Outrigger
to manage
Maui hotel

The chain will run the Wailea
resort beginning Feb. 1

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Outrigger Hotels & Resorts will take another big step into the neighbor islands Feb. 1, when it takes over management of a 516-room beachfront resort hotel at Wailea, Maui.

The property, known as the Maui Inter-Continental Resort through 20 years and various owners, has been called the Aston Wailea Hotel since Outrigger competitor Aston Hotels & Resorts leased it from the owners in February 1996 and took over the management.

Aston's three-year lease runs out at the end of January and Outrigger has been signed to manage it for the owners, MI Hotel L.P., which bought the hotel for $111 million in March 1993.

"It has been our goal to operate full-service beachfront hotels on Hawaii's major islands," said David Carey, president and chief executive or Outrigger Enterprises Inc., parent of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts.

In September, the company purchased the 545-room Royal Waikoloan on the Big Island. Outrigger has managed that hotel since becoming a minority owner in 1991. Outrigger also operates vacation condominiums on Maui, the Big Island and Kauai for their owners.

Carey said transition of the Wailea property to new management is not expected to disrupt the hotel's operation and there should be no inconvenience to guests.

Asked if all the roughly 450 employees would be asked to stay on, Carey said today that Outrigger hasn't had time to look into the employment situation. Aston officials were not available for comment.

The property's name will change to drop the Aston connection, but specifics have not been decided, Carey said today. He said renovations are planned.

Outrigger's major presence is still Waikiki, where it manages or owns more than 7,600 rooms. It also operates about 2,000 neighbor island rooms and has management contracts for hotels in Australia, Palau, Guam, French Polynesia, Fiji and the Marshall Islands.