"This place holds special memories for me," said this New Hope pastor of women's ministry, moments before she delivered her Hawaiian blessing for the hotel's new Sunset Lanai. "This is a place where memories are made and smiles exchanged."

Wearing a huge and proud grin during the ceremony was Jean-Pierre Cercillieux, the hotel's general manager and executive vice president.

"This is for them," said the French native, referring to the dozen-plus lei-draped employees who attended the event this past Tuesday. "This is to honor them and to honor our ohana spirit here."

During his 25 years with The New Otani, vice president Yoshifumi Kobayashi said the bar and lounge area have never been renovated.

"Of course we're pleased," he smiled. "We've been planning this for the past two years."

With the help of interior designer Lauren Bosel, architect Jodie Okamoto of Pacific Asia Design Group and Vince Yamaguchi of Taisei Construction Corp., the hotel has transformed the once-drab and weathered lounge and turned it into a comfortable place for pupus and cocktails.

"It's contemporary with Island flair," Bosel said. "The floor is cherry PermaGrain and we had Warisan (an Indonesian company) design the furniture, which features tables with in-laid UltraGlass."

The only structural change to the area is a new soffit (the underside of a drop ceiling), which was painted with faux clouds by Suzette Duvall-Nied.

"She did a great job," said Okamoto, whose firm collaborated with the Japan-based architectural company, Studio M, to meet Hawaii building codes and standards. "It has certainly opened up and made the area appear brighter."

Standing behind the new trendy nickelbrush-finished bar, Judito Versoza was all smiles.

"That old bar was an antique," quipped Versoza, while concocting the hotel's signature mai tai. "It's a lot more comfortable now and clean up of any spillage is one easy swipe of a cloth."

To coincide with this new renovation, executive chef Rene Caba was asked to come up with a new list of pupus, which is available every day from 4 to 9 p.m.

Judito Versoza tops off his mai tai with Curacao and Orgeat syrup.

He also developed more locally-influenced dishes, such as a tortilla roll salad ($13), charbroiled skewers ($9) and "Da Kahuna" nachos ($9).

Monthly drink specials will be featured, as well as a wide variety of "Tropical" drinks, which includes "The Honolulu," a drink developed by The New Otani's sister hotel in Tokyo.