Normally, a 10-room hotel renovation wouldn’t get much attention from us. But when we saw Jerry Gibson‘s name attached, our ears perked up.
Jerry, who has run some of Hawaiʻi’s largest hotels and hotel groups, recently launched Hawaiʻi Hospitality Group with Elliot Mills and is now teaming up with developer Stanford Carr and Parker Ranch to transform Waimea’s historic Jacaranda Inn into a Parker Ranch-branded boutique hotel.
The estate was once home to Parker Ranch manager A.W. Carter and later served as a private retreat for Laurance Rockefeller, the billionaire conservationist and developer behind the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, and yes, grandson of John D. The billionaire, and now trillionaire, class has always seemed to love the islands.
And while the original Jacaranda Inn had just 10 rooms, Jerry tells us the new project is planned with more guest rooms, a large restaurant, a wedding chapel, and plenty of activities. They intend to preserve the property’s historic character and protect Manaua, the sacred rain rock on the site. The project is still in the early planning stages, with no construction expected for at least another year.
Fun fact: It was Jerry who encouraged me to launch Hawaiʻi Hotel Hui. So if you enjoy this newsletter, you can thank him. If you don’t, you know who to blame. 😉
