Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa has opened the Ohana Entertainment Center, a 6,000 sq ft indoor family entertainment venue developed in partnership with Family Entertainment Group.
Located close to the resort lobby, the new facility adds a substantial leisure component to the property’s existing hospitality offer. The venue includes over 100 gaming stations, with boutique bowling, virtual reality attractions, sports simulators and 60 arcade games.
For resort operators, hospitality investors and family entertainment centre suppliers, the launch highlights a growing trend in resort planning: adding year-round indoor entertainment assets that can serve leisure guests, local audiences, corporate groups and incentive travel clients from one managed environment.
The entertainment centre has been developed around the Hawaiian concept of ohana, referring to family in a broad and inclusive sense. From an operational perspective, this creates a clear identity for the venue while allowing it to serve multiple audience types, from multigenerational groups to meetings and events clients seeking informal social activity.
Indoor Leisure As A Hospitality Asset
The opening reflects the increasing importance of programmed leisure inside resort environments. Hotels in high-demand destinations are under pressure to offer stronger on-property experiences that can support dwell time, ancillary spend and group engagement beyond accommodation and dining.
Ohana Entertainment Center gives Waikiki Beach Marriott a controlled, all-weather activity space that can operate independently from beach, pool and outdoor programming. This is particularly useful for resort teams managing varied guest schedules, group arrivals, weather disruption and evening activity.
The mix of bowling, arcade games, VR and sports simulation creates a flexible entertainment model. Each format supports different guest profiles and session lengths, helping the venue manage capacity while giving operators several revenue routes through game cards, private bookings and packaged offers.
The resort has also introduced an Ohana Stay & Play Package, which includes a $100 game card and branded gifts. For commercial teams, this links entertainment spend directly to room sales and creates a bundled product that can be promoted through direct booking channels, travel partners and group sales teams.
Group Events And Corporate Use
A key B2B feature of the new venue is its suitability for groups and corporate functions. By adding an entertainment centre to the resort’s facilities, Waikiki Beach Marriott can offer an alternative to standard meeting add-ons and conventional team-building formats.
This has clear relevance for incentive travel and corporate hospitality. Competitive socialising formats are increasingly used in meetings and events because they create informal interaction, help structure networking and provide shared activity without requiring complex off-site logistics.
The venue can also support social gatherings and community events, widening its potential customer base beyond overnight resort guests. This can improve asset use during quieter periods and strengthen the property’s connection with the local market.
Strategic Value For Resort Operators
The Ohana Entertainment Center joins Waikiki Beach Marriott’s existing guest experience portfolio, which includes oceanfront dining, the Queensbreak pool deck and Paina Waikiki Luau. Together, these assets create a broader resort ecosystem that can serve leisure, group and event markets across different times of day.
For the visitor experience sector, the project shows how family entertainment centre concepts are being adapted for resort settings. By placing gaming, VR, bowling and sports simulation within a branded hospitality environment, the resort can add commercial depth while giving event planners a practical indoor option.
The partnership with Family Entertainment Group also points to the value of specialist operators in delivering leisure spaces inside established hotel properties. As resorts compete for group business and extended guest engagement, integrated entertainment venues are likely to play a growing role in destination hospitality strategy.
