Hotels with Waterparks in the United States and Canada

Part of the fun during a family vacation is to come back to the hotel in the afternoon and enjoy their facilities and attractions.
You do not need to run between the tourist sites, touring, attractions and museums from sunrise until evening when you get exhausted. It is nice to return early, watch television or freshen up a bit in the pool. It is even nicer when the hotel has more than just a swimming pool or a jacuzzi – but it has a large high-quality water park and sometimes even more…

Waterpark in Hotel

In Europe, we got used to the comfort of the resort villages by the "Center Parks" chain or "Lalandia" who have a variety of sport and leisure facilities and the highlight is the indoor water park. Many people spend an entire day or more in the resort village and the rest of the days they travel from there on a "star" tour. But in the United States, for some reason, everybody is running, changing hotels rapidly and do not try to also combine a little bit of rest and entertainment where they are staying.
When I have recommended to families to stay in a villa in Orlando many of them said: what for? Because we will spend all days at the amusement parks and we will get back late. The ones who adopted my recommendation and varied entertainment of a day or half a day in the villa and its facilities, came back and said that was the highlight of the family vacation.
You can also take advantage and enjoy this in many other destinations. In the United States and Canada, there are several magical hotels suitable for families, with huge and high-quality indoor waterparks with a free entry for the hotel guests.
Some of these hotels are located in popular tourist destinations filled with attractions and that is the opportunity to stay there a bit longer and combine recreation and enjoyment from your hotel.
This will allow you and especially the children to “recharge” before you continue to “conquer” the next destination.

Three highly recommendations, of such hotels, which all of them you can book online on friendly booking

sites are:

Great Wolf Lodge Hotel, Niagara Falls, Canada

This hotel belongs to the largest hotel chain in the United States. It includes water parks with 13 branches in many destinations in the United States (in addition to the Canadian hotel) such as near Boston, New England, the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania or Williamsburg, Virginia.
The hotel has a huge indoor waterpark with a water temperature of 29 degrees C, including a variety of slides, tubing track, a wave pool, a wide area suitable for young children and Jacuzzis. The hotel also has a mini golf, bowling, huge playroom for children and youth with a variety of game machines and a “factory” for creating teddy bears. The hotel supplies its young guests activities and performances around the clock. The hotel has a sophisticated gym and spa and includes a spa for children.
The hotel has 406 rooms and suites including spacious family rooms suitable for four people, and suites that are decorated with “children camp” and “lofts” suitable for a family of 6.
The hotel is located on the Canadian side of the falls, which is the nicer side and with more attractions. You can spend 3-4 nights in the area and not get bored at all.

Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls and the Maid of the Mist

You can spend time in the area both in attractions associated with the falls (observations points, sailing into the falls, elevators behind the falls, a cable car above the whirlpools etc.) and the variety of amusements and tourist sites that are not associated with the falls: a bird park, butterfly greenhouses, flower clock, amazing museums etc.) and of course visit the town of Niagara On the Lake nearby. The largest city in Canada – Toronto is located about an hour and a half drive from Niagara Falls and there are other "star" tours to destinations in the area.
Information about the abundant attractions in Niagara Falls is in the articles:

Guide to Niagara Falls Atractions for Tourists

More Attractions on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls

A Ferris Wheel in Niagara Falls

Hope Lake Lodge & Indoor Waterpark Hotel in Finger Lake

The hotel has an indoor water park filled with slides and pools, a spa, playrooms, and activities for young children and a rope park. The hotel also has a convention center. There are 106 rooms and suites in the hotel from family rooms suitable for four people to huge suites suitable and comfortable for 10 people!
This is, in fact, an apartment hotel where every unit has a fully equipped kitchen, a dining area, and even a fireplace.
The hotel is located on the shores of Hope Lake in Upstate New York in the town of Cortland the largest town on the Finger Lakes. Finger Lakes is known for the variety of active vacations in nature and the variety of state parks filled with waterfalls in the area, and is also considered also as the “wine valley” of New York state.

