Hawaii Hotel News: February 2005 Archives

By Prabha Natarajan
Pacific Business News-

Potential buyers, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, are lining up in anticipation of Prince Resorts Hawaii's four hotels coming on the market.

Estimates place the value of the portfolio -- which includes the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki, Hapuna Beach Prince, Mauna Kea Beach and Maui Prince -- at about $750 million. If sold individually, each property could fetch $200 million.

Starwood, the operator of Sheraton, W and Westin hotels on Hawaii, is "absolutely" interested in Prince, said Keith Vieira, Starwood's senior vice president for operations in Hawaii and French Polynesia.

For Starwood, the Prince properties would present a unique second chance to reflag them as Westins. The hotels operated under the upscale Westin brand until 2000, when Prince decided to run them under its own brand name.

While Prince management insists the hotels aren't for sale, several factors point to the time being right.

Hawaii is in the midst of an especially busy hotel-dealing period, with more than $3 billion in sales since 2000. Sellers are getting top dollar, especially for properties at the high end, where business is booming.

A big chunk of the transactions have been distress sales by Japanese companies that threw away millions on hotels and golf courses in the 1980s and now are faced with the cost of repaying all that debt.

The Japanese parent of Prince hotels in Hawaii, Seibu Railway Co., was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is now undergoing a corporate restructuring. One of the recommendations is for the $4 billion conglomerate to scale back its 150 hotels and leisure facilities to a manageable 40 resorts exclusively in Japan, according to a Nihon Keizai Shimbun news report.

Seibu's critics have pointed at the hundreds of millions it spent to buy and build its Hawaii hotels and to open affiliated championship golf courses at all these properties, three of which were designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay.

"The information out of Japan is so limited, there are so many rumors and speculation that until I am told so, we are not for sale," said Donn Takahashi, president of Prince Resorts Hawaii. Takahashi succeeded former Gov. George Ariyoshi at the company's helm last year.

But the lack of information hasn't stopped investors, who have heard the on-and-off rumor that the properties are for sale, from lining up.

"There's a lot of people looking at the [Prince] portfolio," said Kevin Aucello, vice president and director of hotel sales in Hawaii, Micronesia and the South Pacific for CB Richard Ellis. "The hotels' owner always had the thought that if the right offer came along they would be willing to sell."

Reports are not available on the hotels' annual revenues; the company didn't disclose the numbers. Its peak performance was in 1999, with $148 million in sales. In 2000, sales were $146 million, according to financial databases.

"2004 was a banner year comparable to 2000," Takahashi said. "We had a great year last year and are looking forward to an even better 2005."

The Prince hotels, like others in the hospitality industry, found the rebound of Mainland visitors making up for the lower numbers of Japanese visitors.

Takahashi added that the profitable years should be reason enough for the parent company to hold on to its Hawaii assets.

Starwood Hotels Hawaii
Prince Resorts Hawaii

By Allison Schaefers
Honolulu Star Bulletin

Because accommodations are limited on the North Shore, turning around Turtle Bay Resort & Spa, the area's only full-service hotel, is a lynchpin in the plan to market the region as a destination.

While business is booming for many who run the North Shore rental vacation homes, Turtle Bay has struggled to find its identity. The resort markets itself as "the Hawaii many have hoped for but few have discovered," -- a slogan supported by the hotel's historically low occupancy rates.

Years of neglect delayed the property's ability to position itself as a major player among Oahu's resorts, said Abid Butt, vice president and general manager of Turtle Bay.

Benchmark Management is one of several resort management companies to try and turn the resort around. The tourism drop after 9/11 affected the North Shore particularly hard and the resort fell into disrepair under a previous owner.

"Parts of the building were falling down, sliding glass doors were bolted shut and balconies were boarded up," Butt said. "At one point, the property was ready to be condemned."

A $60 million renovation, paid for by owner Oaktree Capital Management LLC, has given the property another chance.

Turtle Bay's repositioning has benefited the North Shore by boosting awareness of the region among the mid- to high-end markets and the group market, said Alfred Grace, vice president of sales and marketing at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

"Travel writers for magazines and newspapers have also taken a much greater interest in the North Shore now that the newly renovated Turtle Bay Resort is fully operational," Grace said. "For example, the North Shore received an excellent, multipage write-up in the Delta Air Lines in-flight magazine. I am sure this would not have happened without the developments at Turtle Bay Resort."

