Renovated Grand Sierra Resort pool to open in early summer 2017

Grand Sierra Resort is revamping its pool area with new amenities just in time for the summer.

The decision to renovate the Grand Sierra Resort pool comes in part from Meruelo Group, which has been upgrading the 38-year-old resort and casino since purchasing it in 2011.

“We have a 2,000-room hotel,” Christopher Abraham, vice president of marketing at GSR, said in a phone interview with NNBW. “We have kids, we have adults, we have lots of different types of people using the pool, so we wanted to build an amenity that really caters to any guest that walks in the door.”

So what kinds of changes are coming? For starters, the pool area is growing in size. According to Abraham, the pool will expand by 28,309 square feet from 47,854 square feet to 76,163 square feet. This brings total occupancy for the pool area to about 2,800 people.

“That layout for the main pool isn’t really changing,” Abraham explained. “What is changing is everything around it.”

Several amenities are being added like new poolside daybeds and cabanas, new hot tubs, a splash pad area for kids, a bocce ball court, a putting green, an infinity-style pool section, a special adult section and more. The adult section will be exclusive to VIP guests over the age of 21 and will feature a full service bar.

“It isn’t a Las Vegas adult section,” Abraham noted. “It will be an exclusive area for some of our exclusive VIP guests and guests that want to upgrade to a child-free VIP pool experience.”

Patrons can enjoy the pool all year thanks to a covered section.

Abraham said that the unusually wet winter has been slowing down the construction of the pool.

“It’s been a challenge,” Abraham admitted.

With better weather, the Grand Sierra Resort pool is slated for an early summer opening date. A hundred people are being hired to serve in and maintain the new pool area.

Abraham also mentioned upcoming upgrades to many of the rooms in the hotel as well. He expects many more changes for GSR in the future.

“There’s really no end in sight to us either adding amenities or redoing amenities or upgrading,” Abraham said. “We will continue to go through and look for opportunities to improve and upgrade our amenities to exceed our guests’ expectations.”

John Sergio Fisher and Associates out of Los, Angeles, is the architect for the pool. They also renovated the Grand Theatre in 2015.

GSR Construction is building the new pool complex.

For more information, visit https://www.grandsierraresort.com/activities/the-pool.

Originally published in the March 27, 2017, issue of the Northern Nevada Business Weekly and regularly vetted for accuracy.