LIHU‘E — The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas extended its bar’s hours to accommodate the late filming schedule of “The Descendants,” said Lindsay Forman, the resort’s sales manager. The influx of cast and crew led to the filling of 105 rooms
LIHU‘E — The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas extended its bar’s hours to accommodate the late filming schedule of “The Descendants,” said Lindsay Forman, the resort’s sales manager.
The influx of cast and crew led to the filling of 105 rooms at the resort for around three weeks, making for a sold-out period during a normally slower period of the year, she said Tuesday.
Filming wrapped up on Kaua‘i Friday, and moved to O‘ahu for around 20 more days.
In part, it was the cast and crew’s pleasant stay at the Sheraton Waikiki, also a Starwood Resorts property, that led them to also stay at the Starwood properties on the North Shore, those being the St. Regis Princeville Resort and the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, she said.
“It’s great to have that partnership,” she said of the Starwood connection.
The book “The Descendants” mentions the North Shore and Princeville Hotel, so it made sense for cast and crew to stay at Princeville, she said.
“It really fit in perfectly here. They were very easy to work with,” said Forman.
“All understood the importance of quality guest experiences” for the 250 other guests present at the same time the cast and crew were in house, she said.
As a leisure property, the Westin does not have any meeting space, so furniture was removed from three hotel villas to accommodate the film’s production offices, she said.
Cast and crew also utilized the resort’s on-premise market, where prices for groceries and other items are similar to local grocery stores and not resort-priced, she said.
The cast and crew’s presence was an obvious boost for the resort’s food-and-beverage operations, and because of the sold-out status the hotel’s staff was at full strength, she said.