Yet, while Turtle Bay's substantial capital and marketing investments have propelled the region into the spotlight, the resort itself has remained quiet. While other Oahu hotels posted near-record numbers, last year Turtle Bay's occupancy still averaged around 45 percent, Butt said. Special events and the group market have propelled occupancy higher at times, but for the most part Turtle Bay's business outlook is unchanged.

"The hotel has only been profitable two out of its 30 years," Butt said. "It's on its ninth life and we have to turn it around -- not just for the hotel, but for the community as well."

A yearlong labor dispute between Turtle Bay Resort & Spa and its unionized hotel workers is being blamed by some in the community for the resort's underperformance. The union has promoted a boycott of the property until a new contract is reached.

"We've had several large groups that were planning on staying at the hotel call and tell us that they have canceled their reservations and that they won't stay at the hotel until the dispute has been settled," said Jason Ward, a spokesman for Unite Here Local 5, the hotel worker's union.

Members of the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board passed a motion at their last meeting to encourage both the resort's management team and its union employees to reach a labor agreement so that the region can move forward, said Creighton Matoon, past chairman of the Neighborhood Board.

"The dispute is hurting the community," Matoon said.

The North Shore is in great need of funds because the population base is low, Butt said.

A more prosperous tourism market could bring much needed revenue to North Shore schools, medical facilities, and infrastructure, Butt said. A thriving tourism market also could improve the quality of life for North Shore residents by creating more jobs closer to home.

It's very important that Turtle Bay succeed because it is the top employer on the North Shore, said Elaine Hornal, who left her job at Michel's at the Colony Surf to work at Turtle Bay, which is closer to her Waialua home.

"I used to have to drive three hours a day back and forth from work," said Hornal. "Now I have more time to enjoy my home."

Most of the resort's 300-plus employees work near their homes and many work alongside family members, she said.

Turtle Bay Resort & Spa

At 10am February 15, 2005-
The Kauai Coconut Beach flag was lowered and the Courtyard by Marriott flag was raised, officially re-branding the resort Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Waipouli Beach.

Areas open for use:

- Kapaa, Waipouli, and Lihue wings, 163 beautifully appointed rooms
- Front desk and main lobby
- Valet and bell desk
- Self-parking and valet parking lots
- Pool and Jacuzzi whirlpool
- Temporary restaurant in the Chart Room open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- Luau Halau - Luau Dinner/Show nightly except Mondays
- Administration, executive and sales

Currently under renovation and closed:

- Voyagers Grille steak and seafood restaurant (opening late March)
- Cook's Landing Lounge (opening late March)
- Paddle Room - meeting facility (opening April)

Courtyard by Marriott Kauai at Waipouli Beach

OUTRIGGER is extending its "Catch a Wave in Waikiki" promotion for guests staying at any of the 11 Outrigger or Ohana hotels. The promotion gives guests the choice of a free two-hour surfboard rental, an outrigger canoe ride for two or a 90-minute catamaran sail when staying five nights or more. The promotion extends through Dec. 20. Visit Outrigger Hotels Hawaii for more information on the hotels.

By Brian Berusch

HONOLULU -- Visitors here who have a passion for the food arts are fortunate people. The blending of Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and, more recently, European cuisines with traditional Polynesian dishes has spawned entirely new flavors that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Drawing parallels to the people who live here, the foods found throughout the islands are diverse and eclectic, but still maintain roots sewn deep in tradition.

The Halekulani is celebrating this idea with a two-day culinary tour that delves not only into food but into the cultural aspects of dining on Oahu.

The tour is being offered monthly to guests of the hotel. Private tours can be arranged for meetings and other groups staying at the hotel, a spokeswoman said.

The two-day sessions are pricey, at $600 per person, not inclusive of hotel accommodation (the tour is open to all visitors, with a 14-person maximum).

Itineraries vary. On the tour I took, most of the group activities took place on the first day. The following is a look at that day's itinerary:

We began with a short drive to the Honolulu fish auction, run by the United Fish Agency. En route, the group was introduced to Joan Namkoong, author of a number of food-related books and the host of the daylong excursion.

Halekulani executive chef Darryl Fujita holds up the 30-pound red snapper he was preparing for dinner. Photo by Brian Berusch.Halekulani executive chef Darryl Fujita joined us at the market, where he tested the quality of a yellowfin tuna by rolling the fish's red meat between his fingers. The "give," scent and visible fat all factor into the quality and price of a fish, he said. He settled on a 30-pound red snapper for our dinner.