A Waterfall in Finger Lakes

In the area, there is at the town of Corning where the famous glass factory is located and also the largest glass museum in the world.

Glassblowing at the Corning Museum

Glass Product at the Corning factory

Many come to the area for a night or two on the way from New York or New England to Niagara Falls, but when they stay in a hotel full of attractions such as this hotel, it is recommended to extend the stay by at least one night to enjoy the hotel and its facilities.
A lot of information about the route from New York to Niagara and the possibilities of a trip to upstate New York in the article: A trip in New York state from Manhattan to Niagara Falls.

A Waterfall in the Gorge

The Wilderness at the Smokies - Stone Hill Lodge

This Lodge is near the Smokies Mountains in Tennessee.

It consist of two close hotels: the main one, is the River Lodge which has 400 rooms and suites, which has the Wild Water Dome indoor water park and the Lake Wilderness outdoor waterpark. Across the street, there is the Stone Hill Lodge with 240 rooms, close to the convention center and another outdoor water park, the Salamander Spring.

A Restaurant Next to the Water Overflow Facility

The waterparks include plenty of slides, wave pools and surfing, rivers with tubing and activity areas for young children and of course a spa and Jacuzzis. In addition, the resort offers a modern extreme rope park, wall climbing and a huge play area with more than a hundred electronic gaming machines and shooting and amusement facilities. In the resort, there is a glow in the dark mini golf, Laser Tag, bowling and an adventures playground for young children. There is also a work and craft area, and a few stores and a variety of restaurants.

Waterpark in the Hotel

Water Slides in the Park

There are a variety of rooms offered: from standard double rooms, to family suites, spacious 2 bedroom apartments, living room and fully equipped kitchen, to luxurious villas overlooking the golf courses nearby, and are suitable for 5 – 16 people!

Rope Park

Children Game Machine

The symbol of the hotel are images of smiling deer, roaming amongst the vacationers, taking photos with them and playing with the hotel guests.

A Character Dresses like a Deer

The hotel is located in the town of Sevierville near the Smokies Mountains and the town resorts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. This area that is considered as one of the most popular vacation sites for families in the eastern United States. It is filled with amusements and active recreational possibilities: from an amusement park (Dolly land) and water park to plenty of rope parks, Alpine slides, karting sites, mini golf, amazing and attractive museums, aquariums, cable cars etc.

Cable Car

Ferris Wheel and Colorful Fountains

Reversed Building – Museum

The selection of family performances in these towns is huge and also the variety of shopping is huge and includes of course also factory outlets at attractive prices.

Comic Performance

Nature lovers will be happy to travel by foot, by car or horses in the national park “The big Smokies Mountains”. It is located at a driving distance of twenty kilometers from the hotel. It is one of the nature parks where the chance of seeing a bear is quite high.

A Bear Climbing a Tree in the Smokies Mountains

Action lover of nature will enjoy rafting at different levels in the rivers around and also from climbing the rocks and canyons.

Challenging Rafting in the River

It is recommended to spend 5 – 7 nights in the area in order to enjoy the best of the attractions and combine also entertainment in the many facilities of the resort and finish with a good performance and of course also combine shopping.
The Smokies area is wonderful for a visit all year around. In the winter it is, of course, colder, but you can ski on the mountain tops. Close to every holiday, the town gets decorated for the festivities and the symbols of the holiday. It is an experience to spend time in the area towards Christmas or before the 4th of July or Halloween.

Straw Scarecrows Decorative and Flowers for Halloween

Fantasyland Hotel, in Edmonton, the Capital of Alberta, Canada

In this hotel, there is an indoor waterpark, but not only that, the hotel is in a huge Edmonton mall in which besides a shopping celebration there is a variety of other attractions for families. Under one roof you will find the amazing water park (indoor and heated of course), amusement park, mini golf, bowling, pirate ship, ice skating, an aquarium, a journey in a submarine, dolphin show and many other attractions. Details about this hotel and Edmonton you can find in my article: The Largest Shopping Mall in North America, West Edmonton Mall

indoor waterpark in edmonton mall

dolphin show