Iniki-damaged hotel
on Kauai to be rebuilt
POIPU, Kauai >> Nearly 11 years after Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauai, the operator of one of the last resort properties damaged by the storm but still unopened is planning to rebuild.
Representatives from CTF Hawaii Hotel Partners have been meeting with design engineers and contractors about the Poipu Beach Hotel, said John Komeiji, the company's Honolulu-based attorney.
"We intend to rebuild the hotel," he said. "And we've started the process, or at least started talking to people about what would be involved in rebuilding the hotel.
"We want to do it as soon as possible," though there is no rebuilding timetable yet, he said.
Komeiji did not give a reason why it took nearly 11 years to get to the rebuilding phase, but noted there has been pending litigation between CTF and the Knudsen family, which owns the land under the hotel. He also declined comment on any settlement money his client may have received from insurance companies for damages the property caused by the hurricane.
Most agree that what remains of the Poipu Beach Hotel, which sits on the beach between Kiahuna Plantation units and Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club, has been an eyesore since the hurricane damaged the property in September 1992. At least one other hotel damaged by Iniki, the Coco Palms, also remains shuttered.
"We need to have that property operating again," said Roy Thompson, general manager of over 100 Kiahuna Plantation timeshare units for Castle Resorts. "That's something that we've known all along, that something needs to be done with that property, for the good of the community and our industry."
