Sports Illustrated Resorts Announces New Resort Destination Near LSU in Baton Rouge

[Arimaas]

Yes, the chemical plants, paper mills and refineries are very much still in the area. Maybe they can build couple resorts in Elizabeth, NJ or the Eastside of Houston, TX to complete the "Industrial vacation" portfolio...

And as far as the oppressive heat and humidity, i'm from Florida, and while I hate it, I guess i'm used to it.

LOL I just gave them their business plan for the Elizabeth area before I read your post.

 

[jp10558]

I was kidding!!

At least people have heard of Syracuse University. What about Niagara Falls and Lake George? SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Albany (not sure they're called that anymore). Not exactly power schools sports-wise.

Oh, sorry, I meant for vacationing, not for sports games. I.e. 2 major natural formations and parks seem like a wider draw than an individual college sport team, but again IDK - sports people will pay stupid money for things so this might sell well I guess. It's just that there's so many colleges that the fanbase is pretty fragmented IMO. Like you'd need to have a location near a lot of schools to capture a market IMHO.

 

[Floridaman76]

What about Newark / Harrison, NJ to go with SI Stadium (NYC MLS team)?

Not so fast... Newark will be joining Baltimore, Gary, IN and East St. Louis, IL in the gritty new "Urban Decay" portfolio

 

[chapjim]

Not so fast... Newark will be joining Baltimore, Gary, IN and East St. Louis, IL in the gritty new "Urban Decay" portfolio

We've got a good start on a list of places that suck.

Any universities in East St. Louis?

 

[chapjim]

I think you are joking, but that's a great list of "places I would never vacation"...

Lubbock, TX and you're not sure if I was joking??

 

[paxsarah]

Athens, GA (hat tip to @paxsarah)

I'll say that while I don't think it's a year-round destination suitable for a timeshare, Athens is still a way cooler place to visit than the resort on the opposite side of the Atlanta metro (Villa Rica). In addition to the 7 football weekends, there's music festivals, classic venues, and a new arena. And I could see the mixed use of condos, hotel, and timeshare units being a plausible format - gameday condo owners here get $$$$ renting them out. But with the existence of the Atlanta resort - which actually to me would have made more sense as a SI resort than Margaritaville, with NBA, NFL, MLS venues, Peach Bowl and SEC championship all within walking distance, and MLB and WNBA venues an Uber away (and GA Tech and GA State, and multiple HBCUs, if colleges are important) - probably takes Athens out of the running which is just fine with me!

 

[CO skier]

August and September aren't any better, probably worse, and it's hurricane season too.

That applies to the entire I-10 corridor east of San Antonio, TX, not just Baton Rouge, LA.

 

[bnoble]

Major-college towns do have significant opportunities. They are not as expensive to visit than many urban centers, but many punch above their weight in terms of culture, food, and---yes---spectator sports. For example, we'll be seeing the Takács Quartet tomorrow in Ann Arbor. And I could almost imagine doing "major-college towns" as a brand. But limiting it only to sports seems unnecessarily narrow.

 

[CO skier]

It looks like the deck and some of the upper rooms will have an expansive view of the Mississippi River.

 

[TUGBrian]

I mean, indiana just won the national title....i hope they are looking into bloomington!

 

[Floridaman76]

It looks like the deck and some of the upper rooms will have an expansive view of the Mississippi River.

View attachment 124267

Yeah, you can watch the coal barges and break bulk ships sail by. If you zoom in you can see one of the many chemical plants, I bet the smell is as lovely as the Cherry Blossoms are in DC right now...

 

[chapjim]

Major-college towns do have significant opportunities. They are not as expensive to visit than many urban centers, but many punch above their weight in terms of culture, food, and---yes---spectator sports. For example, we'll be seeing the Takács Quartet tomorrow in Ann Arbor. And I could almost imagine doing "major-college towns" as a brand. But limiting it only to sports seems unnecessarily narrow.

There's no comparing Ann Arbor and Tuscaloosa.

You want to see something funny? Look at the city limits of Tuscaloosa in Google Maps.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[Floridaman76]

You want to see something funny? Look at the city limits of Tuscaloosa in Google Maps.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Good ole southern gerrymandering at work.

