The islands of the Hawaiian archipelago are 2,300 miles from the mainland United States and span a swath of 1,500 miles of ocean, making them some of the most isolated places on Earth and adding to their glamour. What top producer won't work a little harder, what executive won't be more tempted to get on board when the destination is Hawaii?

Oahu is the most popular island for large meetings because of the Hawai‘i Convention Center and the frequent airline connections to Honolulu International Airport. Beyond the convenience, almost everything is new again, or getting that way, around Oahu's Waikiki Beach. There's a new Beach Walk, new shopping, new restaurants, and new and restored hotels. Honolulu, as befits a capital city, has skyscrapers, manufacturing, the convention center, theaters, office buildings, and the daily rush of commerce — but it's on an island with 100 miles of beaches, so it is not really like any other urban capital. For a reminder of Honolulu's place in the national culture, attendees will want a chance to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, the final resting place for 1,177 of the battleship's crew members who were killed December 7, 1941.

In addition to all that's already new on Oahu, there is well-founded talk that the mouse with oversized ears will soon appear on the North Shore to cheer on construction of Disney's first resort that is not associated with its theme parks. Details are sketchy, but a Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announcement makes clear that the company expects to have an 800-room resort complex open by 2011. That announcement follows other North Shore developments, including a 16-story condominium-hotel with 400 to 500 units and a 1,000-room Grand Ko Olina Resort Hotel & Spa on the North Shore. Clearly, the area is building on its hot reputation as a surfer's paradise.

With two elegant resorts and two championship golf courses, tiny Lanai gives Maui a run for its money in luxury. And, now that both resorts are owned by Four Seasons, teeing off at either or both of the golf courses is a breeze. It's only later that the challenges become apparent: The Jack Nicklaus-designed Challenge at Manele is built on lava outcrops and uses the Pacific Ocean as a water hazard on three holes, while the Greg Norman-designed Experience at Koele has mountain terrain and ocean views that will spoil the best-planned drive.

Hawaii/Facilities Update

Oahu

• The Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio has completed a $65 million renovation of all 601 rooms, 17,000 square feet of meeting space, and public areas. Rooms are fitted with a 42-inch plasma HDTV multimedia monitor for use with a laptop computer, game station console, videocamera, or MP3 player. The renovation also added the MAC 24/7 restaurant, which serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks around the clock and provides 24-hour room service so guests can eat what they want, whenever they arrive.

• Considering inviting delegates' families? ResortQuest Hawaii (formerly Aston Hotels & Resorts) manages 26 hotels and all-suite condominium resorts (5,000 rooms) on Oahu (Waikiki and Honolulu), Maui (Kaanapali and Kihei), Kauai (Waimea, Poipu, Kapaa, and Hanalei), and the Big Island of Hawaii (Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa). Condominiums are likely to offer more space per person than hotel rooms for family groups, and ResortQuest lets kids stay, play, and eat for free in their resorts.

• Waikiki's pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel will temporarily shut down June 1. The 528-room hotel will undergo a seven-month, $110 million restoration, which includes an $85 million upgrade to public areas and meeting space and a $25 million room renovation. The hotel is planning a soft opening in late 2008 and a grand reopening in early 2009.

• The 817-room Hale Koa Hotel is in the midst of its first renovation since opening in 1975. The $50 million project includes improvements to 420 guest rooms, the main lobby, and primary kitchen. All renovations are slated to be completed by March 2009.

• The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa completed a $15 million restoration of the five-acre Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon adjacent to its Rainbow Tower. The lagoon has a new filtration system, a replenished beach, and new landscaping that opened to the public in late November, providing new beachfront and swim options.

• The Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber, a landmark hotel, has undergone an extensive makeover of its 495 rooms, featuring sumptuous linens, marble baths, and flat-screen televisions. Renovations to the lobby and Hibiscus Café restaurant will begin this year.

• The Kahala Hotel & Resort on Oahu is undergoing a $30 million upgrade of all rooms and meeting space and adding a new spa, which is anticipated to be complete in 2009.

• The final phase of a $6 million upgrade of the reflagged Ohana Honolulu Airport Hotel was completed in July 2007. In addition to the room makeovers, the hotel now offers the Airport Connection, a group of amenities that includes free (for the first 15 minutes) local and long-distance telephone calls to the U.S. mainland and Canada, free Internet access, local newspaper, and free airport shuttle. The hotel has 2,400 square feet of meeting and function space.

• The Aqua Coconut Plaza in Waikiki closed for renovations in February to accelerate work on upgrades and refurbishment. The 81-room hotel will re-open June 1 as the Coconut Waikiki Hotel.

Big Island

• Prince Resorts' Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Big Island will reopen its golf course in November and its completely redone rooms and 58,000 square feet of meeting space in December after $150 million in renovations. Room layouts will be reconfigured, and room count will be reduced from 310 to 258. The hotel will also introduce retail shops and a spa and fitness center. The hotel closed after damage from the October 2006 earthquake that struck Maui and the Big Island.

• Renovation begins this spring on the historic King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel, to the tune of $25 million in planned work on the 460-room hotel in Kailua-Kona. InvestWestFinancial/Pacifica has purchased the oceanfront hotel. It has two six-story towers, restaurants, function space, and 5,200 square feet of meeting space.

• All 310 guest rooms at the Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort are getting a facelift. A new benefit for guests will be free high-speed Internet access. Keauhou Beach offers meeting facilities, restaurants, salon and spa services, tennis courts, pool, shopping, ancient historical sites, and Hawaiian cultural programs.

