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Starwood Insider - Candice Kraughto - A Bachelor's Last Hurrah
Monday May 5, 2008
Candice Kraughto is the director of public relations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii, and thelobby.com's expert on the region.
Lt. Andrew Baldwin, ABC’s Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman recently chose to spend his last nights in Hawaii at The Royal Hawaiian. The 31 year-old doctor and world-class tri-athlete gained national famed staring in the tenth season of the show in 2007. Andy came to Hawaii in July 2005 and was assigned as a member of the Navy Medical Corps to serve as Diving Medical Officer for Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit One in Pearl Harbor.
During the season finale of the tenth season of The Bachelor in May 2007, ABC filmed Andy at Kaua‘i’s luxurious Princeville Resort on his dream dates. He was named the best bachelor on a 2008 special episode of The Bachelor recently titled ‘Where Are They Now?’ The doctor emailed me asking if he could stay at the iconic “Pink Palace of the Pacific” one last time because he was bringing someone special. Who could that be?
How fitting that Andy would choose The Royal Hawaiian for rest and relaxation before shipping off to his new home in Washington D.C. to assume a new post as an advocate for Navy medicine. After Pearl Harbor was bombed in December 1941, The Royal Hawaiian hotel was closed to the public and leased exclusively to the U.S. Navy as a place for rest and relaxation for the troops. When WWII ended in 1945, The Royal Hawaiian closed for an extensive two-year renovation, re-opening in 1947.
This legendary gem in Waikiki will close again this June for a 7-month renovation. Inspired by the world’s most magical era, The Royal Hawaiian opened on February 1, 1927 - a destination for luxury and romance for numerous celebrities, heads of state and well-heeled travelers. Newlyweds Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio stayed at The Royal (probably in the same Kamehameha Suite as Andy) in 1954 on their way to Asia for their honeymoon. Waikiki will experience a return to glory and grandeur when The Royal Hawaiian reopens in December 2008 as part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection resorts.
The Bachelor hosted a small, civilized party in his hotel suite a couple of days before he left Hawaii. My friend Lisa at The Royal Hawaiian’s porte cochere bell desk said he gave her a hug, a photo and said he was sad to leave the islands. He told her that he hopes to return to The Royal Hawaiian with his grandfather who still remembers the rose-colored hotel in Waikiki. Aloha ‘oe Andy and a hui hou! Till we meet again, we in Hawaii send a fond farewell and look forward to welcoming you back again soon!
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