Construction of Wailea hotel to start in February

Construction of a new 110-room boutique hotel on Maui is scheduled to begin in February, completing the full build-out of hotels in the Wailea Resort master plan, which dates back to 1987.

The new hotel, which will be bordered by Ike Drive and Ike Place, is under development by California- based R.D. Olson Development, according to Frank “Bud” Pikrone, general manager of the Wailea Community Association and the Wailea Resort Association, who spoke Thursday at a media luncheon on Oahu.

The new landlocked property will be near the Residence Inn by Marriott Wailea and the Wailea Tennis Club, Pikrone said. It will be a Marriott hotel, potentially part of its AC Hotels brand, which is known for its European-boutique style, he said.

AC Hotels, founded by Spanish hotelier Antonio Catalan, and Marriott formed a joint venture in 2011. AC Hotels are known for stylish design with modern guest­rooms, European-style breakfasts, fitness centers that are open 24 hours and lounges that serve as co-working spaces by day and social hubs at night. They tend to cater to couples and business travelers.

Pikrone said the Wailea Resort Association is enthusiastic about working with R.D. Olson Development again on what could be the eighth and possibly final Wailea Resort hotel. The company completed Wailea Resort’s seventh hotel, the Residence Inn Maui Wailea, in 2016 and the 138-room Courtyard by Marriott Kahului, which opened in 2012.

The Residence Inn, which sits on a hill overlooking the ocean, began by filling a value void in the Wailea market. Nightly room rates were expected to start around $250, significantly lower than most of Wailea’s 2,544 hotel rooms and suites. However, Pikrone said demand has been so strong that the limited- service hotel routinely fetches nightly rates in the $500 range and higher.

“My family decided to visit during the holidays, and when I inquired about a two-bedroom unit, rates were at $1,200 a night because they can get it,” Pikrone said. “It’s doing exceptionally well. It’s breaking all records.”

Part of the reason is that the off-beach, no-frills property is in the Wailea Resort district, where hotels have consistently fetched the highest rates in the state, said Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting.

“Wailea is the overall price leader for rates in the state,” Vieira said. “It’s got a great beach, sister properties with great amenities, lots of commercial and recreational options. It was a very well-planned destination.”

The Wailea hotel market, which took off during the Japanese economic boom of the 1990s, began with megaresorts boosting luxury pools, grand meeting spaces and plenty of restaurant and retail options, Vieira said. Over time, building those type of properties at Wailea has become cost- prohibitive, he said. Now, construction of stand-alone hotels that aren’t offset by a timeshare, fractional ownership or residential condominium component is rare in Hawaii,Vieira said.

“But if there is any market that can afford to build what a Hawaii hotel room costs, it’s Wailea. Especially, if the developer builds simpler properties that don’t include luxury meeting space and mega pools,” Vieira said. “Guests at the Residence Inn or this new hotel can tap into amenities at other properties in Wailea’s mature resort district, which continues to do very well.”

After a more than 30-year run, Wailea is still one of Hawaii’s strongest hotel markets in one of the hottest tourist districts, said Kathleen Costello, Wailea Resort Association’s marketing director.

Through the first 10 months of the year, according to the latest data available from STR Inc., Wailea resort’s occupancy rate was almost 88 percent. Through October, Wailea’s average daily rate (ADR) rose more than 10 percent to nearly $574, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) rose nearly 14 percent to just over $502. In October the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported that Wailea led the state in RevPAR, occupancy and ADR.

A robust hospitality market is one reason that Wailea has seen more than $600 million in reinvestment pumped into its hotels and commercial centers over the last five years and is now seeing new investment, Costello said.

“We love the Residence Inn. It’s like a little economic engine for us. They’ve got a free shuttle that brings guests to all the other hotels and commercial centers,” Costello said. “We’re very excited about another new hotel.”

It could be Wailea Resort’s last. Pikrone said only 110 acres on six tracts owned by Alexander & Baldwin are still undeveloped in the 1,500-acre master plan, and none of them are zoned for hotels.

“The only tracts that are left are zoned single-family, multifamily or commercial,” he said.