TheBuzz Erika Engle

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Hawaii represented in hotel rankings and Rose Bowl float

The 2007 Gayot hotels issue is online and requires a bit of reading to find the Hawaii entries.

We don't have a brand new hotel, so Hawaii is absent from the list of Top New U.S. Hotels, but isle mentions are also missing from this year's lists of Top U.S. Hotel Restaurants, best "green" hotels, pet-welcoming hotels or U.S. and international business hotels.

On the 'Net: www.gayot.com

However, the availability of a Lotus Elise for Waikiki Parc guests is mentioned in a story about trendy hotel luxury car packages.

Hawaii naturally appears among the 39 destinations and cities Gayot singles out for research. A click-through reveals the isles' 2007 Top 10 hotels, alphabetically: three Four Seasons resorts -- Hualalai, Lanai at Manele Bay and Maui at Wailea; Halekulani; Hilton Hawaiian Village; Kahala Hotel & Resort; Kona Village Resort; Mauna Lani Resort; Princeville Resort and Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.

A new category, top bed-and-breakfasts, lists four on the Big Island, four on Kauai, one on Molokai and one on Oahu -- the Ohana Waikiki West.

You'd think with the fuss over B&Bs and vacation rentals in Kailua town, one of those might be among the best. Then again, maybe the operators would just as soon stay off Gayot's radar screen to avoid local heat.

Gayot's other Hawaii categories cover business hotels, family hotels, spa hotels and value hotels. Its romantic hotels list will be updated in February, in keeping with Gayot's editorial theme that month, said publisher Alain Gayot.

"In the past we published books," he said, such as "The Best of Hawaii," updated every other year. Now strictly on the Web, the information is constantly updated so "whatever you saw online is current. Tomorrow we may already have changed or updated it," he said.

Kaiser's "aloha" for Hawaii

Hawaii will be showcased by Kaiser Permanente in the annual Rose Parade on New Year's Day, to be seen by about 40 million viewers in the U.S.

The float, titled "Aloha Festival," marks the 50th anniversary of Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii.

Four eight-foot-tall children will be sculpted from flowers and one will paddle a canoe that will rock on waves.

Real children will be aboard too -- Kaiser spokes-kid Pete Wiggins and 10 Kaiser patients, 12 to 17 years old, including Jasmin Gerona of Honolulu, who nearly died after a blood vessel burst in her brain.

Locally, Kaiser has seen tough times with recent management restructuring and layoffs, but "the funding for this comes from our national organization," said Jan Kagehiro, director of member and marketing communications.

Kamehameha Schools' all-state marching band and hula dancers will fly to Pasadena to march in the parade, she said.

"We're envisioning a grand display ... something that will represent Hawaii very, very well," Kagehiro said.