The area in the east part of Grapevine features Grapevine Mills Mall, Grapevine Lake, two golf courses and two resorts—Great Wolf Lodge and Gaylord Texan. The latter two, along with Grapevine Golf Course, are undergoing renovations.
“Especially in the hospitality industry, I think you’d have a hard time arguing against not reinvesting because it’s just something that is going on top of itself,” said Garin Giacomarro, Grapevine director of economic development. “I think Grapevine surprises people sometimes with just how much traffic we can really drive to somewhere and how big your success would really be.”
What’s happening
Great Wolf Lodge is undergoing its most expansive renovations since opening in 2008.
General Manager Amy Lane said the company started renovations worth $40 million in 2023, which should be complete by the end of 2024.
After spending $11 million on room renovations in 2018, the water park resort is updating amenities throughout the venue.
“We wanted to focus on a full transformation to really enhance the experience for families to
come visit,” Lane said. “Expanding key pieces to give more space ultimately creates more time for families to spend together.”
A new atrium and vestibule now welcomes visitors, while the stage for Legend of Luna Storytelling, a multi-sensory storytelling space, was still under construction as of Nov. 12.
Timbers Table & Kitchen Buffet was expanded to add 200 additional seats that overlook the outdoor water park features. A commercial kitchen was constructed to serve customers at the indoor water park and entertainment portion with self-service kiosks, Lane said.
A food hall concept was added and includes Fatburger, Buffalo’s Express, Hot Dog On A Stick and Hungry As A Wolf. The restaurants have burgers, chicken, hot dogs, pizza and pasta.
“They are all different and incorporate a huge menu to choose from,” Lane said.
A Build-A-Bear Workshop, near the food hall, should open by the end of 2024, said Rhonda Ogden, director of sales and catering.
Entertainment options already finished include laser tag, a virtual reality experience and Ten Paw Alley, a duckpin bowling lane. The arcade moved downstairs and is now located where the entrance to the outdoor pool once stood, Ogden said.
Zooming out
The Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, which celebrated 20 years in Grapevine in April, is renovating its Old Hickory Steakhouse.
The steakhouse closed inside the resort in April and will fully reopen in the spring of 2025, said Martha Neibling, director of marketing and public relations at Gaylord Texan Resort. The bar portion of the steakhouse opened Nov. 9.
The $2.2 million expansion will add 76 seats in a glassed-in conservatory.
“Evolving and staying updated is extremely important to us and our business,” Neibling said. “Our restaurants and guest rooms are renovated and updated frequently to maintain the overall experience for the millions of visitors that we host.”
How it happened
Grapevine Golf Course will undergo an expansion to create more space and conference rooms.
Demolition started on the existing concourse in October. The $4.72 million project will be done by the summer of 2025, according to city officials.
Renovations include an open-view concept for an event center that overlooks the course.
“We’re excited to have another venue for more meetings and weddings and banquets,” said Elizabeth Schrack, Grapevine CVB director of communication.
She said the concourse project was made possibly by hotel occupancy taxes from the city’s
20 hotels. According to data from Travel Texas, a department within the Economic Development and Tourism Office, tax revenues generated by tourism dollars for both local and state tax receipts within Grapevine rose nearly 60% over the last decade.
Learn more
The Grapevine CVB uses money generated through 15 million visitors, as of 2023, to put back into the community.
From 2015 to 2019, Grapevine tourism generated at least $1 billion each year. It fell to $583 million in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Travel Texas.
It’s now bouncing back, with $1.39 billion from tourists spending money in Grapevine in 2023, a 139% increase from 2020.
“The problem with plans to renovate in 2020 or 2021 is that money was suddenly all gone,” Jan Freitag, the national director for Hospitality Market Analytics at CoStar, said of the delays. “... [Hotel] owners are realizing customer expectations are up but customer satisfaction scores are down.”
