Posted at 4:14 p.m., Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Fairmont Orchid Hawaii seeking new owners
Advertiser Staff
The owners of the Fairmont Orchid Hawaii luxury hotel on the Big Island's Kohala Coast recently put the resort up for sale.Built in 1990, the 32-acre oceanfront property has had several owners since it opened as the Ritz-Carlton Mauna Lani.
The latest owner is Boston-based real estate investment firm Westbrook Partners LLC, which paid $250 million for the 540-room hotel two years ago. "We're on the market," said resort public relations director Aven Wright-McIntosh.
She said the property, which has earned a four-diamond designation from AAA, has been marketed since June by the New York brokerage firm Eastdil Secured LLC.
Wright-McIntosh said there have been 37 interested parties in the property so far, which indicates the strong interest in the resort, which has continued to enjoy strong occupancy despite some statewide dip in visitor arrivals and hotel occupancy.
She said the owners have a 25-year management contract with Fairmont. And she confirmed that Farallon Capital Management LLC and Lodging Capital Partners LLC both hold a minority stake in the resort.
Hotel room rates at the luxury resort range from $359 to $4,000 nightly.
In 1995, the resort was sold to Colony Capital LLC, which is based in Los Angeles, for $75 million. That company in 2002 sold the hotel to Fairmont Resorts & Hotels Inc. for $140 million. Fairmont sold to the current owners.
