Sheraton Keauhou nudges
‘sleeping giant’ of Kona
KAILUA-KONA >> When the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa opens in October, it will be one of the largest hotels along the Kona Coast and will add more than 400 new jobs to the west side of the Big Island.
Charldon J. Thomas, the hotel's general manager, and Revell Newton, sales and marketing director, told members of Destination Kona Coast at a luncheon yesterday that the Kona Coast has long been regarded as the "sleeping giant" of Hawaii's visitor market.
Their mission is to help grow the destination, they said.
Although Sheraton kept the original footprint of the previous hotel -- the old Kona Surf and Convention Center -- it embarked on a "knock down, drag out renovation," Newton said, upgrading many of the facilities and the 525 guest rooms.
Beginning with a new lobby with a Polynesian decor that overlooks Keauhou Bay, the resort will feature full spa treatments, convention and event facilities and the longest water slide in the state. The 200-foot slide will empty into a pool lined with sand.
In addition to several restaurants, a children's activity room and a wedding chapel, the resort will offer a 10,000-square-foot convention center and 3,000 square feet of meeting rooms.
Another highlight will be nightly viewing of manta rays feeding off the coast.
Guests will be able to watch the wild manta rays, which swim in close to feed on plankton attracted by spotlights. Guests will also be able to snorkel or dive at the site.
Jim Wing, a marine biologist, will give a 30-minute informational talk, while a specially developed underwater camera system will transmit live pictures to the resort's televisions. The pictures also will be projected onto the side of the building.
The management plans a job fair this summer and expects to hire between 400 and 450 local residents. The Starwood Hawaii Hotels & Resorts property will offer kamaaina rates for Hawaii residents.
The Kona Surf and Convention Center, on 22 acres owned by Kamehameha Investment Corp., closed in June 2000 and has remained empty since.