The problems in the credit markets have apparently spread to the hotel waterpark segment of the hospitality industry. According to JLC Hospitality Consulting, 30 fewer indoor waterpark projects have or will open in 2008 than the firm forecasted as recently as February.

This year, 25 indoor waterpark projects-20 new hotels and five resort expansions-have opened or will open. In February, JLC had forecast 55 openings. The 30 projects in limbo have shifted their construction start dates to 2009 or 2010 or have been put on hold. The 2008 openings account for nearly 6,000 guestrooms and almost one million square feet of indoor waterpark facilities.

The largest project is The Water Club, a $400-million, 800-room hotel and casino that opened in June in Atlantic City, NJ. The property has five heated indoor and outdoor pools that total 172,000 square feet of water facility. Also significant is the partnership between Wave Development of Milwaukee and Denver-based Sage Hospitality that opened four CoCoKey Resort-branded indoor waterparks. The parks are additions to existing branded hotels in Kansas City, MO; Waterbury, CT; Mt Laurel, NJ; and Fitchburg, MA.

Another large project is the $137-million, 414-room KeyLime Cove Resort, which opened in March in Gurnee, IL, north of Chicago. The property is the first completely cashless waterpark: Radio frequency ID wrist bands act as room keys, can be used to charge food and drink at the hotel's outlets and keep track of kids as they roam the property.

It hasn't been all good news for those properties that managed to open this year. The 306-suite Maui Sands Resort opened last spring in the crowded Sandusky, OH resort market, but according to published reports, 17 construction companies and subcontractors have filed nearly $4 million in liens against the property for unpaid bills.

JLC has also revised its forecast for indoor waterpark openings in 2009. The firm expects 15 projects to open next year and eight in 2010. That's down from original projections that called for 24 openings in '09 and four in '10.