Fairmont Orchid for sale
Market rates suggest the Big Isle hotel could sell for $540 million
The owners of the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii hotel on the Big Island have put the four-diamond luxury resort up for sale.
Westbrook Partners LLC, a Boston-based real estate investment firm, bought the 540-room hotel in 2005 for $250 million from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc., which gained a $109 million profit from the sale.
Since then, Hawaii hotel values have climbed substantially with the most recent luxury hotels fetching more than $1 million per room, according to local brokers.
This has significantly raised the value of the 32-acre oceanfront resort on the prized Kohala Coast, which is being marketed by New York brokerage firm Eastdil Secured LLC.
Farallon Capital Management LLC and Lodging Capital Partners LLC both have a minority stake in the resort, which has a 25-year management contract with Fairmont.
"We have 37 interested parties ... It's obviously a pretty hot commodity," said Aven Wright-McIntosh, the hotel's director of public relations, adding that the Fairmont Orchid is on pace to post record revenue this year.
Rates at the luxury hotel, built in 1990, range from $359 to $4,000 per night.
"This year is the best year in the history of the resort in terms of revenue," she said. "They know they can make a profit. It's an investment for them. What better time to sell?"
Hotel management is currently conducting property tours for potential buyers with four tours scheduled this week.
Fairmont bought the hotel, then known as the Orchid at Mauna Lani, in 2002 from Los Angeles-based Colony Capital LLC for $140 million. Colony bought the hotel, originally the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani, in 1995 for $75 million.