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Hilton time-share The 264-unit Hilton Grand Vacations Club in Waikiki, which celebrated its opening last night with fireworks and free pupus, has already sold 15 percent of its time-share units at prices starting at about $55,000 for an annual one-week stay.
resort debuts
The converted Lagoon Tower
apartment building in Waikiki
already has sold 15% of its unitsBy Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinAntoine Dagot, president and CEO of Orlando, Fla.-based Hilton Grand Vacations Co., told about 700 guests at an opening party last night that interest is particularly strong in Japan, where sales are running at a pace three or four times what the company expected.
The 24-story Kalia Road building, formerly the Lagoon Tower rental apartment building at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, is the first Hawaii time-share project for Hilton Grand Vacations, a division of Beverly Hills, Calif-based Hilton Hotels Corp.
The building underwent a year-long, $36 million renovation and now has luxury furnished suites, mostly in one- and two-bedroom configurations, with full kitchens.
Peter Schall, vice president and managing director of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, said much of the hotel's business is from repeat visitors and many of them welcome the opportunity to buy a share of the property.
Hilton officials said they plan a second Oahu time-share project in the next three years and then to expand to the neighbor islands.
Hilton is one of the big hospitality names, including Marriott International Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., that are fast developing the time-share business, which they prefer to call vacation ownership. Travelers buy the right of permanent use of a specific unit for a set period of each year. While Lagoon Tower sales are developing, most of its units are being offered as hotel rooms at a rate of $299 a night for a one-bedroom suite.