A long-vacant lot in Kailua-Kona is getting new life as Baywood Hotels plans a $45M, 100-room Residence Inn on the former Hilton Grand Vacations site, marking another major investment in Kona’s long-overdue revitalization.
Cruise Ships Are Winning. Hotels Should Take Notes.
As cruise lines surge ahead with strong marketing and record bookings, Hawaiʻi’s hotels and destination marketing lag behind amid funding gaps, mixed messaging, and new regulations that risk ceding even more ground to the cruise sector.
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Springboard New Marketing Head
Springboard Hospitality has named Eve Tronson as its new VP of Marketing, stepping into the role after Jason Pirock’s move to Outrigger. She’ll oversee brand, digital, CRM, and field marketing across a 50-property portfolio, including 12 in Hawaiʻi.
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Is Hawaiʻi Tourism Sliding Into a Slow Burn?
Hawaiʻi’s visitor economy is softening, three months of declining arrivals, rising costs, and stalled job growth, while competing destinations outspend and outmarket us. With Japan slow to return and HTA in limbo, the state needs clearer messaging and a stronger strategy.
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Debt Surfacing Like an Iceberg
Hotel insiders are quietly warning about looming debt troubles in Oʻahu and Maui, as pandemic-era refinancings meet today’s higher rates and softer demand, signaling potential distress, quiet sales, and ownership shakeups ahead.
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Beach Front Waikīkī
Only nine hotels in Waikīkī sit truly on the sand; from Hilton Hawaiian Village to Kaimana Beach Hotel, the list reveals a mix of fee simple and leasehold ownership that shapes some of the most valuable shoreline real estate in Hawaiʻi.
Crown Jewel, Sold. Legacy, TBD.
Kamehameha Schools shocked the market by selling the 10.3 acres beneath the Royal Hawaiian Hotel to Japan’s Daisho Co. for $510M, an unprecedented shift in Waikīkī land ownership with deep cultural, financial, and historic implications.
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.
