Oahu and Kauai are the yin and yang of the Hawaiian experience. While neither lacks the signature elements Hawaii is known for—stunning landscapes and vibrant cultural diversity—the two islands are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Oahu enlivens the spirit with mid-Pacific urban flare while Kauai soothes the soul with rural and small-town charms.
“There is great synergy between Oahu and Kauai—we’re a wonderful contrast to each other,” said Lisa Nakamasu, director of sales for the Kauai Visitors Bureau (KVB). “After a busy convention on Oahu, Kauai makes the ideal post-trip.”
These days neither island is content to rest on its laurels. Both are continually refining the visitor experience with improved accommodations, dining, outdoor activities and venue options.
Oahu
No island in Hawaii has transformed itself quite as much as Oahu has in recent times, the result of a massive infusion of infrastructure investment occurring not only in Waikiki but in the outlying resort areas of Ko Olina and Turtle Bay. The recent introduction of such high-end hotel brands as Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton as well as significant renovations and upgrades at existing properties are enabling the island to capture a broader range of meetings, including the once-elusive corporate incentive market, according to Kainoa Daines, director of sales for the Oahu Visitors Bureau.
“We have so much new luxury product on the island that we can now accommodate those incentive groups who in the past may have only considered the neighbor islands,” he said. “With Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton, which also have properties on neighbor islands, we can also appeal more to incentive groups that want a two-island experience with the same hotel brand.”
Located in the Ko Olina Resort on the leeward coast about 17 miles northwest of Honolulu, the Four Seasons Resort Oahu opened last year following a renovation and rebranding of the JW Marriott Ihilani. The 371-room property offers a multilevel spa, five restaurants and nearly 78,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Ko Olina is also home to Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, which opened in 2011 with over 800 rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space. The first Atlantis resort in the U.S., a 1,300-room hotel with a waterpark, is expected to break ground at Ko Olina next year.
“Ko Olina is the only master-planned resort on Oahu and it’s really boosting its profile with the group market,” Daines said. “The Four Seasons brand, which is aggressively pursuing meetings, has elevated an already excellent hotel to the top end. Aulani also provides a great option for groups, especially those who are bringing family members along.”
Also on the move is Turtle Bay Resort, a 410-room property amid the famous surfing beaches of the North Shore, which recently announced preliminary plans for a major expansion that will include a 452-room hotel, two golf courses and a spa.
Waikiki, which has steadily evolved as a meetings destination over the past two decades through such developments as the Hawaii Convention Center and Waikiki Beach Walk, continues to raise the bar. Among newcomers is The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach, a 307-unit condo hotel with a spa, dining areas and pool terrace available for events. A second tower with 250 units is expected to open by the end of 2018.
Located close to the convention center, the former Hawaii Prince Hotel, now the Prince Waikiki, completed a $55.4 million renovation this spring. It included the redesign of all 533 guest rooms as well as expanded meeting and event space.
“The hotel has always been a good partner with the convention center, but now it offers meeting guests a warmer atmosphere and more of a resort feel,” Daines said.
Another hotel undergoing transformation is the Pacific Beach Hotel, which will be renamed the Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach when a $115 million renovation is complete this fall. Along with a redesign of its 839 guest rooms and meeting space, the hotel will include two new restaurants operated by celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto, an extensive pool deck and a 280,000-gallon aquarium in the lobby.
Big changes are also happening in central Waikiki, particularly at the redeveloped International Marketplace, which now offers upscale retailers and chef-driven restaurants such as Michael Mina’s STRIPSTEAK Waikiki and Roy Yamaguchi’s Eating House 1849. According to Daines, the new Marketplace can host events.
“You can do dine-arounds and progressive dinners at restaurants or set up food stations,” he said. “On the ground floor there’s a courtyard with a stage and lawn that works for groups of 100 or less.”
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Also new are hotels near the International Marketplace, including the 623-room Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach, formerly the Ohana Waikiki West; 230-room Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach; and 251-room The Laylow, Autograph Collection, formerly the Aqua Waikiki Wave and the first property in Oahu under Marriott’s Autograph brand.
“These three hotels don’t have a lot of meeting space, but they are banding together to market themselves as a convenient room block option during citywide conventions,” Daines said. “They have a great central location that works well for bus pickups to the convention center.”
Starwood Hawaii also continues to enhance its properties, which include the 1,636-room Sheraton Waikiki as well as the two grande dames of Waikiki, The Royal Hawaiian and Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa. The Moana Surfrider recently refurbished its ocean-view penthouse suites while the Sheraton Waikiki wrapped up a property-side renovation that included a new infinity-edge pool and other new resort amenities.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary next year, the Hawaii Convention Center continues to expand its offerings, most recently with the addition of portable sports courts that can be configured for numerous volleyball, badminton, basketball and soccer games. The courts are enabling the convention center to target the sports events market as an important new source of business, according to Daines.
Kauai
While Kauai is also continually enhancing its meetings and tourism infrastructure, it takes pride in providing visitors with a relaxing environment that has remained consistent over the years, said the KVB’s Nakamasu.
“We are known for slow and moderate growth,” she said. “Changes here are not dramatic—and this is deliberate. People return to Kauai because they want to recapture some of the experience they had here before.”
At the same time, Kauai is working hard to introduce meeting planners to the island, primarily through familiarization visits, and dispel any misconceptions they may have, she said.
“A lot of planners don’t know Kauai as well as they do the other islands, so we are really encouraging site visits,” Nakamasu said. “Once people get here, they fall in love with the island. Sometimes planners have the perception that there’s nothing to do on Kauai. They find out how wrong that is.”
According to Nakamasu, Kauai’s many pristine areas as well as its emphasis on local culture and community is resonating well with organizations looking at ways for attendees to find rejuvenation, wellness and relief from stress.
“We’re seeing that many Millennial travelers and corporations are looking for give-back projects and cultural experiences,” she said. “What used to be a drawback—the fact that we don’t have mega shopping malls—is now turning out to be an asset.”
At the same time, Kauai has plenty of new things happening with hotels and venues. Among them is Marriott’s new Koloa Landing Resort at Poipu, Autograph Collection, which offers 208 studios and one-bedroom villas, 12,000 square feet of meeting space and a saltwater lagoon pool with a swim-through grotto and waterfalls.
Reconstruction is expected to get underway this year on Coco Palms Resort, a 64-year-old property where scenes in the Elvis Presley movie Blue Hawaii were filmed, that was devastated by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Work on the 363-room hotel, which will be part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, is set to be completed by the end of next year.
The Aston Aloha Beach Hotel has been rebranded as the Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay following a renovation that included its 216 guest rooms, 5,000 square feet of meeting space, pool and lobby.
New event venues on the island include the Lava Lava Beach Club, a 250-seat open-air restaurant and bar at the Kauai Shores Hotel with lounge furniture, fire pits and live entertainment. Also available for outdoor events, Lava’s on Poipu Beach, a restaurant at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, recently underwent a renovation that included a new glass wall around the restaurant allowing for expansive ocean views.
The island’s array of adventure activities continues to expand, including Outfitters Kauai’s new 4,000-foot mega zipline, the longest in Hawaii, at Kipu Ranch.
