LIHU‘E — Reports of slumping hotel occupancy rates around the island are circulating, but individual resorts continue to decline to share hard figures. Even though the collective occupancy rate for Kaua‘i hotels slipped to less than 50 percent in November
LIHU‘E — Reports of slumping hotel occupancy rates around the island are circulating, but individual resorts continue to decline to share hard figures.
Even though the collective occupancy rate for Kaua‘i hotels slipped to less than 50 percent in November — according to the most recent statistics from Hospitality Advisors LLC and Smith Travel Research — the St. Regis Princeville Resort had a “very busy holiday season,” said General Manager Milton Sgarbi.
The North Shore resort reached “close to peak occupancy,” he said when asked to confirm whether current rates were hovering around 15 to 20 percent as rumored.
And although hours of the resort’s Halele‘a Spa were recently reduced, it was because St. Regis had “to fine-tune some aspects of hotel operations,” Sgarbi said.
Even when the hotel was “almost completely sold out,” the spa had “little or no traffic” from 8 to 9 a.m. and from 7 to 8 p.m., so its hours were adjusted, he said.
Employees have not been affected by reduced hours at the resort, Sgarbi said. Furthermore, the resort has increased from the 296 employees which were re-hired in October to 419 in December.
There are already “positive indicators for February,” Sgarbi said in reference to reservations. “Bookings are coming in very last minute, but steady.”
Aston Kaua‘i Beach at Makaiwa’s new General Manager Ike Cockett agreed with regards to last minute bookings.
“The booking window is so close in,” he said Wednesday. People used to book three to four months in advance whereas now they are making reservations three to four weeks ahead of their scheduled arrival.
“As hotels, air seats and rent-a-cars have more inventory, people are waiting for the last minute to see what the best deals are,” he said Wednesday, offering a likely explanation.
As far as hotel occupancy is concerned, Cockett could only say February and March seem to have “very positive trends.”
“It’s looking better than last year,” he said.
Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort Public Relations Manager Diann Hartman also could not relay exact figures for occupancy, but said “business is looking great.”
“The Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i finished January better than expected and February and March are following suit as well,” she said Wednesday after chatting with the resort’s General Manager Doug Sears.
The South Shore resort will be undergoing a multi-million-dollar guestroom renovation beginning April 2010. As a result of the “concurrent closure of Po‘ipu Bay Golf Course for greens renovations” and other “improvement projects” taking place in the kitchen and bathrooms of the clubhouse, the decision to “temporarily close Po‘ipu Bay Clubhouse and Yum Cha restaurant” was made, Hartman said.
“With the renovations and the inherent decreased number of guests in 2010, we had to make the difficult decision to temporarily close the restaurant for this period of time,” she said in a written statement via e-mail. “The employees of the restaurant will be temporarily laid off beginning April 1.”
Twenty-five individuals will reportedly be affected, but will “remain Hyatt employees.”
“We look forward to bringing back these employees at the end of the year when we reopen with our beautiful, improved golf course facilities,” Hartman said.
“We are clearly in the our shoulder period, which happens this time every year,” said Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sue Kanoho. “I believe that our (visitor) numbers are reflecting the global impact of where the economy is right now.”
December 2009 figures are expected to be released next week.
