SHERATON Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island, Fiji, underwent a total makeover while it was closed to the public after sustaining damage during last year’s Tropical Cyclone Winston.
The Mamanuca based property reopened in February this year after an almost one year long hiatus.
The resort, which now comes under the Marriott Hotels brand, was enhanced with new features that gave the property a more sophisticated look – to match Marriot properties located in urban centres..
Sheraton and Westin Resorts Fiji Complex sales and marketing director Elsa Fernicle said the resort was closed for a longer period than initially planned.
“The property back in 2015 was in very good shape before it closed,” she said.
“We were recording some very good numbers and 2016 was going to be a very strong year.
“With that being said, the property, as good as it was, wasn’t probably as amazing as it could have been.
“I think at the time the property had not reached its full potential.
“So we decided to take the opportunity of having to close for a few months and we decided to invest more money into this property.
“Back in 2014, we had spent $25 million to revamp the property and convert it into a Sheraton Hotel.
“This is exactly the amount of money that we spent again last year and this year in the enhancements.
“The hotel is still fairly new but we decided to again invest a lot of money and raise the bar that much higher.”
She said enhancements were made to the resort’s design and foodand beverage department.
“The property was great but there were some shortfalls. For instance there was a lack of food and beverage venues.
“We only had one restaurant at the time, the Flying Fish Restaurant.
“It’s a brand-off of Australia which is led by celebrity chef Peter Kuruvita. It was only one point of sell for the hotel and so it was limited.
“So we decided to add The Reef which is similar to Flying Fish and it is located by the beach.
“We also had some sun-roofing installation issues and we addressed that as well.
“The third thing was giving something that was also sophisticated. We worked with designers from Australia and we basically rethought the whole hotel and its look, the whole hotel and the experience re-evaluated and improved.
“The property has actually moved from a nice five star hotel with a nice island touch to a five star luxury hotel with a much more concentrated design.”
She explained that despite the major changes, the resort retained the island experience that Fiji was known for.
“It still has its traditional Fijian touch and feel.
“We are an island hotel and we didn’t want to look like any city hotel but we wanted to keep this island feel in a much needed sophisticated and elegant way.”
