Westin JV Opens New Hotel in Hawaii

By Keith Loria

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort

A joint venture of Westin Hotels & Resorts and Mauna Kea Resorts have opened The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, a 232-key hotel property on Hawaii’s Big Island. The one-time Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel underwent an extensive multi-million-dollar renovation, reinventing its guestrooms, introducing four new culinary options and transforming the resort’s public spaces.

Officially opening on June 25, the hotel is situated in the bluffs above the tranquil Hapuna Beach. The resort features 17 suites and each guestroom was redesigned as an oasis for well-being and relaxation, and contains a custom living wall and vertical garden, as well as interactive check-in pods.

The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort boasts the Westin Family program, designed to cater to the way modern families travel. Among the highlights of the program are reimagined family experiences, an innovative Kids Club concept and numerous meaningful branded amenities for young travelers. For adults, the resort has an exclusive adults-only infinity edge pool, as well as private cabanas, chaise lounges and pool ledge loungers for premium relaxation.

Among the culinary concepts are Meridia—a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant, Naupaka Beach Grill—a casual dining restaurant serving Pacific Rim cuisine, ‘Ikena Landing—an open-air breakfast venue with expanded seating and nature-inspired shade trellises—and Piko Coffee + Bar—a centrally located barista bar.

Hawaii happenings

There’s been a lot of activity in the hotel industry in Hawaii of late. Last year, the state surpassed New York to become No. 1 in volume of single-asset transactions, recording $1.7 billion in sales, according to a report by commercial real estate services firm JLL. In March, Xenia Hotels & Resorts sold its leasehold interest in the 693-key Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel in Honolulu for $200 million.

Among the top deals of last year were Trinity Investments and Oaktree Capital Management’s formation of a $3 billion hotel joint venture focused on certain core markets, including Hawaii. As part of that, the partners paid $317 million for the 759-key Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka’anapali. Blackstone acquired the 452-key Turtle Bay Resort Kahuku – Oahu for $332.5 million. Earlier in 2018, the firm also announced it would purchase the 776-key Grand Wailea in a $1.1 billion transaction.

Image courtesy of Westin Hotels & Resorts