John Freitas
At the last Advisory Board meeting we got an update on how Festive Season fared. I thought it was interesting enough that I scheduled some time with John Freitas to go over more of the details so I could share the information with all of you on the Members Blog. The following is the result of that informal interview.
So, John, you said that this was the busiest Festive Season ever. Can you tell us how many people were on property?
At its peak, we had around 2,100 people on property over the Festive Season. This is how it was broken down as an approximate average over the whole Festive period:
There were 600 adult members on property.
There were 350 adult rental guests on property.
There were 285 adult guests of members on property
There were 250 children of members, rental guests and guests of members combined on property.
The hotel had over 530 guests during Festive.
What about the restaurants?
As you know the Hualalai Resort operates the Grill, the Canoe Club, the Beach House and Ke ‘Olu. The hotel is responsible for the Beach Tree and Ulu. The average number of meals we served at our outlets over Festive was the following:
- Ke ‘Olu served approximately 70 dinners per evening.
- Beach House served approximately 160 dinners per evening.
- The Grill did very well, too, by serving approximately 180 meals per evening.
- The Canoe Club this year served approximately 40 breakfasts a day, which took some pressure off the Coffee Company (although the crepe station at the coffee company was a big hit and the Coffee Co still did record numbers).
- We also had a number of “Special Event meals/parties that were well attended: Luau, Paella Night, Prime Rib Night, Rock da Rock Party, Holiday dinner party, breakfast at the Annual Ohana Meeting and two extravaganzas on New Years Eve at the Beach House and the Beach Tree.
- The Beach Tree averaged approximately 250 dinners nightly and Ulu averaged nearly 200.
Can you elaborate on what were the sticking points, or difficulties that resulted during Festive Season?
First off, the additional cart traffic caused some safety problems as well as aesthetic issues. Parking around the spa and the Hualalai Golf Club area was over-capacity. All the carts parked on the grass as you approached the hotel took away from its attractiveness. We’re hoping to solve this issue by next Festive season.
Another cart problem are those individuals that drove their carts on the main roads. Though it doesn’t sound like an issue, it certainly could have devastating consequences if there was an accident. Again we try to emphasize that the main roads are only for cars, not carts. By main roads we mean the road you take from entering the property to the hotel (Ka’upulehu Drive) and the circle road that wraps around the resort, passing Ke ‘Olu and turns into Pakui Street. We really want everyone to use the cart paths along the two main routes. We understand that on the far north end of the property the cart path dies out, but we are currently involved in extending the cart path there and once the land plan is finalized we will be able to complete the pathway.
Another on-going problem is that of young people driving the carts. The rule is that you have to have a full drivers license to drive a golf cart. Golf carts can be extremely dangerous. In the future we may have more security dedicated to handling this problem. Also we encourage all of our members to help with this problem by reporting the names of carts they see being operated by someone who is obviously underage. Call me or the Concierge and give the time/date/name of cart/ location of the offense. We will always follow up.
There is also a problem with under-age teens trying to get alcoholic drinks at our various outlets, and it is magnified during busy times. Unfortunately we have guests and some members trying to buy drinks for their underage kids and we have to say no. Every year we ask all adults on property to abide by state law and every year it’s a problem.
Another sticking point was restaurant reservations. We keep trying to fine-tune this process. Even though we go through a lengthy procedure of taking early reservations, many issues arise as Festive begins and continues. A lot of people make duplicate reservations and then cancel at the last minute. Many also inadvertently make duplicate reservations with friends, and the upshot of both these phenomena is that we wind up with empty tables in restaurants that had been booked solid earlier that very day.
Tennis times this festive season also have been noted as a concern, resulting with many of our members (and hotel guests, rental guests and houseguests) not getting a chance to play during prime time (7am – 11am) because those times are in such high demand. In order to ameliorate this situation, we are setting up special meetings to identify viable options. Courts may still be difficult to get, but we certainly want our members to be able to play tennis during high occupancy times.
So, John, we all know to reserve restaurant, spa, golf, water activities and tennis court times on a specific date in November at 8 AM. However, many of us do not know what happens after that reservation is sent in. Can you enlighten us a little?
We have picked a specific date each year for members to call in (or email in) their preferred reservations. The first thing that happens is the concierge staff organizes all the requests and puts them in order according to the time they were received. The concierge team then begins booking the reservations giving priority to those who got their requests in as close to 8:00am on the opening date of the festive desk. Once itineraries are completed, they are sent to the members. Once reviewed, members will generally have requested revisions. The concierge team will then try to accommodate those revisions as close as possible. This process for the Members can take several weeks. Then the requests that are made by renters and/or unescorted guests are melded into the schedule. We keep in mind where members can dine and where renters can dine as well as trying to provide members high priority for the prime reservation times.
Prior to all that, and during the process, we meet often with a full Joint Operations Festive Team of up to 15 people. This team includes representatives from the the hotel and club concierge staffs as well as the following people: Florian Riedel (Resort Manager), Adam Bardetta (head of rooms at the hotel), Angelica Palladino, (head of Food and Beverage for the hotel), Stephen Clark (assistant Food and Beverage manager for the hotel), myself, both Concierge managers from the Resort and from the hotel as well as Crystal Poe-Cabatbat (Department Head of the Spa) and Russell Schoon (head of Homes and Villas).
Allocations are made at these meeting for all reservations considering many factors, such as:
What dining choices each family/individuals may have.
What are first, second and third choices?
How many prime time slots does a party have?
This process continues for the duration of the time from the opening of the festive desks through festive season. The resort staff requests slots for members and renters at Ulu and the Beach Tree, while the hotel staff requests slots at the Grill and Beach House and Spa for their hotel guests.
We try to make decisions by numbers, but to be honest; there is also an art form in establishing these allocations. I know we occasionally have a few disappointed members, member’s guests and rental guests when they first receive their itineraries. But at the end of the season, most people have been accommodated satisfactorily.
So overall, John, what grade would you give you and your staff in handling Festive Season?
Well, let me break down the score into various time frames. I think for Pre Arrival our score is a B. People were on edge and had angst over what reservations they were getting and worrying if they were going to be able to do everything they wanted to do. After they arrived they started to relax and realize they were getting to do a lot of what they wanted to do. By the time they went back to the mainland and Festive was a memory, most people (members/guests and renters) had very positive things to say about their stay at Hualalai. I always get a few messages from some people who are dissatisfied, but this year we got a whole lot of emails, texts and calls saying how much they enjoyed their stay. So, without trying to brag, I’ll give our whole team a B+ or an A- grade.
While I’m on it, I would also like to say how proud I am of our staff. Everyone worked hard and performed extremely well through the season, constantly trying to provide quality service with a smile and aloha spirit and I think they did a great job.
Thank you, John. One last thing, you didn’t mention anything about the rental issue this Festive. Did you get a lot of negative feedback from the renters or their landlords?
No, I didn’t. I did get a limited amount, however, our efforts to minimize the changes and make sure everyone had adequate notice seemed to work. The numbers of rental guests were not down and the negative responses did not come in.
Thanks again, John, in allowing me to share this info with the members. Happy New Year!
You’re very welcome; now I’m off to a meeting about the Mitsubishi Electric Tournament.
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