Page 40 - The Disneyization of Society

THEMING

• Newport Bay Club – ‘set sail for New England!’
• Sequoia Lodge – ‘savour the mountain atmosphere’
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• Hotel Cheyenne – ‘the legendary Wild West’

• Hotel Santa Fe – ‘journey to the old South-West’
Each hotel has an external and interior décor that is consistent with the overar-
ching theme and has restaurants consistent with the theme: for example, Hotel
New York has the Manhattan Restaurant and the Parkside Diner, while Sequoia
Lodge has the Hunter’s Grill restaurant and the Beaver Creek Tavern.
Other examples of theme parks that have themed hotels linked to them are:

• Universal Resort Orlando has three themed hotels: Portofino Bay Hotel described as ‘A
stunning re-creation of the seaside village of Portofino, Italy, complete down to the cob-
blestone streets and sidewalk cafes’ and as having three themed swimming pools; Hard
Rock Hotel; and Royal Pacific Resort (‘Sail away to a tropical paradise as swaying palm
trees, exotic plants, a bamboo forest and tropical lotus lagoon transport you to the
enchanted isles of the South Pacific’). 54
• Alton Towers theme park in England has two themed hotels: the Alton Towers Hotel
(loosely themed on a flying machine and its travellers and having some rooms with the
themes of Coca-Cola, chocolate, Peter Rabbit, Arabian Nights, and Oblivion and
Nemesis, both of which are white knuckle rides at the park) and the Splash Landings
Hotel, which has its own new water park – Cariba Creek – themed on a flooded creek
adjacent to the theme park. The water park is for the exclusive use of hotel guests.
• Universal Mediterranea in Spain has two themed hotels: Hotel Port Aventura, themed
on the Mediterranean, and Hotel El Paso which has a Mexican setting.

In Las Vegas, virtually every new hotel on the ‘strip’ is heavily themed. The famous
strip now contains such themes as ancient Rome (Caesar’s Palace), ancient Egypt
(Luxor), ye olde England (Excalibur), the movies (MGM Grand), city life (New York
New York), turn-of-the-century high life on the Mediterranean (Monte Carlo), the
sea (Treasure Island), Paris (Paris), Venice (the Venetian), Italy and its artistic her-
itage (Bellagio), and so on. Here in Las Vegas we find what are probably the most
extreme hotels in terms of the degree of complexity and intensity of the theming.
The theming that is expressed in terms of the architecture and decoration is fur-
ther underscored by the presence of attractions and restaurants that are closely
linked to the master theme, an issue that will be discussed further in Chapter 3.
However, it is not just such high-profile themed hotels that provide examples
of this genre. An interesting example of a themed hotel that predates their pro-
liferation in theme parks and Las Vegas is provided by Gottdiener’s (1997) discus-
sion of the Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado. Built in 1909, it is a paean to
the American West in its architecture and decoration. Gottdiener tells us: