Last week I wrote about Ko Olina’s latest development possibly beginning construction next year. At the time, all we knew was the name of the landowner: China Oceanwide Holdings. The company paid $280 million for the 26 acres of land on Ko Olina’s Lagoon 2. This plot of land is next-door to Disney’s Aulani. However, earlier this week Ko Olina’s master developer, Jeff Stone announced the Atlantis Resort Ko Olina Confirmed for development.
China Oceanwide Holdings was reported to have the option to develop Stone’s Atlantis Resort concept. If they chose to pursue another project, however, they’d have to pay $12 million more for their plot of land. This new Atlantis Resort will be the first in Hawaii, and the first U.S. It’s estimated to be the most expensive resort ever developed, with a price tag north of $2 billion. The Atlantis Ko Olina is said to be similar to the Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai.
For what it’s worth, the Atlantis, The Palm has over 1,500 rooms and suites, though the Ko Olina location is rumored to be comprised of hotel rooms, timeshare units, and condos. Amenities include: a waterpark, dolphin encounter, a sea lion park, shark habitat, over 20 restaurants, a spa, fitness center, a nightclub, and more. That’s A LOT of stuff, but I wouldn’t be surprised if many of these amenities are included in Ko Olina, as Stone wants the resort to be an international destination resort.
Me? I think it’s an odd fit for Ko Olina. Stone has the goal of turning the resort into a high-end, luxury resort, which is why he opted to ditch Marriott in favor of Four Seasons. Disney’s Aulani was supposed to add a family luxury to the resort, though, I’d argue it didn’t quite accomplish that. Rather, it added crowds to the lagoon it sits on and makes getting dinner reservations within the resort difficult. Especially since Aulani was rather poorly planned… It’s facilities, especially the pools, literally cannot handle the number of guests its designed to house (819 hotel rooms + timeshare units). But, Aulani does have a lot of local influence and does have an elegant look to it, sort of.
Atlantis, on the other hand, looks, um, far too themed for me. I’ve never been to one, but pictures of their various properties all show this imposing, themed (duh) property that doesn’t really blend well with it’s surroundings. It’ll stick out like a sore thumb in what has been a fairly elegant and upscale resort community. Even looking at pictures of the rooms for Atlantis, The Palms, which opened in 2008, leave me unimpressed. The rooms look pretty dated and garish, in my opinion, and only select suites have that signature aquarium view. Plus Aulani’s 819 rooms caused a significant increase in crowds at Ko Olina, can you imagine what 1,500 additional units would do?
But, hey, Atlantis coming to Oahu does mean A LOT more jobs for local people. And more jobs, especially good paying jobs, are what we need more of in this state. At the same time, though, the property will definitely alter the look and feel of Ko Olina Resort.
Relaxing in the lagoon on a water hammock is absolutely amazing. Too bad the JW isn’t there anymore.
Yes! I miss the JW too, KS77.
We’ve used our DVC points to visit Aulani twice and LOVED it. We were lucky because the Marriott/Four Seasons was either half closed or completely closed so the lagoon was only Aulani guests. We also went the week before Thanksgiving….so crowds were minimal. We also had no kids (Disney nerds) and were able to avoid the main pools for the most part….though I did have a water slide marathon after a few Mai tai’s one day with little wait. I laughed because the lines to see the Disney characters were usually 2 little kids and fifteen 20-some thing Japanese tourists :)
It sounds like this new resorts will even be more of people per sq foot than Aulani. If they sell access to the resorts amenities to no guests…i think it could be insanely crowded. But more options is always good.,,,,usually.
Glad you enjoy Aulani, Shaun. I used to love it, in their first year of operations. But as the resort completed build out, it got more and more crowded. For some reason we could never seem to escape them, even when we stayed during really off times. Because of that, and the difficulty in getting rooms at the Grand Californian, we sold our interest in DVC earlier this year. I miss it a little, but the past year was more disappointing for us than fun.
It’ll be interesting to see just how Atlantis compares to Aulani and how the new competition will affect their prices, amenities, etc. I am concerned, however, that such an enormous resort will have a negative impact on the Ko Olina area. It was very tranquil before Aulani opened, and for the most part still is, but the crowds are a lot more noticeable now. With a new resort with nearly double the rooms? We may begin to approach Waikiki-level crowding.
I was there over Christmas and thought it was gross during the day. I would get up early and go for walks before all the riff raff, but Disney and especially Atlantis, does not belong there. The traffic just to get into Ko’Olina after 3:00 is horrible. Its too bad, I’m going to have to find another place to visit – I thought this was my little secret the past 8 years…
Amanda, Disney being there was a little questionable, though Atlantis makes way less sense. Traffic was always a problem after 3:00 p.m., though. This is actually thanks to the Paradise Cove Luau. The closer to dinner time you get, the worst the traffic gets. Which is compounded, of course, by Oahu’s awful afternoon/evening rush hour traffic that begins around 3:00-3:30 p.m. It’s best to avoid heading to Ko Olina during the late afternoon. Period. If you can anyway.
Does anyone know who/ what company was awarded the build of Atlantis?
Joe, the original concept for Atlantis Ko Olina was by Master Developer Jeff Stone. China Oceanwide, however, has acquired the property and agreed to build Atlantis. The actual contracts working on the project have not been announced yet.
I wish everyone would quit saying this is the most expensive Resort in the World.
If it is to be $2 Billion, that is roughly 1/4 the price of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore;
which was $8 Billion!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_Sands
http://www.marinabaysands.com
Ko’Olina can handle this just fine with a little bit of improvements and completion of the partial road construction on the south-east side of the community. There is still at least one other property that will likely be developed and possibly even a couple of more in the future.
I love Aulani and can’t wait for Atlantis.
I was slightly disappointed in one aspect of the new Four Seasons.
The Marriott had these awesome shallow lagoons in back that had a lot of small Hammerhead Sharks and Sting Rays. They were replaced with boring Koi Ponds. :(
RBB, it’s possible that all news reports talking about this resort being the most expensive are probably excluding resort developments with casinos. And while Ko Olina as a whole may be able to handle a resort this size, it is being developed on lagoon 1, which is already crowded with guests from Aulani and Four Seasons. As for future developments, Ko Olina’s master developer has stated that there will likely be two more in the future.