If you walked into the Pearl Hotel in Waikīkī in 2019, you’d see a fairly typical mid-century hotel with questionable architecture, lacking amenities and in need of major upgrades throughout. But that’s not what my team and I saw. We saw an underutilized asset in an ideal location with the potential to become a truly special, high-design oasis. That vision became what is today Romer House Waikīkī-a completely reconfigured space complete with an elevated pool oasis and an expansive lobby restaurant.
It takes a unique (and rare) combination of creative vision, technical know-how, appetite for risk and buckle-down grit to see and unlock the value hidden in older hotel properties-but our team at Highgate specializes in doing just that. We’ve recently completed several transformative projects that turned existing properties into completely unrecognizable assets with high-value amenities like a piano bar or a rooftop restaurant.
Sometimes unlocking value is as easy as modernizing guest rooms; other times, it means completely reconfiguring a 60 year old property. But, as I remind my team regularly, successful and on-time execution comes down to the five P’s: Proper planning prevents poor performance. Beyond that, don’t be afraid of big, bold ideas. If you have the right team with the right blend of creativity, technical knowledge and appetite for risk, you just might pull off the seemingly impossible.
Romer House Waikiki Pool — Photo by Highgate Hotels, L.P.
Romer House Waikīkī and The Power of“What If?”
Highgate’s in-house design and construction firm, LUCID, began work on Romer House Waikīkī in 2019. We completed model rooms in March 2020, just as the world was shutting down due to Covid 19-which meant a temporary pause in our grand renovation plans. We restarted our planning efforts in early 2022. We knew that realizing our ambitious plans would mean taking on a considerable amount of risk. But we were confident in our vision and our ability to deliver on that vision: Creating O’ahu’s first adults-only hotel in a way that honored both the area’s artistic traditions and travelers’ appetite for world-class design and amenities.
We also knew the location would present unique challenges, including zoning laws that restrict adding to, or construction of new hotels. My own experience-24 years living, working and renovating hotels in Hawaii-was invaluable in navigating everything from permitting processes to honoring this state’s unique culture and sense of place. Even the most experienced designers and contractors will run into headwinds and surprises that are unique to this special place. Luckily, I already had relevant experience-not to mention a robust network of contractors and consultants to partner with. This helped my team and me ask the right questions at the beginning of our design process and make sure we were adhering to local rules and regulations before committing serious time and money to this project.
At the outset, our biggest challenge was a suboptimal layout: Half the hotel rooms faced an exterior service corridor, which meant minimal privacy and natural light and difficulty selling these rooms to guests.
We began the design process by asking ourselves “What if?” In this stage of the process-which I call Day Zero-there are no bad ideas and creating a safe space for ideas to bubble up is crucial. This phase is for collaboration and radical ideation, when a cross-section of creative minds come to the table without ego or limits. We start with big questions in order to push our creative and technical skills as far as we can. The first question we asked ourselves: What if we could eliminate that unsightly outdoor corridor? Of course, guests and staff still need to walk from one part of the hotel to another, so we kept thinking. And we kept asking. What if we could move the corridor to the inside of the building and create an interior corridor? What if we could find a way to rebuild all the suites into more marketable hotel units? What if we could invite the outdoors in? What if this problem was actually an opportunity and we could add hotel rooms?
The answer to our questions wasn’t simple-in fact, our answer consisted of several solutions woven together. We cut a line in the middle of the property in order to relocate the exterior corridor into an interior hallway. Doing so involved the installation of new plumbing and mechanical risers throughout the building and the reconfiguration and rebuilding of every single hotel room on one side of the property. We turned those less-desirable, privacy-lacking rooms into spacious units, each with a private balcony where the corridor used to be. In the process, we were able to improve and expand existing rooms and add 47 new keys to the inventory, which means the property went from 132 rooms-half of which were difficult to sell-to 179 gorgeous, spacious, guest-centric rooms.
But, we asked, what if we could take this project even further? What if we could build an entirely new amenity and transform the property into a true urban oasis? As part of the renovation, we were able to build a new pool deck above an existing surface parking area. In order to accomplish this, we had to structurally modify the building, eliminate one hotel room on the second level and cut out a section of floor in order to create a new grand staircase leading to the pool deck. The property now has a grand staircase with beautiful artwork and a glamorous new pool deck complete with lush native landscaping, a full-service bar and a custom mural by local artist Cory Kamehanaokalā Holt Taum.
