The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency held a weeklong, statewide hurricane drill in June that involved hotels, which are now busy preparing for the real threat of a possible Category 1 hurricane named Ana could hit any of the islands.

The agency, formerly known as state Civil Defense, has been running its annual hurricane exercise for more than 20 years. But "this time it was full scale," spokeswoman Shelly Kunishige said.

The drill is called Makani Pahili, or "strong wind," and the practices that were learned four months ago are now being put into place at hotels across the islands.

For Makani Pahili, the Hawaii Tourism Authority set up a mock emergency operations center in the Hawai‘i Convention Center and overall, Kunishige said, "our coordination with the visitor industry was much improved."

Both the exercise and August’s Tropical Storm Iselle reinforced the need for frequent and accurate communication between government officials, hotels, tourists, airlines and a host of other people and agencies.

"The real issue is making sure guests are adequately informed," said Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality services at Outrigger, which has about 10,000 guests staying at its 14 hotels in Waikiki and 5,000 more guests at its 18 neighbor island properties.

"The last time (during Iselle), the airlines canceled an incredible amount of flights before it was known that the storm was not going to Oahu," Wallace said. "So people jumped in their cars only to find out there was nothing flying and the airport didn’t want them."

If Ana continues to pose a risk, Outrigger in the next few days will set up "communication stations" in the lobbies of its major hotels to relay Civil Defense messages and provide airport and airline flight statuses. Operators also will handle emails and phone calls from guests trying to get in or out of Hawaii.

At Starwood’s 11 Hawaii properties, which include the Sheraton and Westin brands and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, employees have begun preparing to issue updates on Ana to guests’ rooms and will set up public displays with more information, spokeswoman Stephanie Dowling said.

"Iselle validated our preparedness," Dowling said. "The best practice we gained is that we just can’t share enough information."

Much of the hotel preparation for Ana will go on behind the scenes until later this week.

"There’s nothing any guest can do today to be better prepared," Wallace said.

If Ana looks likely to strike, Outrigger employees will then set up beachfront fences, sandbags and gates around the Outrigger Waikiki Beach and Outrigger Waikiki Reef Beach and move cars out of potential flood areas, Wallace said.

Guests will be advised to stay in their rooms but away from windows that could break in hurricane-force wind and rain.

There should be enough food, water and ice for all of Outrigger’s guests to ride out the storm, Wallace said.

But if Ana causes serious damage, "the real question is what comes after on the second or third day if it’s a devastating storm?" Wallace said.

Outrigger already has started getting Ana-related room cancellations, Wallace said.

But Dowling insisted that wasn’t the case with Starwood’s properties.

"We’ve found that people are very hesitant to cancel their dream vacation," she said.

Both Starwood and Outrigger plan to work with guests who need to make Ana-related reservation changes. And Island Air plans to waive reservation change fees for passengers with reservations between Friday and Sunday who might be affected by Ana.

On Saturday at 6 p.m., officials with the Royal Hawaiian Center in the heart of Waikiki will decide whether to open for business on Sunday.

Metal barricades already have been ordered to shutter the center’s 16 entrances, and the escalators and elevators would be shut down, said Sam Shenkus, marketing director for The Festival Companies, which manages and leases the Royal Hawaiian Center.

"For Iselle, the day before we knew it probably wasn’t going to hit but we weren’t sure," Shenkus said. "So we made the decision Friday morning (Aug. 7) to close, and then after the morning press conference with the governor and the mayor, we opened at 2 p.m. Friday. For this hurricane, we just have no idea yet."