Posted on: Saturday, November 2, 2002
Aston hotel celebrates its renovation
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| The newly refurbished Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel on Kalakaua Avenue boasts a "hip Hawaiiana" design with colorful red-and-yellow decor.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Aston Hotels & Resorts today officially marks the completion of the 16-month-long, $30 million renovation to its Waikiki Beach Hotel.
The renovations — the hotel chain's largest — involved all of the hotels' rooms, public and retail areas, restaurants and the hotel's exterior, and is part of a string of renovations in Waikiki as hoteliers struggle to update aging buildings and attract more visitors to O'ahu.
Recent renovations in the area include approximately $60 million for a project at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and a $27 million project at the Renaissance 'Ilikai Waikiki Hotel. Plans are advancing for Outrigger Enterprise Inc.'s $300 million Waikiki Beach Walk redevelopment project.
Aston calls its new hotel design "hip Hawaiiana." Hotel general manager Steve Townsend hopes the colorful red-and-yellow decor with bamboo, tattoo art, surfboard and tiki torch accents will draw the attention of younger visitors and more Mainlanders, as many businesses in the tourism industry search for a way to keep business flowing to the Islands in spite of a 10 percent to 20 percent drop in Japanese visitors.
"Waikiki needs color and excitement," and O'ahu needs new guests, Townsend said. He also hopes to attract longtime Hawai'i visitors who are now visiting neighbor islands instead of O'ahu. "This hotel, prior to exchanging hands, was predominantly Asian business, and we want to appeal to a much wider market," he said.
Otaka Inc., the hotel's previous owner, fell behind in its mortgage payments, and Leucadia National Corp. bought the hotel's mortgage in June 2000. Aston took over management in July 2001.
"The business had deteriorated here," Townsend said. "We wanted to totally reposition the property to get better revenue and to have a chance at being successful."
