The Short Version

• Galleria Dallas transformed two long-vacant storefronts into The BooMont Hotel, a 7,700-square-foot immersive attraction that welcomed nearly 31,000 visitors.
• The 2026 ICSC MAXI Gold-winning activation generated more than $250,000 in ticket revenue and helped lift sales among tenants by 8.2% year over year.
• The campaign used storytelling, media outreach, social sharing and a strategic location near family-focused amenities to turn vacant space into a seasonal destination.
• The BooMont Hotel is scheduled to return in September, extending the impact of a campaign that filled a key programming gap between back-to-school and the holidays.

The BooMont Hotel Converts Vacancy Into Visits

A bellhop hands you an antique room key and guides you toward an old-timey elevator. As the doors creak and close, the lights dim and a voice recounts the strange history of The BooMont Hotel, a grand Texas destination that vanished into legend after a mysterious electrical catastrophe more than a century ago. When the elevator doors reopen, you’re no longer standing inside a shopping center. Instead, you face a narrowing hallway where portraits watch your every move. From there, cryptic messages, strange laboratories, skeleton bartenders and holographs draw you deeper into the story — and the experience.

For nearly 31,000 visitors from September 2025 through January, The BooMont Hotel at Galleria Dallas offered an immersive adventure that felt worlds away from traditional retail. Behind the scenes, the property management team reimagined two long-vacant storefronts as a 7,700-square-foot experiential destination that generated more than $250,000 in revenue and increased sales among tenants by 8.2%. The activation earned property manager Trademark a Gold in the 2026 ICSC MAXI Awards.

Importantly, the activation filled a critical programming gap between two busy shopping seasons. “The BooMont Hotel started as a solution to a quiet stretch on the calendar between back-to-school and the holidays,” said Audrey Miranda, marketing director for Trademark, the center’s property manager, “and it became a broadcast news story, a cultural moment for Dallas. People couldn’t stop talking about it or taking photos.”

For shopping center owners and managers searching for ways to activate vacant space, drive traffic and create memorable consumer experiences, The BooMont Hotel offers a compelling case study in experiential placemaking.

The attraction will remain open weekends through July 19, when it will close for a refresh before reopening in September for the Halloween season.

Finding Opportunity Between Shopping Seasons

Galleria Dallas has built a reputation for experiential programming, particularly during the holiday season. Signature attractions like its indoor Christmas programming draw visitors from across the region. But according to Miranda, there was a noticeable gap in the center's event calendar. “We have a bulk of programming throughout the summer, and then we really hit it hard for the holiday season,” she said. “What we were missing was a compelling reason for families to visit once summer travel ended and before the holiday season began.”

At the same time, ownership was looking for a productive use for vacant retail space on Level 3 that had sat empty for several years. Rather than treating the vacancy as a leasing problem, Galleria Dallas saw an opportunity to create a destination.

Building The BooMont Hotel

Galleria Dallas partnered with Baymo, which blends immersive set design, photography, storytelling and experiential production. The creative studio and the shopping center previously had collaborated on successful holiday activations, giving both teams confidence in pursuing a larger concept.

The result was The BooMont Hotel, a walk-through attraction designed to appeal to families, date-night visitors, teenagers and Halloween enthusiasts alike. It was immersive but accessible, photo friendly and eerie but mild on the jump scares. “We wanted something that was a little more exciting than a pumpkin patch but not as terrifying as a full haunted house,” Miranda said. “We really described the experience as spooky, not scary.” Tickets started at $29.95 for adults and $19.95 for kids under 12.

BooMont occupies a strategic location within the shopping center. The vacant spaces sat adjacent to the children’s play area and a concentration of fast-casual dining options — an area already frequented by families and groups. The experience thus amplified activity in an existing traffic node rather than attempting to create one from scratch.

Inside Galleria Dallas’ Immersive Hotel Experience

Trademark built the BooMont story around an elaborate fictional backstory: Hotel magnate Rupert B. BooMont opened a state-of-the-art Texas hotel in 1901. Ten years later, a catastrophic electrical event during the Great Texas Storm caused guests and employees to disappear without explanation. The hotel closed in 1912 and became local legend until its reopening … right now.

Guests entered through a richly themed hotel lobby. Actors playing hotel staff greeted them and issued RFID-enabled room keys that activate six interactive photo experiences throughout the attraction.

Visitors boarded a simulated elevator before navigating a maze of mysterious corridors, hidden passageways, interactive rooms, optical illusions and theatrical surprises. Among the attraction’s highlights were secret tunnels, a mad scientist laboratory, interactive paintings, vintage telephones delivering clues and more than 40 doors that visitors could open and explore. Compared with a linear haunted house format, the design emphasized discovery and repeat engagement.

Marketing The BooMont Hotel as a Seasonal Destination

According to Miranda, most visitors to BooMont didn’t discover it while shopping but rather came to Galleria Dallas specifically to experience the attraction. A coordinated marketing campaign made that possible. Public relations outreach, paid advertising, social media, influencer partnerships, on-property signage, email marketing and a preview event drew attention.

The VIP preview drew 114 media personalities, influencers, community partners and content creators and generated significant social media attention before the attraction officially launched.

Media coverage included 22 TV appearances reaching a Nielsen audience of 10.6 million viewers. Another 247 digital articles generated a combined online readership of 619 million, while 14 print placements reached nearly 480,000 readers.

Social media proved equally powerful. Content generated from the preview event alone received more than 2.35 million views across Instagram and TikTok. And visitors continued sharing photos and videos throughout the attraction’s run, transforming BooMont into a seasonal social media phenomenon. “It did so well that we extended an additional six weeks, which I think is really proof that the right experience doesn’t just drive traffic, but it builds something that brings people back again and again.”

Retail Traffic, Revenue and Sales Impact

During its initial September-to-November run, the attraction welcomed more than 30,800 visitors and exceeded attendance goals by 27%. The increased activity contributed to a year-over-year increase in overall shopping center traffic during what traditionally had been a slower period. The attraction also generated direct revenue, as ticket sales produced $250,253. Collaborations with retailers and sponsors also cut more than $84,000 from marketing and operational expenses. Sales among tenants during the activation, meanwhile, grew 8.2% compared with the same period the year prior.

Lessons for Activating Underused Shopping Center Space

The BooMont Hotel demonstrated that immersive experiences can deliver measurable business results when thoughtfully aligned with broader property goals and that vacant space can be an asset when viewed through an experiential lens. Galleria Dallas temporarily transformed empty square footage into a revenue-producing attraction that enhanced the property’s overall performance.

Yet, Trademark didn’t create BooMont simply because experiential retail is trendy. Instead, it addressed a known time-period gap in programming and drove visitation during a strategically important period.

Storytelling, social media, earned media coverage and repeat visitors made BooMont more than an attraction. It became — and will continue to be — part of the cultural conversation in Dallas.