tfly212

We are planning to visit this property in early August...we just got word that the kids club is under renovations for "the rest of the year" and won't be available at all. Bit of a surprise...has anyone visited recently and seen any other renovations going on? I do not want any other surprises. TIA

Adelphos

Oaktree and Trinity Secure new $515 million CMBS loan on Westin Maui Ka'anapali

https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...aui-Resort-Spa

• The loan is a 4 year, 7.75%
• Oaktree and Trinity acquired the property from Marriott/Starwood for $317 million in 2017
• Competed a $120 million renovation in 2021
• Completing another $39 million tower renovation this year
• The property was appraised at $919 million as part of the deal
• There was a $360 million loan on the property
• Oaktree and Trinity spent about $116 million in equity, and will cash out about $155 million in equity with this refinancing
• Based on appraised value, Oaktree and Trinity will still have over $400 million (!) in equity in the hotel
• Room rates have doubled in the past five years

Debt service on the $515 million loan is about $40 million a year. A comparable where we have public information would be the Hyatt Regency Maui, which is an 810 room hotel that did $82 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The Hyatt Regency's average room rate was $525 in 2022. I would guess the Westin Maui's is a bit higher. Nevertheless, to be conservative, I will assume about $1 million in EBITDA per room, which would equate to about $77 million in EBITDA for the Westin Maui, which gives them ample room to pay that $40 million a year in interest, plus maybe $5 million to $10 million in annual soft goods refurbishment. A home run deal, even with an 8% interest rate

abcd3fg

Just curious, have any Titanium (or above) had any success with free 4pm late checkouts at this property lately? We are heading there in a few weeks and may benefit from having that option.

hungarianhc

Is the kids club free for elite members?

sutejbatth

I just checked out from this hotel a couple days ago. The hotel staff was pleasant and happily gave me a 4pm late checkout. My flight was not until 11pm so that definitely helped. I'm a Titanium Elite btw.

Let me know if there are any other questions.

uxb

Like most benefits, late checkout is subject to availability and not guaranteed. My girlfriend and I stayed during Christmas break and we had no late checkout.

stvr

So let me get this straight. This property has so much antipathy for Marriott elites that it:

-designated a whole tower as the “upgraded” tower
-cordoned it off from elite upgrades
-put a club lounge in it (lol)

Voila. Now the club lounge is no elites allowed!

How does Marriott as a company let properties disdain its customers so easily and cheaply? I guess there are just too many Marriott elites for anyone to care?

I was trying to use 50K certificates at this property and after reading up we just used our Globalist status at the HR and GH, both of which readily allowed club lounge access.

And so our 50K certs live on, gathering dust in my account. The combination of:

-have to use five certs for five nights (no 20% discount for 5 nights)
-resort fees on award bookings in all of hawaii
-spite fence around elite benefits

has left this Marriott Titanium (Lifetime Platinum) with sand in his mouth.

ntamayo

Minority viewpoint here, but I appreciated the property keeping the Lanai exclusive to Hokupa’a Tower guests. Given the offerings throughout the day, too many elites accessing the lounge would have diluted the experience.

I’ve mentioned this sentiment previously regarding RC club level, and I think they’re trying to maintain this exclusivity in Kaanapali as well.

stvr

If the chain's most avid users are the problem, then the whole business is the problem.

escapefromphl

The verb is Bonvoy : which is to sell the impression of great elite benefits, but to provide rather less. The airlines are doing this with effect these days, if you notice the long upgrade lists.

ntamayo

The Westin Maui concludes $160M transformation with the debut of Kūkahi Tower

ntamayo

There are other resort properties with pay-extra lounges (JW's in Cabo, Cancun, Phoenix come to mind) most likely for the same exclusivity reasons. Also, there's enough demand for these type of lounges to keep them running that way.