Design is one of the most important facets of the hospitality experience. It serves as the backdrop for hotel brands to provide exceptional service, amazing amenities, and other high-quality offerings.
Even more importantly, design helps tell a story about the brand across all five senses – taking cues from a brand’s unique history, layering in cultural nuances and evoking a specific atmosphere. From a grand exterior and lobby to rooms with a view to bustling on-property restaurants, design can speak volumes about what guests can expect from their stay.
As demand for travel continues to grow, consumers are looking for thoughtful designs that amplify their travel experience – and effortlessly capture the ever-evolving concept of modern luxury.
Now more than ever, design must connect travelers with a brand, a place and a community they may not be familiar with or have ever experienced before. Most importantly, health and safety measures need to remain central to the hotel experience and design. Today, hotels are working hard to strike the right balance.
At Outrigger Hospitality Group, we have always embraced our culture and aim to bring it to life in everything that we do. Like the ancient voyagers who gave us our name, we were born with a passion for discovery. Polynesian navigators boldly traveled vast, uncharted distances, driven by an unlimited desire to explore the world beyond the horizon. It was a world they greeted with open arms and, as a brand, we follow their example. From hotel design to guest experience, we embody this same relentless curiosity, always finding inspiration from our roots while we keep an eye on the future.
Most recently, Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort has undergone an $80 million transformation where Hawai’ian culture and barefoot luxury fuse together at our flagship beachfront retreat. During every step of this process, we have worked closely with health experts, top designers, and Hawai’ian natives to pay homage to our rich Hawai’ian roots.
Keep Storytelling at the Heart of Design
Every culture, every place, has stories to tell. Stories preserve culture and pass on special knowledge from one generation to another, powerfully informing all aspects of our lives. For Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, we worked with award winning architect firm, Hart Howerton, to create an extraordinary space where the hotel design merges the unique splendor of Hawai’i’s past with today’s contemporary comforts. As part of the unique design, Hart Howerton Partner, David Rau stated, “Our design purposefully highlights Outrigger’s core commitment to authentic Polynesian culture, set against the backdrop of the resort’s streamlined, early-modern high-rise design, to create an artful and contemporary environment where each end of its history is highlighted by the other.”
With the spirit of aloha at the forefront of this renovation, “our inspiration for the design was rooted in the local history and culture of Waikiki,” said Rau. From the impressive canoe-hale arrival experience lit by traditional fishing-basket lanterns to the artfully appointed accommodations, the resort design emulates an elegant Hawai’i beach house, warmly welcoming guests home.
Outrigger’s decades-long connection to the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS), as well as the Friends of Hōk?le’a and Hawaiiloa is highlighted in the lobby with a 30-foot mural depicting a double-hulled canoe, painted by PVS co-founder and beloved Hawai’ian historian, Herb K?ne. His painting of Hōk?le’a, the canoe that inspired millions when it sailed around the world using only signs from nature – such as the ocean currents, wind and stars – also hangs proudly in all guestrooms. The print is part of a thoughtfully curated gallery wall of museum-caliber photos and illustrations depicting ocean navigation and Hawai’ian heritage.
Polynesian Voyaging Society artwork hung in all Outrigger’s guest rooms.
As we continue our storytelling throughout our three distinct accommodation options: the Ocean Tower, The Pacific Tower, and Diamond Head Tower, it was important to us as a brand to encourage harmony throughout. To promote a sense of family and togetherness, each tower is connected through the “Ae Kai,” which translates to “where the water meets the land.” The distinctive footpath serves “as a meeting place of cultures, ideas, cuisines, craft, and history,” Rau shared. As part of the design, this large, open thruway leads from the entry to the beach, so guests can see the ocean from the moment they arrive – no matter where they may be staying on property.