 

[CO skier]

Yeah, you can watch the coal barges and break bulk ships sail by. If you zoom in you can see one of the many chemical plants, I bet the smell is as lovely as the Cherry Blossoms are in DC right now...

As usual, you are wrong, again. It is a storage tank farm -- not a "smelly chemical plant" -- just like other tank farms across the country, and in places like New Orleans, which many consider a desirable vacation and convention destination. The LSU campus is downwind across the river from the tank farm, with 35,000 students (seems popular).

There are cruise ship companies that run riverboat trips up the Mississippi River from New Orleans through Baton Rouge and back.

If it is anything as bad as you imagine, how do you explain the appeal of this area with students and tourists?

 

[Floridaman76]

If it is anything as bad as you imagine, how do you explain the appeal of this area with students and tourists?

There is zero tourist appeal for Baton Rouge. And for every 1 "riverboat" which goes by that hotel, there are 30 or more barges or cargo ships. Yes, they exist. No, they are not by any means a significant fixture on the river. I took the paddlewheel boat in New Orleans. You get on near the cruise terminal, go up river a few miles, stop at some battlefield park, which there wasn't really anything to do, and go back. Inbetween you pass a bunch of what look like abandoned factories and warehouses. Not scenic. It was something interesting to do once, but not for the scenic value. The highlight of the trip was you sailed past the Domino Sugar plant, that was indeed active, but looked like a gutted, bombed out relic of WW2 Dresden.

Universities are located everywhere, regardless of the appeal of the area. LSU is a state school. They build state schools where the state gives them land to build them. A lot of them are built in not great locations.

Universities in notoriously bad and/or high crime areas:
Indiana University (Gary, IN)
Temple University (Philly)
Johns Hopkins (Baltimore)
Georgia Tech (its gotten much better post-Olympics anyway)

That's just a few I know about. The idea that you think if a town has a university and that makes it nice, or desirable, or automatically a tourist destination is wild

 

[CO skier]

There is zero tourist appeal for Baton Rouge.

Unlike you, some cruise companies put their money where their knowledge is.

they are not by any means a significant fixture on the river. I took the paddlewheel boat in New Orleans. You get on near the cruise terminal, go up river a few miles, stop at some battlefield park, which there wasn't really anything to do, and go back.

You have such limited experience.

I do not judge how people choose to spend their vacation time and dollars.

Ports of Call for one of the trips:

New Orleans, LA
Darrow, LA
St. Francisville, LA
Baton Rouge, LA
Natchez, MS
Vicksburg, MS
Greenville, MS
Memphis, TN
Paducah, KY
St. Louis, MO

 

[Floridaman76]

Ok, i'm not arguing with a guy who sees "Baton Rouge, LA" as a tourist destination... the rest of the universe is with me on this.

If you like vacationing in craphole cities, that's your prerogative, I guess

 

[chapjim]

There is zero tourist appeal for Baton Rouge. And for every 1 "riverboat" which goes by that hotel, there are 30 or more barges or cargo ships. Yes, they exist. No, they are not by any means a significant fixture on the river. I took the paddlewheel boat in New Orleans. You get on near the cruise terminal, go up river a few miles, stop at some battlefield park, which there wasn't really anything to do, and go back. Inbetween you pass a bunch of what look like abandoned factories and warehouses. Not scenic. It was something interesting to do once, but not for the scenic value. The highlight of the trip was you sailed past the Domino Sugar plant, that was indeed active, but looked like a gutted, bombed out relic of WW2 Dresden.

Universities are located everywhere, regardless of the appeal of the area. LSU is a state school. They build state schools where the state gives them land to build them. A lot of them are built in not great locations.

Universities in notoriously bad and/or high crime areas:
Indiana University (Gary, IN)
Temple University (Philly)
Johns Hopkins (Baltimore)
Georgia Tech (its gotten much better post-Olympics anyway)

That's just a few I know about. The idea that you think if a town has a university and that makes it nice, or desirable, or automatically a tourist destination is wild

When did IU move to Gary, IN?