Next stop was Honolulu's Chinatown, a four-square-block area teeming with outdoor markets, lei stands, dim sum eateries and bakeries. The district emerged in the 1870s, Namkoong said, when migrant Chinese workers arrived in droves to work the sugarcane fields that populated much of the island.

We ducked into Mei Sum, a family-run establishment that Namkoong called her favorite. There we nibbled on dumplings and won tons filled with mushroom and chicken, shrimp, bean curd and fresh vegetables.

A half-hour away by bus is Aiea, where our attention was turned to a 10-acre watercress farm owned by the Sumida family.

The farm produces 75% of the watercress consumed on the island.

Established in 1928, it lies in an area that has changed dramatically with the urbanization of Aiea, according to owner David Sumida.

Sumida walked us to the spring-fed marshes where the watercress blossoms.

"There used to be this great river that flowed all the way from the mountain down to the sea," he said.

"The kids used to come all summer long and swim in the river, and I could always see them when I was working in the fields, asking my father if I could go out and play."

By midday, we had returned to the hotel to begin preparing our lunch.

First, we enjoyed a salt and soy tasting in the kitchen of La Mer, the Halekulani's fine dining restaurant.

There, Namkoong explained the difference between soy sauces. The heavier and thicker soys are best for marinades or paired with meats, she said, and the lighter and less salty soys are best for fish or dipping with sashimi and vegetables.

We made our way to the workstation area in La Mer, where chef Fujita was cleaning the red snapper he had purchased earlier that day.

Fujita explained the process of preparing a whole fish, and then put us to work julienning ginger, garlic, cilantro, green onion and shiitake mushrooms, which would top our steamed fish along with the watercress we had picked at the farm.

He taught us techniques for heating sauces and oils as well as the proper way to pan-fry vegetables. As soon as the fish was done, we sat in the kitchen and ate of our efforts.

Between lunch and dinner, there was time to enjoy the beach, wander Waikiki or relax at the hotel.

At 6 p.m. we reconvened for cocktails at one of the hotel's other restaurants, House Without a Key, before venturing over to Orchids, the final restaurant on property, for a full dinner with wine pairings and instructions on how to pair vintages with Asian flavors.

The second day began with a culinary class in La Mer with chef Yves Garnier, who delved into the use of local ingredients and techniques to improve one's skills in the kitchen. The day ended with a dinner at La Mer, inclusive of wine pairings.

For more information on the Halekulani click here.
To book a trip to the Halekulani visit Travel-Hawaii.com

To contact reporter Brian Berusch, send e-mail to traveledit@excite.com.

Maui Land and Pineapple Co. announced it will demolish the Kapalua Bay Hotel in 2006 to make way for a $300 million development that will be more in line with the new business strategy of the entire Kapalua Resort.

“Kapalua Resort is undergoing a significant transformation as we reposition the destination at the pinnacle of the Hawaiian hospitality industry,” said David Cole, chairman, president and CEO of Maui Land, owner of the property.

Marriott International and Exclusive Resorts, which specializes in short-term stays at luxury residences, are minority partners on the project.

“Our partnership’s redevelopment of the Kapalua Bay Hotel is critical to the resort’s successful revitalization,” Cole said.

The Kapalua Resort encompasses the 548-room Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, the 196-room Kapalua Bay Hotel, the 292-unit Kapalua Villas, three beaches and three golf courses.

The new, 24-acre complex, to be rebranded the Kapalua Beach Club, will include 150 hotel rooms, 120 timeshares, 30 condominiums, an oceanside spa, a beach club and a boathouse.

The razing of the Kapalua Bay Hotel, which opened in 1978, marks the first time an upscale Maui hotel has been torn down, although several have been rebuilt, including the Maui Marriott, now a timeshare.

Part of the new arrangement will be similar to timeshare, although Maui Land and Marriott are not using that term.

Guests will not own a share in the new hotel, but they will have to join a club and pay dues to use the hotel facilities and to have signing privileges at the restaurants.

Rates and prices have not been disclosed.

Maui Land and Pineapple Co. owns 29,000 acres on the island. Besides operating its pineapple business and the Kapalua Bay Hotel, it also creates and manages holistic communities on Maui.

Last year, Maui Land announced that it would partner with Miraval, Life in Balance to build the Kapalua Resort’s oceanside spa. Maui Land and Miraval also plan to open a 150-room spa hotel for adults only and a mountain fitness center.

