Aqua expands business
Aqua Hotels and Resorts announced yesterday that it will broaden its business by contracting to manage its first traditional hotel property under the brand that it built to cater to condominium-hotel guests.
Mike Paulin, owner and chief executive of Aqua Hotels, announced yesterday that the company has signed a contract with an investment group controlled by Woodlands, Calif.-based Stratus Real Estate to manage the former Mauka Tower of the ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel at 129 Paokalani St. The property is next to the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and is half a block from Waikiki Beach.
The 72-room stand-alone tower, which will be renamed Ocean Tower Hotel at Waikiki Beach, was purchased for an undisclosed price. The aging property, which was not refurbished along with the neighboring ResortQuest Waikiki Beach Hotel, is scheduled for a $4 million renovation, Paulin said.
"The property will be renovated in a style to become Waikiki's premier boutique hotel offering," Paulin said. "We're going to take it from tired to trendy."
With this addition, Aqua expands to six properties in Waikiki, including the Aqua Palms, Aqua Bamboo & Spa, Aqua Aloha Surf, Aqua Marina and Aqua Kuhio Village.
Rooms at the Ocean Tower, which is meant to be Aqua's premier property, will be gutted and the renovation will be overseen by Juin Ho, a designer known for his work with the W Hotels brand, Paulin said. The property, which accepted its first guests yesterday under the Aqua brand, will remain open during its yearlong transformation, he said.
Like Aqua's other boutique hotels, the Ocean Tower will offer amenities including upgraded interiors, daily continental breakfast and access to mini kitchens, wet bars and wireless or high-speed Internet service. These are backed by a guarantee that includes a 24-hour hot line to Paulin.
During its renovation, rates at the Ocean Tower will range from $160 per night for city-view rooms to $190 per night for ocean view rooms.
"This will be our most luxurious property to date," Paulin said.
Paulin founded Aqua in 2000. Late last year, the company repositioned three of its five properties under the brand Aqua Boutique Hotels in an effort to attract a greater share of generation X travelers.