With work still underway on the pool and interior of the hotel, the new Margaritaville Resort in downtown Vicksburg is moving closer to being open.

Speaking at the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club meeting Tuesday, Kenny Glavan, the regional hotel manager over the project, said the new hotel will open June 20 and that reservations for rooms are already being taken on Booking.com.

The new hotel, which is going in the building that was formerly the Portofino, will include 117 rooms as well as a LandShark Bar and Grill, pool area and large arcade.

“It will be an enhance pool experience,” Glavan said. “It won’t be just your run of the mill pool. It is going to be another fun area for families staying in the hotel.”

The pool area will only be for guests, but the arcade and restaurant will be open to the public. Steve Stricklin, the hotel’s general manager, said the Vicksburg LandShark Bar and Grill will have a larger menu than the Biloxi one, where the resort has three restaurants.

“We’ve got what I think is a beautiful bar and restaurant in there,” Stricklin said. “I have been to many bars in my life, been to a lot of restaurants and it is one of the nicest bars. I think it is going to be a huge attraction for the locals to come in and have a bite to eat or a drink after work. It is downtown so it is in a great location.”

Stricklin added that the arcade area will have a loyalty program where visitors can earn free food and drinks and free stays at the hotel depending on how frequently they play. The arcade and the restaurant will both be open seven days a week.

With their grand opening less than two weeks away, Stricklin said, “deliveries are coming in everyday,” with furniture and everything needed to put the finishing touches on the hotel.

The hotel will employee 170 people, and they will have an orientation early next week before undergoing training for five days prior to the opening.

“The brick, mortar and stone are going to be fantastic and we are committed to that, but it is the people,” Glavan said of what will make the hotel successful. “We just had a job fair at the convention center and saw nearly 2,000 people. We hope we made some good selections. We are depending on that.”

The Vicksburg Margaritaville is owned by the same group as the one in Biloxi and when asked about possible expansion, Glavan said they have built the arcade restaurant and pool based on what they think the market can sustain, but have the land to grow if the demand is there.

“The owner is very aggressive,” he said. “In Biloxi, we are looking at an outside amusement park and I am sure he has some thoughts and ideas for here if there is the demand. I think you would see that we would jump on that opportunity.”