The Kapalua Bay Hotel will remain operational until next spring. The development is expected to be completed in 2008.

For reservations, visit
Kapalua Bay Resort
or
Marriott-Resorts-Hawaii.com/.

Outrigger Enterprises completed the sale of the Ohana Reef Towers on Lewers Street here to Fairfield Resorts.

Outrigger has retained the street-level, retail portion of the building, which will become part of a planned $460 million Waikiki Beach Walk entertainment project.

Fairfield will turn the hotel into a 195-unit vacation ownership resort, to be opened as the Fairfield Hawaii at Waikiki Beach Walk in the fall of 2006 following a $54 million renovation.

Honolulu, Hawaii-
Aston Hotels Hawaii announces a super 4th night free promotion at many of it's fine Hawaii properties. This promotion replaces the previous 5th night free promotion for select dates. Details are as follows:

On Oahu For Travel 4/9/2005 - 6/9/2005

Aston Waikiki Sunset - Relaxed island-style living in large One and Two-bedroom suites in a quiet residential neighborhood only two blocks from Waikiki beach. 4th night free promotion may be combined with added values and promotions.

Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel - Recognized in the March 2004 issue of Travel & Leisure magazine as one of 50 affordable beach resorts in the world. 4th night free promotion may be combined with free daily breakfast promotion in Partial Ocean View and above categories.

On Maui/Kauai/Hawaii For Travel 4/4/2005 - 6/9/2005

Aston Paki Maui - Located in a quiet neighborhood near the Kaanapali Resort area directly on the ocean. Low rise units are surrounded by lush tropical gardens complete with a charming Koi pool. 4th night free promotion available in 1 Bedroom Garden View Category Only.

Aston Maui Kanapali Villas - Set in 11-acres of lushly landscaped exotic tropical gardens on one of Kaanapali's finest stretches of beach. The resort is ideal for active travelers who want to be surrounded by all the fun activities that Maui as to offer. 4th night free promotion available in studio Garden View Category Only.

Aston Mahana at Kaanapali - Offers oceanfront high-rise condominium apartments all overlooking beautiful Kaanapali Beach and the blue Pacific with views of Lanai and Molokai. From their lanais guests can watch humpback whales in the winter and a variety of sea life including dolphins, turtles, and rays that inhabit a reef just off-shore. 4th night free promotion available in 1 Bedroom Ocean Front Category Only.

Aston Poipu Kai - A condominium resort complex on 70 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds in the sunny Poipu area of Kauai. Brennecke's and shipwreck Beach are a stroll away, reached by the walking paths throughout the property. 4th night free promotion available in 1 and 2 Bedroom Garden
View Categories Only.

Aston Shores at Waikoloa - An upscale condominium resort in the world-famous Waikoloa Resort. The Shores is surrounded by the Waikoloa Beach Course fairways and is graced with lush gardens of sweet-smelling plumeria and meandering lagoons. 4th night free promotion available in 1 and 2
Bedroom Deluxe Categories Only.

Aston Kaanapali Shores - A fine condominium resort combining the ambiance of a full service resort with accommodations, services, and amenities guests have come to expect with the "at home" convenience of condominium living. Located on beautiful Kaanapali Beach, the resort reflects what travelers want from a Hawaiian vacation. 4th night free promotion available in 1 and 2 Bedroom Categories Only. (Guests also receive a $100 restaurant credit and 2-for-1 luau coupon with a 4 night minimum stay.)

To book a vacation to any of these fine Aston properties, please visit Aston Hotels Hawaii
or Travel-Hawaii.com
or call Toll-Free 888-373-2422

Couples say "I do" all over again at Outrigger's Complimentary Vow Renewal Ceremony popular throughout Pacific

February 15, 2005

Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii - Throughout the Pacific, Valentines Day was especially romantic for guests at Outrigger Hotels & Resorts thanks to complimentary vow ceremonies hosted by the Hawaii-based hotelier.

Dozens of couples vacationing in Hawaii, Australia, Tahiti, Guam and Fiji took advantage of the hotelier's romantic offer to re-tie the knot in special oceanfront ceremonies at 18 Outrigger properties.

In Hawaii, 44 couples were gathered on the beach to renew wedding vows as the sun rose over Diamond Head and lit up the golden sands of Waikiki.

South of the equator in Tahiti, seven couples at the Outrigger Te Tiare Beach Resort recited vows on the very beach where crewmembers from the HMS Bounty fell in love with the local islanders in the late 1700s.

