of the different food colours to your health. Our LEGOLAND Hotel is full of LEGO bricks that have been curated as models around the hotel. You will find 2,146 LEGO models, located in every corner of the hotel, whether in the public areas, restaurants, rooms, lobby or at the hotel entrance. These LEGO models were made of 4,5 million LEGO bricks with the total weight of 9,128 kg. The list doesn’t stop here, LEGOLAND Hotel has various costume character visits throughout the stay period and children’s activities at selected hours of the day. Lastly, LEGOLAND Hotel is special because, ‘you can now say goodbye to boring hotel rooms!’
Travel Trade MENA: What challenges, if any, do you believe the offering will face?
Ramesh Ganeson: The offerings at LEGOLAND Hotel cannot be found at any other hotel in the Middle East, which makes it a unique family friendly destination. Again, I would like to reiterate that children are prioritised as the hotel’s VIP guests and that alone is unique experience. The only challenge we for-see is that kids never want to check out and leave! However, that's more a challenge for the parents than us.
