Romer Waikiki Is a Hotel, a Hangout, and a Guidebook in One
26.02.2024 - 20:05
/ matadornetwork.com
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The morning after I checked into the Romer Waikīkī at The Ambassador I had breakfast with the mayor. I met Ramona Sidlo, the hotel’s Mayor of the Block, at the Ambassador Neighborhood Cafe, an open-air courtyard attached to the lobby where guests can have breakfast or dinner. We ordered croissant sandwiches with Portuguese sausage, one of many culinary imports that’s become an indelible part of Hawai’i’s multicultural cuisine. She asked about my plans for the day, and I mentioned an interest in venturing to O’ahu’s North Shore.
Photo: Alex Bresler
Sidlo pulled out her phone and texted her friend, Justin, who works for a service called GoVibe that operates as a door-to-door luxury car rental agency. Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up to the hotel’s front entrance in a shiny silver BMW. My partner, Peter, filled out a quick app-based rental agreement, Justin handed us the keys, and like that, we were on our way.
Mayor Ramona has a lot of “friends.” That’s the term Sidlo, whose title at a more conventional hotel might read Experiential Marketing Manager, uses to describe the “mom-and-pop” businesses that Romer Waikīkī partners with to provide guests with experiences while benefiting the community.
GoVibe is one example. Guests can arrange rentals from the O’ahu-based car service through a QR code that’s printed on the back of every room key. The QR code also functions as a guidebook, offering suggestions for what to do and eat in the area. The Waikīkī Brewing Company is another friend of the hotel. With a storefront down the street from Romer Waikīkī, the brewing company provides the complimentary beer that’s doled out in the lobby every day around 4 PM, strategically coinciding with check-in.
Photo: Alex Bresler
More examples can be found in the hotel’s gift shop, which, at a glance, looks more like an art piece. Only upon close inspection does the display case in the lobby announce that the products behind the glass are available for purchase. Items range from bathing suits, to postcards, to body oils, to gilded metal bottle openers in the shape of the shaka, or Hawai’i’s hang loose symbol. According to Sidlo, the hotel has plans to build out its gift shop, if only as a way to spotlight even more local friends.
Some of the hotel’s partnerships are quieter, such as the park across the street that Romer Waikīkī adopted to give back to the neighborhood. Neighborhood values run deep at the hotel. It’s right there in the official name: Romer Waikīkī at The Ambassador. The Ambassador was an iconic if rundown