Maui

• The Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa has added a feature sure to please attendees. Ho'olei at Grand Wailea shares all the resort's amenities and offers three-bedroom, two-story town homes with 3.5 baths, kitchens, private lanai, and even interior elevators. The Grand Wailea has 22 banquet, meeting, and boardrooms and the 28,000-square-foot Haleakala Ballroom.

• On Maui's southern coast, the Four Seasons Resort Maui features Wolfgang Puck's Spago Maui and DUO Steak and Seafood, a new restaurant in Maui. A new Hawaiian art collection graces the guest rooms and public areas, while three outdoor Hawaiian “hale” were recently added to the spa.

• The Outrigger Aina Nalu on Maui has completed a two-year, $30 million redevelopment. The Lahaina condominium resort's 188 two-story units have been refurbished and now have high-speed Internet, air conditioning, flat-screen televisions, and a new pool pavilion.

• The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua recently reopened after a $160 million transformation. The 445 remodeled guest rooms and suites feature all-new furnishings. The Ritz-Carlton Spa will open in May with 15 treatment rooms, including two outdoor couples' cabanas and steam rooms, saunas, and hot tubs.

• Marriott's Maui Ocean Club has added the two- and three-bedroom Lahaina Villas to its inventory. The addition is part of an ongoing build-out of the timeshare resort. The beachfront property features a full range of resort facilities, including a 3.5-acre super-pool, 14,000 square feet of conference space in 10 meeting rooms, restaurants, and shops.

Kauai

• The new Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas on Kauai's north shore above Annie beach is anticipated to open this month. The resort has 179 two-bedroom villas, four pools, three whirlpools, a two-story clubhouse with meeting space, a restaurant, and a general store.

• Princeville Resort will close for seven months starting in September for a $40 million renovation. When it reopens in April 2009, the 252-room hotel will be renamed the St. Regis Resort, Princeville. It has 9,300 square feet of meeting space and two restaurants.

• The Outrigger Enterprises Group will manage the 323-unit Koloa Landing at Pious Beach, a new 24-acre, luxury resort condominium project under construction on the southern tip of Kauai. Construction of the $285 million project is under way, with completion of the first phase anticipated in 2009.

• Kola Kea, a 121-room luxury hotel on Kauai with restaurant and spa, is expected to open in July on the site of the old Pious Beach Hotel — nearly 17 years after Hurricane Inkii destroyed the latter.

Trip Tips

• Convention Television broadcast from the Hawai‘i Convention Center can make stars of your headliners by putting them on television in every delegate's hotel room. Of course, it can be used to announce program changes, share information among attendees, and maybe pay for itself by carrying messages from vendors and sponsors.

• If your group has already seen Waikiki and you want to avoid the sticker shock of Maui, the Big Island may be your next destination. Most direct flights to Kona leave from Los Angeles and San Francisco — as well as Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, and Chicago.

Ask the CVB

Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau
(888) 424-2924
www.meethawaii.com
Total Hotel Tax: 11.42%

Oahu Visitors Bureau
(808) 524-0722
www.oahu@hvcb.org

Big Island Convention & Visitors Bureau
(808) 886-1655
www.bigisland@hvcb.org

Kauai Visitors Bureau
(808) 245-3971
www.kauaidiscovery.com

Maui CVB
(888) 918-8444
www.visitmaui.com
www.mauimeetings.net

Special Venues

• The 42,000-square-foot ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center on the Big island opened in 2006 and has quickly become Hilo's “hot spot” for special events. Sky Garden Restaurant has ceiling-to-floor glass walls and room for 90 people. It's a popular spot for dinners and events during the evenings and is available for rental on Mondays, when the center is closed. Moanahoku Hall has 2,400 square feet of space for meetings, seminars, sit-down dinners, and receptions. Maximum capacity is 200 guests. A large projection screen, AV, and sound are included. A smaller classroom can seat 40 theater-style and is complete with laptop hookups, PowerPoint, and Wi-Fi. (808) 969-9704; www.imiloahawaii.org

• The 11-room Hotel Lanai, a piece of old Hawaii, reopened this past October. The hotel and an adjacent cottage were built for pineapple pioneer James D. Dole, who used the tiny yellow hotel with white trim as a retreat for company executives. A new feature is the Lanai City Grille, under the direction of Maui celebrity chef Bev Gannon. The restaurant serves Gannon's own blend of Pacific Fusion and is available for private parties or to cater off-site events. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 9 p.m. (808) 565-7211; www.hotellanai.com

• In the expansively redone Aloha Tower Marketplace on Honolulu Harbor, the Hong Kong Harbor View Seafood Restaurant serves gourmet Chinese seafood dinners and daily dim sum lunches. The VIP room seats 46 and overlooks the harbor. A banquet room seats 80 people; the restaurant can entertain up to 250 with a buyout. Afterward, just try to corral all the guests who want to look around this glamorous market of Hawaiian gifts, clothing, and furnishings. The restaurant also caters private parties on Oahu. (808) 566-9989; www.shanghaibistrohawaii.com/hkMenu.html

• What will it be, coffee or chocolates? Halfway between Hilo and Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, Hilo Coffee Mill welcomes groups to watch the roasting and packaging of gourmet Hawaiian coffees, teas, and chocolates at its 24-acre farm. When the aromas overwhelm your guests, repair to the tasting bar to sample the treats, or simply take advantage of a huge lanai where you can all sit and watch the coffee grow. (866) 982-5551; www.hilocoffeemill.com