One thing that didnt change when the Holiday Inn Waikiki became the Ramada Plaza Waikiki on Feb. 1 was the time displayed on the four clocks in the lobby.

They continue to show time zones for Honolulu, the West Coast, the East Coast and Taiwan.

Thats fitting the Ramada is owned by Cal-Dynasty International, a subsidiary of Taipei-based China Airlines. Sixty percent of the Ramadas customers are from Asia, and frequent guests include flight crews from China Airlines and Japan Airlines.

The Ramada, located at 1830 Ala Moana Blvd., continues to direct guests to its buffet restaurant featuring Chinese and American food.

Except for the clocks, guests, food and the 53-person staff, however, the Ramada is not quite the same as the Holiday Inn.

Thats because the rebranding came just one month after the hotel completed a 15-month, $3 million renovation.

The renovation, the first since 1992, included work on the 198 guest rooms, new exterior paint, refinished parking lot and porte-cochre, and upgrades to the fitness center, conference room, business center and pool deck.

Guest rooms have Serta Presidential Plush Suite mattresses that typically are found in pricier properties. Thats a plus for the 15-18 percent of Ramadas guests who travel for business.

Cleanliness and sanitation also are key. The refurbished laundry room, for example, uses an ozone system that replaced the need for hot water. The system converts oxygen into a cleaning agent that is biodegradable, leaves no residue, and cuts water and energy usage.

The 16-story property was built in 1969 and called the Dynasty Hotel. In 1993, the name was changed to Holiday Inn Waikiki, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group.

The agreement with Holiday Inn was set to expire this year. Johnny Chang, the propertys general manager for the past four years, said the owners worried that a planned global relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand would change the flavor of the hotel from aloha wear to Hawaiian music piped into the lobby that guests desired.

We wanted to keep the consistency, the aloha spirit, and the reasonable rates, said Chang, who is fluent in Mandarin and previously worked for China Airlines in Los Angeles.

The Ramada Plaza brand, the highest-tiered of Ramadas three brands, also went well with the hotels new look.

Chang said the transition has been smooth but admits the Ramada lost some guests who preferred the old brand. It also picked up guests who prefer the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program; Ramada Worldwide is part of Wyndham Hotel Group.

The biggest challenge involved transferring database information between two systems. Staff also received Ramada hospitality training.

The Ramada Plaza Waikiki is the second Wyndham property to open in Hawaii in the past six months. It also represents the return of the Ramada brand to the islands after many years, placing it in 48 states as well as nearly 900 countries.

Long-time travelers and residents remember when the Ramada was located where the Best Western Plaza Hotel is now, a half-mile from the entrance to Honolulu International Airport. Its just down the street from Outriggers Ohana Honolulu Airport Hotel, formerly Holiday Inn.

The Ramadas new location puts it next door to the Aqua Palms & Spa, part of the boutique hotel chain that is the Ramadas nearest competitor in terms of room rates and amenities.

Current room rates at the Ramada start at $139, with discounts for groups including airline employees and those on business.

Chang said the Holiday Inns occupancy rate in 2009 was 83.7 percent, down from 86 percent in 2008 but still healthy when compared with the average Waikiki occupancy rate last year of about 75 percent.

Unlike most Hawaii properties, though, the Ramada has not lowered rates, though it has employed the value-added strategy used by many hotels e.g., an extra room night after booking three or more.

Sales manager Stephanie Nojima said the Ramadas travel wholesale accounts are primarily in Asia but there is a sizable guest list that hails from North America.

Bob Adamson, director of the Agricultural Biotechnology Enrichment Program in Winnipeg, Manitoba, chose Ramada Plaza Waikiki because of the strength of the brand and also its personal touch.

I actually got someone on the phone from Hawaii, and they had all the answers, said Adamson, who escorted three high-school students to Japan for a science event and visited the University of Hawaii at Manoa. It was real, not canned. That sealed the deal.

Source: pacific.bizjournals.com

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