There will be a new place to slip and slide next spring.
Brighton Hotel Corporation’s Holiday Inn hotel properties will expand its business into a new Hawaiian-themed indoor waterpark resort.

The business will be renamed Maui Sands Resort and take over the Holiday Inn and the Holiday Inn Express, which are at 5513 Milan Road.

Construction on the water park began in March and renovation to the hotels will begin in early fall, said Maui Sands Resort President Scott Emerson. Hotel operations will close in the fall for the renovations.

Slated to be finished by April 15, the resort will be a year-round facility featuring four water slides and a Hawaiian Village equipped with a wave pool, poolside bar and grill, game arcade spa, hair salon and stores. The entire renovation and expansion project is estimated to cost about $30 million.
 

The Holiday Inn will be converted into the Maui Sands Resort Hotel boasting 170 rooms. The Holiday Inn Express will also undergo the same island-themed renovations, remaining under the same name. The 40-room hotel will operate as the value-priced resort hotel. A new four-story, 96-room all-suite hotel will also be built adjacent to the existing hotels and be called the Maui Sands Family Suites, which will be the most upscale rooms offered.
 

The entire project will total nearly 65,000 square feet and have the largest area of water park recreational space per guest room in the state, Emerson said.
 

Emerson, who also owns several other Holiday Inns, said he chose the Sandusky location for the expansion because of its proximity to Cedar Point and other indoor water parks.
 

“We felt that the property would have a lot more value than a hotel,” he said, adding that themed water parks tend to be more popular than franchises.
 

Maui Sands will also boast a ride that other area resorts don’t offer — a bowl ride. Riders will shoot down a slide into a bowl that will eventually pull them into another slide.
 

“We’ll have the best of both worlds,” said Emerson about the hotel and water park.

Artist's rendering of the new Maui Sands Resort (Provided artwork)

Artist's rendering of the new Maui Sands Resort (Provided artwork)