Wyndham launches a $95/year “Rewards Insider” subscription, part hotel perks, part travel club, joining IHG and Outrigger in the pay-to-play loyalty trend as brands chase recurring revenue and new ways to keep guests engaged.
Flat Is the New Up? Q3 hotel earnings are out, and 2025 just got downgraded, again.
Q3 hotel earnings show U.S. RevPAR slipping, group and government travel weakening, and 2025 forecasts flattening across Hilton, IHG, and Wyndham, while Accor remains the lone bright spot.
Whatever Happened to the Mandarin Oriental Honolulu?
Mandarin Oriental Honolulu has gone silent since 2023, no updates, little visible progress, and plenty of questions. If anyone knows what’s happening with the long-promised project, we’re all ears.
World Class Golf Course, Waterpark, Is a Hotel Next?
A rare 5.5-acre, fee-simple, resort-zoned parcel at Wai Kai in Hoakalei just hit the market for $25M—lagoon-front, fully entitled, and shovel-ready for a 225–250 key hotel.
Forget Armond, We’ve Got Konrad
Konrad Gstrein returns to Four Seasons Resort Maui as regional VP and GM, rejoining the property where he began in 2001, minus the White Lotus–level drama, but with plenty of real-world RevPAR to drive.
Pakalōlō Panic: Will Japan Ghost Us Over Ganja?
Hawaiʻi’s push for legal cannabis has some worried Japan will stay away, but despite loud concerns from retailers and tour operators, past examples like California and Colorado suggest Japanese visitors aren’t likely to “ghost” the Islands over ganja.
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Orange Chicken, OTA Creep, and a Hotel from 1890
A historic Kauaʻi inn lists for $26M, an unexpected endeavor for the Panda Express founders, PM Hotel Group keeps growing, OTAs move in on ChatGPT, and the travel economy takes another billion-dollar hit.
OTAs Just Took Over the Chat
OTA inventories are now powering hotel searches directly inside ChatGPT and Perplexity’s Comet browser, putting Booking.com and Expedia at the top of the AI planning funnel and pushing hotels even further from direct discovery.
Save Your Way (AKA Give your customer away)
Hotels.com’s new “Save Your Way” feature lets OTAs give big “loyalty” discounts funded by hotels—while keeping the customer, data, and relationship for themselves.
Shutdowns, Sick Days, and a Billion Bucks a Week
The federal shutdown is costing the U.S. travel sector $1B a week, and with Canadian and other international arrivals plunging, Hawaiʻi faces mounting headwinds despite parks and airports remaining open.