Ae Kai/Pool
Amplify Design with Local Culture
Local culture can also be a huge influence on hotel design as a way to authentically connect travelers with a new place. From the historical art of surfing to the spirit of aloha, Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort offers guests sophisticated amenities with a blend of Hawai’i culture. With input from Hawai’ian elders, Outrigger’s transmission is a leader in providing guests an authentic experience when on property. The renovation infuses modern elements with historical values that are seen throughout a guest’s stay.
Sophisticated property enhancements include upscale residential-style rooms and suites, chic poolside experiences alongside a fully re-imagined Kani Ka Pila Grille and stage – the home of Hawai’ian music. Slack-key legend Cyril Pahinui bestowed the venue’s name, which means “let’s play music” and evokes the unfettered joys of backyard jam sessions and impromptu hula.
“When creating this one-of-a-kind design, we envisioned a bespoke guest experience focusing on indigenous forms and natural materials in the architecture,” said Rau. Embodying the rich culture of Hawaii has always been a key mission in our renovations and guest experiences.
The Pacific Tower’s ‘Navigator Floor’ features nearly 10,000 sq. feet of living space, including four penthouse suites, well-appointed common areas and the largest private lanai space in Waikīkī. The Navigator Floor’s four penthouse suites are named in honor of Hawai’i’s esteemed Pwo Navigators. The spacious accommodations are designed for multi-generational family getaways, epic friends’ trip, or a group of luxury seekers on a bucket-list vacation. In fact, travelers who book the Navigator Floor can opt in for an exclusive adventure package across sky, land and sea that allows guests to discover O’ahu in style with a private chauffer, helicopter and luxury yacht ride. This is a perfect example of how authentic experiences can compliment design.
Outrigger’s Grand Navigator Experience
Beyond the design of rooms, suites and common spaces, Outrigger looks to infuse all aspects of the guest experience with authentic Hawai’ian culture. Through a partnership with acclaimed culinary pioneer, Peter Merriman, Monkeypod Kitchen will serve as Outrigger Reef’s anchor culinary hotspot. A modern, casual, chef-driven concept founded on a passion for the art of the craft, Monkeypod by Merriman is the ideal beachfront culinary partner.
Under Merriman’s guidance, each item on the menu demonstrates a commitment to high-quality local fare, creative preparations and impeccable execution. The menu highlights Hawai’i’s bounty with socially conscious ingredients and distinctive parings of upmarket items with upcountry favorites
Complementing the contemporary design of the new Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, the architecture of Monkeypod Kitchen aims to evoke an island sense of place to honor and connect guests to the local community. The restaurant will partner with local artists and craftsmen and use local materials to bring the space to life and celebrate its island home.
Before a guest even peruses the menu, they will immediately be struck by the design, floor layout and decor at Monkeypod Kitchen. The construction integrates traditional Hawaiian building materials such as lava rock, ?ōhi?a, koa and breeze blocks with modern architecture and lighting design. As lava and the ocean are essential to an island’s creation, fire and water are essential elements in the Monkeypod Kitchen concept. The space is thoughtfully designed for guests to connect with each other, and the menu deliberately delivers a deeper connection to the people and places involved in the making of each dish and drink by highlighting the products of Hawai’i’s ranchers, farmers, fishers, brewers and distillers.
Monkeypod Kitchen
An Overall Focus on Wellness
In a COVID-19 world, guests are looking to book experiences and accommodations that offer a sense of safety, sustainability, and wellness. The hospitality industry must remain fluid in order to create safe experiences for their guests.
With a focus on wellness, the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort’s second phase of transformation will include the Waiola Wellness Wing, an entire area intentionally designed with an emphasis on balance, wellbeing, and internal wellness.
To keep guests safe through the ongoing pandemic, the property follows a state-of-the-art program, Outrigger’s Clean Commitment, which is an enhanced safety platform developed with Ecolab, the global leader in hospitality sanitation. Through this program, and in line with the brand’s commitment, the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort has installed cutting-edge technology and cleaning procedures.
Read the article at Hotel Executive.