Starwood to buy
Maui hotel

Its unit already manages
the Westin Maui

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The Japanese owner of the Westin Maui is selling the 761-room Kaanapali Beach Hotel to Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a fast-growing industry giant that already manages the hotel and eight others in Hawaii.

The deal has not closed but is being wrapped up, said Keith Vieira, Starwood vice president and director of operations in Hawaii. Starwood will buy the hotel from Kaukani (Maui) Corp., a subsidiary of Japanese entertainer Kentaro Abe's Abe International Ventures. The price has not been disclosed.

Starwood, a real estate investment trust based in White Plains, N.Y., became a giant force in the Hawaii hotel business through its purchases this year of the Westin Hotels & Resorts and ITT Corp., owner of Sheraton Hotels.

That added the management contracts for the eight Sheraton hotels in the islands as well as the Westin Maui to Starwood's global hospitality business. Through Westin, Starwood markets but does not manage the four Prince hotels in Hawaii.

Earlier this month Kaukani notified the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations that a deal was imminent. But it said none of the hotel's 720 employees were likely to be affected since the buyer is also the owner of the Westin chain. Kaukani also told the owner of the land under the Westin Maui, the Estate of James Campbell, that the hotel was being sold to Starwood.

The Westin Maui was developed by luxury resort creator Chris Hemmeter, who bought the old Maui Surf Hotel on the site for in 1985 in a $95 million package that also included the Kauai Surf. Hemmeter and his partners, which included VMS Realty, spent $120 to renovate the hotel and it reopened in 1987 under Westin management as the Westin Maui.

When the current sale is concluded, the hotel will be the first owned by Starwood in Hawaii. Six of the eight Sheraton hotels are owned by Japan-based Kyo-Ya Corp. and the other two by independent owners.