Castle Upgrades Hotels, Rolls Out Discount Programs
<B> Castle Upgrades Hotels, Rolls Out Discount Programs</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Four-year-old Castle Resorts & Hotels, which almost overnight has become one of Hawaii's largest hotel management companies, is targeting the state's burgeoning transient travel and meetings market with renovated hotels and corporate loyalty programs.
The 242-room Waikiki Terrace, for example, which Castle took over from Aston Hotels & Resorts, will undergo an extensive renovation. "Traditionally about 30 percent of the business at the Waikiki Terrace was business travelers," said Castle president and CEO Kelvin Bloom. "The hotel is spending $1 to $2 million on the renovation--and a part of that is enhancing what we offer to business travelers. For instance, we're adding a brand new business center that opens July 1. The hotel is actually in pretty good shape--it underwent a major renovation two to three years ago."
Improvements will include refurbishing soft goods in the rooms, new furniture and televisions, and an upgrade of the lobby.
The Waikiki Terrace also is hoping to draw the droves of meeting attendees that the new Hawai'i Convention Center is expected to draw. "The convention business will have a significant impact on the hotel, since it is one of the closest hotels to the center," Bloom said. "It's one of the few hotels in Waikiki that is really within walking distance of the center--about 10 minutes away."
Castle Resorts & Hotels manages three other hotels in Waikiki, including the Queen Kapiolani, which has substantial meeting space of its own. The hotel, located on the far end of Waikiki near the Honolulu Zoo, offers a 13,500 square-foot ballroom that holds up to 1,000 people for cocktail receptions and 500 for banquets, plus two other meetings rooms, one seating 300 people theater style and the other accommodating 80.
Of the group's hotels on the Neighbor Islands, the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel on the Big Island does a fair amount of corporate business, and the Hanalei Bay Resort & Suites on Kauai handles executive board meetings, since it has access to excellent golf courses, Bloom said.
"Castle's other properties cater to pre- and post-convention tours, since after meetings and big hotels, people often like to go to smaller places," said Shari Chang, Castle's senior vice president of sales and marketing.
On the transient side, Castle recently launched three separate loyalty programs, the Castle Corporate Club, the Island Pass and the Maile Club.
Corporate Club offers several amenities, including preferred room and rental car rates, complimentary room upgrades based on availability and discounts on food and beverage--depending on the property. Guests who participate in the hotel company's Island Pass program can earn 50 percent off one night after staying five nights at any of Castle's 22 hotels and condominium properties, and a free night for 10 nights paid. Members receive cards that are validated after each stay.
The Maile Club, designed for Hawaii residents, offers benefits similar to those of the Corporate Club, along with discounts on dining at many of the company's properties.
Castle, meanwhile, is planning to further expand through managing existing properties.
"We'd like to continue to grow in Hawaii in spite of the fact that new construction has halted in the past few years," Bloom said. "We'd like a greater presence in Waikiki as well as some strategic locations on the Neighbor Islands, places like Kaanapali on Maui. We're also interested in the Cook Islands and have been talking to the country's Development Investment Board. We're looking at the old Sheraton site there."
Construction came to a halt several years ago when the Italian developers abandoned the project, leaving it nearly finished. The facility until now has been abandoned.
"It would take about $7.5 million to $12.5 million to bring the Sheraton back to life. The hotel is two-thirds done. All that needs to be completed is the interior," Bloom said.
Castle also is involved in hotel development in New Zealand, Saipan and other Pacific islands.