An estimated 60 investors put up $5 million on average last week to buy units in the planned "ultra luxury" Maui condominium-hotel branded under the name of French crystal manufacturer Baccarat.

The Baccarat Wailea Resort & Residences, a project led by investment firm Starwood Capital Group, reported $300 million in sales during an initial offering last week at which 100 of the condotel's 193 units were up for sale.

The sales tally equating to 60 percent of available units exceeded the expectations of Starwood Capital, according to managing director Gary Raymond, and demonstrates that the market for multimillion-dollar condotel units in Hawai'i still remains relatively strong.

In November, developers of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beach Walk reported a one-day sellout of all 464 condotel units for roughly $700 million, or $1.5 million on average.

Trump Waikiki developers said the previous record for Hawai'i sales in a single day was in late 2005 at Intrawest Corp.'s Maui resort condo Honua Kai where 318 units sold for $425 million, or $1.3 million on average.

Starwood Capital is aiming for higher average prices with its planned condotel billed as a five-star beachfront resort exemplifying "the Baccarat brand's 240-year tradition of perfection and luxury with equally flawless service."

Baccarat Wailea units range from 980 square feet to 3,330 square feet with one to four bedrooms, and will feature signature Baccarat items.

Among planned hotel features are restaurants, a game room, spa and reserved beach chairs.

Local real estate brokers and analysts pointed to Wailea's position as Hawai'i's most upscale visitor destination where hotel room-rate averages run more than $500 a night.

"The type of market that they're looking for is virtually recession proof," said Joseph Toy, president of local consulting firm Hospitality Advisors LLC. "Wailea really has broken away. It pulls the upper tier of visitors to Hawai'i."

Starwood Capital plans to build the Baccarat Wailea on the 15-acre site of the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort, which is closing Sept. 6. The new condotel is expected to open in 2010.

Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Capital is headed by Barry Sternlicht.

Starwood Hotels bought the 345-room Renaissance Wailea in 2003 for $85 million, and initially planned to convert the property into a W hotel.

Sternlicht's Starwood Capital and local developer The Kobayashi Group later acquired control of the property, and shifted plans to developing a condotel where hotel units are sold individually to investors.

Sternlicht took over Baccarat in 2005 by acquiring a majority stake in Societe du Louvre SA, and would like to broaden the company's essence into a global luxury brand, starting with the Wailea property and followed by other hotels in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia.

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.