300FeetOut embraces the aloha spirit
November 6, 2013
written by
Greg Ciro Tornincasa
300FeetOut is both honored and thrilled to announce our newest client, the Halekulani.
Halekulani, a Hawaiian word meaning “House Befitting Heaven”, is a luxury hotel on Waikiki Beach, Honolulu. The hotel has been hosting Waikiki visitors for nearly 100 years. Today its reputation for gracious hospitality, impeccable service and magnificent cuisine is unequaled on Oahu and renowned throughout the world.
Our CEO and Art Director were on location in Hawaii last week, meeting our Content & Brand Director already hard at work conducting staff and department interviews for crafting the tone of voice and brand positioning. During our visit we toured the stunning property and its facilities, experienced their highly personalized service by a warm and welcoming staff, indulged in their award-winning luxury dining, and participated in their complimentary history tour learning more about Halekulani’s legacy and its many connections with Native Hawaiian culture. All of this was (of course) interweaved with meetings, some hard work and the opportunity to kick-off our web and marketing project face-to-face with our very hospitable and gracious new clients.
The second you set foot on property, nowhere is the Halekulani spirit more evident than with the staff. They have but one goal: to make everything about your experience at Halekulani utterly exquisite. We were welcomed with gracious Hawaiian hospitality and a level of personalized service that exceeded our expectations. After settling into our breathtaking suites, we quickly wandered over to one of Halekulani’s most talked-about landmarks, the Orchid pool. Comprised of 1.2 million pieces of imported South African glass tiles, the mosaic creates a majestic Cattleya orchid on the pool bottom. Between meetings, our IA presentation, and many staff meet-and-greets, we were lucky enough to experience all three dining experiences at the hotel. “House Without a Key” was the perfect indoor/outdoor venue for a refreshing taste of their signature Mai Tai, near a century-old Kiawe tree on the shoreline. Halekulani’s elegant oceanfront restaurant, “Orchids”, was a beautiful spot for lunch with a cool breeze. The coconut cake served at Orchids has a devoted following, and we were not about to pass up the opportunity to taste what all the buzz was about (even after a very satisfying lunch). Let’s just say 300FeetOut is now devoted! Ending our day of meetings, we suited up and joined the marketing team for a special treat at famed “La Mer”. Not just a restaurant, but a destination in and of itself, the Halekulani spirit of elegance and romance is captured beautifully at La Mer. Celebrated as Halekulani’s finest and Hawaii’s longest, consecutively ranked AAA Five Diamond Restaurant (since 1990!), the consummate dining experience is unrivaled. The internationally-acclaimed menu featured Neoclassic French cuisine expertly crafted and served amid a majestic ocean view sunset. Indigenous ingredients are uniquely blended in dishes inspired by flavors from the south of France to produce a dining experience unsurpassed anywhere in the world. A beautiful toast, to our new partnership.
Perhaps the most important take-way from our visit is that Halekulani is not simply a luxury hotel. Not just a destination. Halekulani is a place where spirituality and grace elevate service to that of a profound emotional experience. The majesty and serenity is something we’ve brought back to San Francisco, where we’ll be working diligently to replicate that spirit through our strategy and our design.