China-based USA Tianren Hotel Management Inc. has expanded its U.S. holdings with the purchase of the bankrupt Days Inn-flagged Maui Oceanfront Inn.

The property, which the company acquired on Friday for $7.5 million, is USA Tianren’s second U.S. hotel purchase, said Jay Jayyusi, who is the general manager of the company’s Fullerton, Calif.-based Days Inn Suites & Heritage Hotel.

"We are looking to expand further when opportunity knocks," Jayyusi said. "We are particularly interested in California and in Hawaii."

Jayyusi, who served as general manager of the Days Inn Maui Oceanfront Inn from 2009 to 2011, said he alerted his current hotel’s owners when the Hawaii property went on the market.

"I had a real affinity for it," he said. "The location of the property is at one of the nicest beaches in Hawaii, probably the world."

The 87-room hotel sits on Keawakapu Beach at the gateway to Wailea and houses Sarento’s on the Beach, a AAA Four Diamond restaurant.

USA Tianren has signed a contract with Days Inn to continue managing the Maui Oceanfront Inn, which has another 22 years on its land lease with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Jayyusi said.

They plan to make additional investment in the property; however, the amount will depend on their negotiations DLNR, he said.

"The property is in fairly good condition and can be run for the next few years with minor renovations," Jayyusi said.

The previous owner renovated the exterior and interior in 2001 and made more interior improvements in 2007, said bankruptcy trustee Joseph Toy.

In addition, no major staff changes are planned, said Jayyusi, who will be traveling back and forth from California to oversee the property.

"I hired most of the staff myself," he said.

Maui Oceanfront went into bankruptcy in April 2011 when former owner Western Apartments Supply & Maintenance Co. could not pay off the $12.3 million loan that it owed to One West Bank.

About 80 investors were keenly interested in the property, Toy said.

"As many as a dozen of them did the due diligence," he said.

While Chinese investors have been purchasing Hawaii golf courses for the past two to three years, until now they have not been as active in Hawaii’s hotel market, Toy said.

"Chinese investors have been looking at hotels, but this is one of the few that have sold to the Chinese," he said.

Investors, who want to acquire Hawaii hotels, face much competition. Toy said he expects to see more activity from Chinese investors in the next few years.

"Statewide there are a lot of loans maturing. While a number of properties have restructured, I expect more receiverships to come to the forefront," he said.