Radisson, W Hotels Say Aloha To Hawaiian Market
<B> Radisson, W Hotels Say Aloha To Hawaiian Market</B>
By Judy Jacobs
Management changes at Honolulu hotels have introduced two hotel brands, Radisson and W, to Hawaii--a move that should bring wider exposure for the two properties and a foot-in-the-door for a hotel company new to the state.
San Francisco-based Stanford Hotels, which owns and operates 18 hotels in Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, Virginia and now Hawaii under franchise agreements with major hotel chains, purchased the former Outrigger Prince Kuhio from Outrigger Hotels & Resorts in late October and re-branded it the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio.
Stanford Hotels is managing the hotel under a Radisson franchise, making it Radisson's, and Stanford's, first hotel in Hawaii. The company plans to improve the property and cater more effectively to the corporate market.
"One of my jobs is to upgrade the service levels," said general manager Toby Allen. "We plan to concentrate on the corporate and meetings market and hope to have 30 percent of our business be corporate, including meetings. The hotel is a great location for business travelers, since it's a block from the beach and a lot quieter than actually being on the beach," he said.
The Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio includes an 8,000-sq.-ft. ballroom, seating up to 600 attendees for banquets and accommodating up to 1,000 for receptions, as well as three additional meeting rooms totaling 2,100 square feet of space.
When Outrigger managed the hotel, about 20 percent of the business was corporate travelers, a market the previous owners were trying to increase.
Earlier this year, Outrigger added a 24-hour business center, with three PCs, a fax machine, photocopier and postage scale, as well as an office/conference room accommodating up to four people. Outrigger also had spent $7 million to renovate all 625 guest rooms and add a 24-hour fitness center in a project that the chain finished last December.
To further upgrade the property, Stanford Hotels intends to spend $500,000 on renovating the lobby. "We'd also like to make the hotel more Hawaiian, with Hawaiian music or dancing and a Hawaiian greeting for guests," Allen said.
Outrigger sold the Prince Kuhio as part of a company-wide reorganization of its properties into the Ohana brand of moderately priced hotels and the upscale Outrigger brand.
"This sale is part of a strategic rebalancing of our portfolio to focus our efforts on our long-term core assets and business," said David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises. "We plan to invest the proceeds from this sale in our Hawaii properties, particularly our newly acquired Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Hotel on the Kohala Coast of the Big Island, as well as the Outrigger Wailea Resort on Maui, and our Pacific growth. This sale fits with our strategy of positioning the Outrigger brand as upscale, beachfront hotels and resorts throughout Hawaii and the Pacific."
Meanwhile, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has transformed what was the Colony Surf Hotel into its fifth and latest W hotel, the W Honolulu Diamond Head. Although Starwood's first offshore W property, the W Honolulu adheres to the company's standard of what it calls a "style hotel," in other words a chic boutique property with the reliability and comprehensive business amenities and services that business travelers expect.
Like the Radisson Prince Kuhio, the W Honolulu is situated away from Waikiki in a quiet location at the foot of Diamond Head. The 48-room hotel is decorated in Balinese motif with contemporary teak furniture, giving it an island atmosphere. Although a bit off the beaten path, the W expects to appeal to business travelers.
"About 30 percent of our business is corporate," said Ren Hirose, the hotel's general manager. To cater to that market the hotel has included dataports, dual-line cordless phones, around-the-clock room service, laundry and dry cleaning, as well as 24-hour concierge service. For those in need of exercise, the hotel is located adjacent to a fitness center and right next to Kapi'olani Park's jogging trails.
And if business travelers need a restaurant for entertaining or for a business meal, it's right downstairs, Hirose said. Starwood has converted what was David Paul's Diamond Head Grill into The Diamond Head Grill, which opened Dec. 1.
The restaurant will specialize in "flavors of Hawaii," a blend of Asian, Euro-American and Polynesian cuisine featuring locally grown vegetables, fruits and herbs, as well as fish caught in Hawaiian waters.