BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hotel developer looks at Islands
Advertiser Staff
Setai West, a West Coast hotel developer, said it is in talks to develop one of its luxury hotels in Hawai'i.
The company said new locations for projects include Mexico City and Hawai'i.
"Since the beginning of the year we have been in discussions to develop locations in Mexico City and Hawai'i," said Steve Rebeil, Setai West chief executive officer, in a press statement. The company announced the possible developments as it gave an update on its Setai San Diego development, a 23-story luxury hotel to open in the first half of 2008.
HAWAI'I 2ND AMONG STARWOOD SITES
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the No. 3 U.S. hotel company, reported Hawai'i accounted for 8 percent of its U.S. earnings in 2007. That ranked the state as the second-biggest domestic market for Starwood. New York was first with 15.2 percent of domestic earnings.
Starwood also listed two Hawai'i hotels as being among its top 40 owned, leased and consolidated joint-venture properties as it reported year-end results.
The hotels included on the list were the 759-room Westin Maui Resort & Spa and the 394-room Sheraton Kauai Resort. Starwood said the top 40 hotels represent about 90 percent of its owned and consolidated joint venture earnings before depreciation.
Starwood's brands include Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Le Meridien, W and Four Points.
Starwood also operates vacation ownership properties and last week reported its Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort North is nearing a sellout of units.
MAUI FOUR SEASONS GETS 5 STARS
The Four Seasons Resort Maui is again the only hotel in Hawai'i to earn a five-star rating in the Mobil Travel Guide Awards.
The ratings released last week show four-star ratings were awarded to six hotels in Hawai'i, or two more than in 2007.
The four-star properties included Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Halekulani, The Kahala Hotel and Resort, and Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, with the new additions to the list being the Four Seasons Resort Lana'i and its sister Lana'i property, The Lodge at Koele.
No restaurants in the state made the prestigious five-star list, while five restaurants were awarded four stars.
These included Chef Mavro, Honolulu; Gerard's, Lahaina; La Mer, Honolulu; Spago, Wailea and The Dining Room, Lana'i.
Mobil also gave four-stars to three spas in Hawai'i: The Hualalai Sports Club and Spa, the Spa Grande at the Grand Wailea Resort and SpaHalekulani.
HILTON OFFERS SPECIAL TRAVEL PACKAGE
The Hilton Hawaiian Village will again be included in a Hilton Hotel's Food Network Travel Package program.
Hilton and the Food Network collaborated last year to offer the program, which features a regionally-inspired culinary treat delivered to guest rooms upon arrival and a travel guide filled with destinations as seen on the Food Network. Honolulu is one of 18 cities where the special travel package is being offered by Hilton.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village yesterday closed its Golden Dragon restaurant, a favorite for gourmet Chinese food for decades. The restaurant was famous for its cold ginger chicken and beggar's chicken, the latter created by original chef Dai Hoy Chang, requiring the diner or the server to hammer the baked entree with a mallet before serving and eating.
