Wailea Hotel 19 oceanfront villas for sale at Maui luxury resort AAA Five Diamond property
In Wailea, new resort concepts promised
reprinted courtesy Maui News 12/22/11
By Harry Eagar - Staff Writer, The Maui News
WAILEA - At the blessing of the Andaz Wailea Hotel on Wednesday, on the site of the long-closed Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort, Bud Pikrone, executive director of the Wailea Community Association, said the revival of the property "will definitely help" the image of the resort.
"What everybody asks," he said, "is, is the Maui Onion coming back?"
No, the poolside restaurant is not returning. The developers said their boutique hotel - the seventh in a growing brand, and the first in a resort setting - will be different from any hotel visitors have seen before. That is despite the fact that it will take over the three guest wings of the original hotel, one of Wailea's first.
For one thing, said Carlos Cabrera, senior vice president of field operations-resorts North America for Hyatt Hotels, guests will not enter a lobby, nor will they go up to a rank of bellmen and concierges.
"We have to take advantage of technology," said Michael Ward, an architect and senior vice president of development asset management for Hyatt. A staffer with a tablet computer will greet the guests, and it is supposed to feel as if they are being welcomed into the home of a friend. The staffer will guide them to their room, explaining the amenities.
More of the staff - it will not quite reach a ratio of one for each of the 255 guest rooms - will interact with customers, fewer will work in the back of the house.
That, said Cabrera, will elevate the level of service within a manageable level of employment. "We will never reach one to one," he said.
When the Wailea Hotel opened more than 40 years ago, staffing at Maui luxury resorts did approach one to one, and in its day the hotel was an AAA Five Diamond property. In the 1990s, economic stringency forced operators to cut back levels of service - Five Diamond resorts, once common, are now a rarity here - and shave employment levels.
The arc of operations is moving up again, Ward said. Guests at the Andaz will interact much more closely with the staff. Meals will be served in front of the guests, who will be encouraged to interact with the chef. Even the meeting rooms will have their own kitchens, rather than massive establishments deep in the hotel churning out hundreds of plates, one like another.
Andaz will be hiring a general manager and about half a dozen top managers early next year for an opening in the spring of 2013. Hiring for other positions will begin later in 2012.
Previous hotel experience will not enjoy a premium during the interview process, since Andaz wants its staff to do things differently. Enthusiasm and a willingness to get with the program will be more important. "We can train you," Cabrera said.
The emphasis will be on genuineness. "You can tell," he said.
Although the original guest wings will be retained, Ward said the hotel will be reoriented to take advantage of its "spectacular view." Instead of being led by the watercourses toward the ocean, like moving along a riverbank, the water features will run along the shore. Thus, the guest will look out and see a water feature and the ocean, a more intimate experience than "a sea of chaise lounges."
The guest rooms, revamped versions of the originals, also buck a recent trend toward bigger and bigger guest rooms. In the latest resorts, guest rooms are sometimes bigger than 800-square-foot ohanas. At Andaz (pronounced Ahn-dahs, a Hindu word), rooms will be around 400 square feet.
There also will be 19 shoreside villas, for sale rather than for rent, and these will be large. The design is still being firmed up, but 2,600 to 2,900 square feet is anticipated. A feng shui master is being consulted on the placement, because Hyatt and its co-venture partner, Starwood Capital, "see a tremendous opportunity in the Asian market," Cabrera said.
Ward said his marching orders from the developers were unusually simple: You have a great site; don't mess it up.
* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.
reprinted courtesy Maui News 12/22/11, original link www mauinews com/page/content.detail/id/556472/In-Wailea--new-resort-concepts-promised.html?nav=10
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