Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Hotels that bring sports fans close to their teams

Green Bay

Handout via The New York Times / AP

In an undated handout image, a bar at the Lodge Kohler in Green Bay, Wis. A number of new hotels are catering to sports fans looking to stay close to their favorite teams, even outside of game time; the Kohler is adjacent to Lambeau Field and is part of a development with a medical sports clinic, a microbrewery restaurant, a sledding hill and an ice rink.

A number of new hotels aim to allow fans to stay close to their favorite sports teams, encouraging tourism outside of game time.

For baseball fans, the new Omni Hotel at the Battery Atlanta is scheduled to open in early 2018, well before opening day for the Atlanta Braves, who play next door at the new SunTrust Park. The 264-room hotel will feature an elevated pool deck with views of the stadium, which opened this spring. It is part of a larger development designed to include residences, office space and restaurants.

In Chicago, the Hotel Zachary adjacent to Wrigley Field is also slated to open in spring 2018. The Ricketts family, who own the Chicago Cubs, are behind the hotel, named for Zachary Taylor Davis, the architect who designed Wrigley Field in 1914. It is poised to open with 175 rooms and branches of popular local restaurants, including Big Star and Smoke Daddy.

In time for the football season, the 300-room Omni Frisco Hotel will join the 91-acre Star development, home to the Dallas Cowboys’ headquarters, practice facility and two outdoor playing fields in Frisco, Texas. Starting rates are $229 a night.

The Lodge Kohler opened in July near Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Green Bay Packers. Run by the Kohler, the plumbing fixtures company that also operates golf and spa resorts in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St. Andrews, Scotland, the 144-room hotel is part of the Titletown District. Adjacent to Lambeau, the 34-acre development aims to attract fans with a medical sports clinic that treats professional and amateur athletes, a microbrewery restaurant, a sledding hill and an ice rink.

“Packer fans are very loyal,” said Christine Loose, the group director of lodging at Kohler. “We weather through good times and the bad times.” She described football Sundays as “a party that extends far beyond the four walls of the stadium.”

Hotel rates will start at $170 a night. On game days, rates start at $438 a night, with a two-night minimum.