As part of the renovation we also introduced a Table One Izakaya Restaurant (855 Aloha), an inventive Hawaiian take on a classic Japanese izakaya. Throughout the property is an inspiring collection of local art offset by natural elements like a “living ceiling” dripping with native plants. Bold design choices like a custom lava rock wall are softened by a soothing blend of woven textiles, rounded wood and matte black and midnight blues. The best part? We were able to deliver all of this within the aggressive eight month construction schedule we’d laid out for ourselves.
In short, we were able to see something in this asset that others could not, and we were bullish in our ability to realize our vision despite the extra work and risks involved. But that’s less than half the story. Not only could we see the vision; we also were able to develop a plan and execute on that vision in a way that respected the existing property and the community around it. It was a high-risk and technically difficult plan, but we had the skill, talent and tenacity to see it through.
But probably the part that makes me most proud: Romer House Waikīkī was finished on time and without exceeding our budget. When Romer House Waikīkī opened at the beginning of this summer, there were no temporary fixes or “coming soon” signs. The project is an incredible example of our ability to unlock hidden value in existing real estate. Most hotel groups would look at that existing property and plan a soft-goods upgrade without daring to change the entire layout and character of the place. In truth, there were times when we questioned our ambitious plans, but we believed that by surrounding ourselves with the best talent available, we could pull it off. I tell my team this project is a master class in “the five Ps.”
Kimpton Hotel Theta Lobby — Photo by Highgate Hotels, L.P.
Kimpton Hotel Theta: Introducing An Urban Respite
Nearly 5,000 miles away sits another Highgate-led transformation: Kimpton Hotel Theta on New York City’s Eighth Avenue. In 2022, we embarked on an ambitious plan to transform a Hilton Garden Inn into a zen respite brimming with style and authenticity.
On the surface, this project is different from Romer House Waikīkī in nearly every way. Its lobby is sleek and modern, its location is adjacent to bustling Times Square and its vibe is urban zen garden meets cozy-luxe residence. But Hotel Theta’s renovation required that same blend of grit and creativity, and the result similarly illustrates our team’s ability to maximize every inch of an existing property. The result is a true oasis in the midst of Midtown Manhattan-down to the hotel’s new name, inspired by the Theta brain waves that are connected to creativity, meditation and focus.
Re-imagining the property’s function-over-form lobby meant introducing a blend of communal seating and cozy nooks filled with art, books and botanical touches. Sturdy concrete columns were softened into curved archways, to evoke calmness and relaxation; while luxe materials like porcelain floors elevate the communal space. We introduced a mix of plaster and warm wood tones to give the space a rich residential feel. The renovation also introduced a new lobby cafe complete with a “coffee window” for take-away orders.
The hotel’s 364 spacious rooms were stripped back to the drywall and re-emerged with a soothing color palette and a mix of wood and stone finishes to complement the common areas. We converted most of the existing bathtubs to generously sized, glass-enclosed walk-in showers. Upstairs, guests can be swept away by Bar Sprezzatura, a rooftop restaurant in partnership with TableOne Hospitality and inspired by the relaxed elegance of the Italian Riviera.
Winning a Hospitality Design Award for the project was simply validation of what we already knew: Our team excels at creative reuse and maximizing value of existing hospitality spaces.
So and So’s Piano Bar — Photo by Highgate Hotels, L.P.
Romer Hell’s Kitchen: From Cafeteria To Piano Bar
Another creative reuse project sits just down the street from Kimpton Hotel Theta: Romer Hell’s Kitchen, a former Hampton Inn that our team transformed into a bohemian boutique anchored in local culture. From the lobby fireplace to the classic black-and-white tiled guest bathrooms, Romer Hell’s Kitchen is brimming with old-school creative charm.
The once-bland lobby is now home to the Corner Store, a platform for local small business owners, artisans and entrepreneurs without brick and mortar stores. Earlier this summer the hotel unveiled the most ambitious part of Highgate’s renovation: an intimate piano bar born out of a former breakfast cafeteria.
It’s hard to imagine the piano bar, called So and So’s, existing anywhere near a Hampton Inn. With deep saturated colors, candlelit tables and a beautiful lacquered piano, So and So’s brings an impeccable speakeasy vibe to the lobby of Romer Hell’s Kitchen. Getting to this end product was a design feat that included starting over with all the mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, demolishing the existing space in its entirety and transforming a bright lit and modestly designed space with lots of hard surfaces into a bespoke, highly tailored, moody speakeasy with incredible lighting design.
Each of these projects illustrates our talented team’s nuanced skill set and way-out-of-the-box thinking. These were incredibly challenging transformations, but with great risk comes great reward. And that’s the sweet spot where Highgate excels: at the intersection of creative vision, bold ideas and technical skill necessary to bring projects to fruition successfully.
Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from http://www.hotelexecutive.com/.
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