PO‘IPU — Whalers Cove General Manager Marianne Martin said the phone exploded with phone calls following the airing of Howard’s Business Reports over the weekend.
“I’m originally from Honolulu, and there were a lot of people who saw the report,” Martin said. “They all wanted to congratulate the hotel.”
“There were only five hotels in the state that made the top hotels listing on the report by Howard Dicus,” Martin said. “And, only one hotel on the island of Kaua‘i made the list — Whalers Cove in Po‘ipu! We were No. 12 in the Small Hotel category.”
Other resort properties making the Howard’s list include the Halekulani that finished No. 7 in the Luxury Hotel category and No. 16 in the General Hotel listing. The Mauna Lani finished No. 16 in the Luxury Hotel category, the Trump Hotels finished No. 20 in the Luxury Hotel listing, and Kai Mana finished No. 23 in the General Hotel listing.
The Howard’s award comes less than two weeks following the Trip Advisor awards that named Whalers Cove to its Excellence category.
“We have been earning the Trip Advisor awards Excellent category (honor) since 2010,” Martin said. “This is only the third time we made it to the Certificate of Excellence category. This means we’re in the top 1 percent of resorts earning the Trip Advisor awards.”
The general manager said Whalers Cove never takes these awards for granted. She attests the success of the small, waterfront property to the team of about a dozen associates, some of whom have been with Whalers Cove for more than 30 years, who have been running the hotel.
“Every time we get an award, it’s an affirmation of how much we enjoy our work of taking care of the guests on the property,” Martin said. “It is a pleasure to inform the staff about the awards, and you can see the pride they have in their eyes. This is a really small resort with a really incredible, tight knit and self-motivated team.”
The general manager of the Po‘ipu property said that, beyond the staff, the guests are special, with many of them returning to Whalers Cove for decades.
“They love the island and the people of Kaua‘i,” Martin said. “We have a lot of guests who come back to participate in the Kaua‘i Marathon every year.”
She said the individual condominium owners are also amazing to work for in Po‘ipu.
“They support our small business, churches, nonprofit charities, schools and the farmers,” she said.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