Across the international dateline in Guam, four Japanese couples recited vows through a translator at the Outrigger Reef Guam Resort; and in Fiji, two couples actually got married in special ceremonies on property at the Outrigger on the Lagoon Resort.

Down under in Australia, eight couples at the Outrigger Hervey Bay Resort and four couples at the Outrigger Beach Club & Spa celebrated the world's most romantic day of the year by renewing their wedding vows overlooking the South Pacific Ocean.

The ceremony on Waikiki Beach at The Outrigger Reef on the Beach was by far the largest ceremony. The 44 couples were split into five groups to keep each group ceremony somewhat personal and intimate. A Hawaiian "Kahu" (priest) led the 15-minute ceremony which included song, hula and lei exchange between couples. Couples enjoyed champagne toasts after the ceremony and received a commemorative vow renewal certificate.

Frederick and Rosemary Depew of Montour Falls, New York, decided to celebrate their 50th Anniversary by staying at the Outrigger Reef and participate in the ceremony. "We just love it here," Rosemary said after the ceremony. "This is our 14th visit in 14 years. Our first trip here was a dream, and I didn't think we'd ever be able to return. If we had come here when we were young, we never would have left."

Another couple, Tim and Gerri Reagan, who met in Hawaii while attending high school, celebrated their first return visit to Hawaii after 21 years of marriage by participating in the ceremony. "I was shopping for hotels on the Internet and looking for a good rate," said Tim, an officer in the United States Air Force. "When I read about the Valentine's Day Vow Renewal ceremony, that was what clinched it for us to stay here (at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach)." The couple met here in Hawaii while their parents were stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in the late 70s and became high school sweethearts. They stayed in touch after their families moved to the mainland and later married after college.

The Hawaii-based hotel company introduced the complimentary Valentine's Day vow renewal ceremony as a way to promote the romantic locations across the Pacific where they operate resorts. Management hopes to make this an annual event.

Marriott International Inc. has launched a major initiative to replace nearly every bed in seven of its chains. At the Marriott chain, (Marriott Resorts Hawaii), each king-size bed will be getting 300-thread-count cotton sheets, seven pillows instead of five, a pillowy mattress cover, a white duvet, and a "bed scarf" that will be draped along the bottom of the bed. The year-long project will cost an estimated $190 million.

It's the latest incursion in what has turned into a full-scale hotel bed war, launched by Westin's (Westin Maui Resort And Spa) Heavenly Bed program five years ago. Virtually every major chain is trying to outdo its rivals. For example, Radisson see (Radisson Kauai Beach Resort and Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio) are buying 90,000 beds that allow each occupant to adjust the firmness of their side of the mattress with a remote control device that pumps air in and out.

In recent years, Hilton (Hilton Hotels Hawaii), Starwood, (Starwood Hotels Hawaii), and nearly every other major chain has upgraded its beds, sometimes more than once. Marriott (Marriott Resorts Hawaii) says it is "Creating More Luxurious Bedding With Plusher Mattresses, Softer Sheets, More Pillows, and a New, Fresh, White Look". By year-end, 628,000 beds at approximately 2,400 hotels worldwide, across eight brands, will have a new, more luxurious look and feel. The global bedding makeover will utilize over 30 million yards of fabric--enough to stretch more than two-thirds of the way around the world--creating softer sheets, plusher mattresses, stylish duvets, more pillows, and a new fresh, white look.

J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, "Together with our hotel owners and franchisees, we are launching an unprecedented bedding makeover, continuing our invitation to guests to experience the new look and feel of Marriott. This initiative draws on the finest designs and service traditions at our best hotels worldwide to position each of our brands as the most luxurious in their segment. And our new bedding is already getting rave reviews."

As part of the makeover, the company is replacing traditional bedspreads with freshly laundered linens, making Marriott's new bedding the cleanest and freshest of any major hotel chain.

Maui Land & Pineapple Company, owner of Maui's upscale Kapalua Resort, has announced the next step in its plan to revitalize the West Maui resort. Expanding on plans announced last fall for the development of a health-and-wellness village in partnership with Miraval Life in Balance, ML&P is now turning its attention to the 196-room Kapalua Bay Hotel and neighboring retail space.

The hotel, currently operated by Marriott Resorts Hawaii under its Renaissance brand, will be razed in spring 2006 to make way for a mix of lodging, an oceanside spa and a beach club pegged to cost $300 million.