 

[TheHolleys87]

This resort will probably be very difficult to book during football season and easy the rest of the year.

 

[Floridaman76]

This resort will probably be very difficult to book during football season and easy the rest of the year.

Well no doubt it will fill up on football weekends. Like every other SEC college town hotel on football weekends.

But Wyndham closed a bunch of resorts under the guise of "trying to get away from very seasonal resorts".

It doesn't get any more seasonal than "10 football weekends" out of the year

 

[comicbookman]

Ok, i'm not arguing with a guy who sees "Baton Rouge, LA" as a tourist destination... the rest of the universe is with me on this.

If you like vacationing in craphole cities, that's your prerogative, I guess

You mean the rest of the universe, except the cruise companies, and the many tourists who go there every year:

Baton Rouge Tourism Numbers in 2024​

In 2024, Baton Rouge welcomed 9 million visitors, up from 8.8 million in 2023, generating $1.7 billion in total spending according to Visit Baton Rouge’s 2024 Impact Report 225 Magazine.
Key tourism metrics:

• Average visitor spend: $180 per trip
• Retail sector share: 39.6% of total visitor dollars
• Local occupancy tax revenue: $7.1 million
• Jobs supported: ~38,500 in the local tourism industry 225 Magazine

Hotel performance:

• Average weekend occupancy: 64.6%
• Average overall occupancy: 56%
• Average daily rate: $109.40 225 Magazine

Top visitor origin markets: New Orleans, Houston, Lafayette, Dallas, and Slidell 225 Magazine.
Notable events and economic impacts:

• Louisiana Lights holiday event at Burden Museum & Gardens drew nearly 40,000 visitors from six countries, 45 states, and all 64 parishes in its debut year 225 Magazine.
• Film industry impact: $4.8 million
• Meetings, conventions, and sporting events: $49.2 million in economic impact, including sold-out Savannah Bananas games at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium with a $1.2 million impact 225 Magazine.

Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Jill Kidder noted that while tourism growth is strong, continued investment in convention and event facilities is key to sustaining momentum 225 Magazine. Business Report

Compare that to Ann Arbor:
In Q4 2024, Ann Arbor’s hotel market saw occupancy at 59.8%, up 80 basis points from the same quarter in 2023 qc.berkadia.com. This marked a notable improvement from the prior year, reflecting stronger demand in the final months of the year.

Key 2024 Performance Metrics​

• Occupancy Rate: 59.8% (Q4 2024) qc.berkadia.com
• Average Daily Rate (ADR): $158.38, up 1.9% year-over-year qc.berkadia.com

 

[Floridaman76]

And what percentage of those tourists are directly attributable to the 10 LSU home football games per year?

 

[comicbookman]

And what percentage of those tourists are directly attributable to the 10 LSU home football games per year?

doesn't matter. It just shows a decent average occupancy. Even if you assume 100% for 30 days (3 for each game) that would be a little more than 8% of a year. that still shows people come at other times.

 

[bnoble]

If you ranked the cities in the US based on visitor numbers, my guess is that Baton Rouge is barely in the top 40. This is a mishmash of numbers, but there are an awful lot of them with totals over 9M.

US tourism top cities stats round-up post

In this post, you’ll find the most up-to-date U.S. tourism statistics by city.

www.xola.com

So, do people visit Baton Rouge? Sure. Does it make sense to make this one of four properties, total, in a timeshare brand, even one that is sports-focused? Someone thinks so, but I sure don't. This thing exists because there was a hotel available on the cheap for conversion. As an aside, it is worth asking why there was a hotel available on the cheap.

 

[comicbookman]

If you ranked the cities in the US based on visitor numbers, my guess is that Baton Rouge is barely in the top 40. This is a mishmash of numbers, but there are an awful lot of them with totals over 9M.

US tourism top cities stats round-up post

In this post, you’ll find the most up-to-date U.S. tourism statistics by city.

www.xola.com

So, do people visit Baton Rouge? Sure. Does it make sense to make this one of four properties, total, in a timeshare brand, even one that is sports-focused? Someone thinks so, but I sure don't.

I don't disagree; I do disagree with the position that no one visits Baton Rouge.