Last year, I reported that the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay would be leaving Marriott. The reason for the departure was the acquisition of the property by Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels & Resorts. And though it seemed like the sell was off, Outrigger moves ahead with the Kona resort purchase.
In February 2020, we learned that Outrigger Hotels & Resorts reached an agreement to buy the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay. At the time, the sale was supposed to close around April 15. Then COVID happened and brought tourism to a halt. And with the halt in tourism, the sale seemed to fall through. But, apparently not.
Outrigger Moves Ahead with Kona Resort Purchase
Apparently, there was no halt in the sale – rather, it was merely a pause due to the pandemic. Outrigger Hotels & Resorts still plans on acquiring the Keauhou Bay property and it says it expects the sale to close in late August. Once that occurs, the Sheraton name will disappear and the property will become the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa. What’s more, when the sale closes, Outrigger plans to kick-off a major renovation project.
While details of the renovation remain scarce, we know that work will touch every part of the property, including guest rooms, corridors, public spaces and recreational facilities. In total, Outrigger plans to invest $25 to $30 million in its new Outrigger Kona Resort. The hotel will remain open throughout the project.
What This Means for Bonvoy Members
Naturally, if you have a reservation at this hotel in late August, your reservation will be honored. However, you won’t earn points or elite night credits for your stay, nor will you receive elite recognition. As I mentioned before, though, the biggest loss from this sale is the loss of a credit card certificate property. That’s because the Sheraton Keauhou is a category 5 property with a standard rewards night cost of 35,000 points. It was one of the few Marriott in Hawaii at this level or lower, the others being the Courtyard King Kamehameha Beach Hotel and the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani.
Final Thoughts
I’ve never stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou before. But, the property doesn’t really appeal to me. It isn’t anywhere near downtown Kona and sits on a rocky sea cliff rather than a beach. So, this change in ownership isn’t really a big loss to me. I’d much rather stay at the Courtyard King Kam, especially given their identical award cost.
What do you all think about this sale? Is it a big loss for Bonvoy members?
Aloha! We’ve stayed here a few times. A quick two night stay and then again for a week. While this place is certainly old and kind of reminds us of an alien base elsewhere in the solar system, we found the staff very, very friendly. The lobby is beautiful. We loved Stinger Ray’s for both the food and the location. Speaking of location, another reason we liked the hotel was it’s lack of traffic and noise. There are far more lush and beautiful spots on Hawaii and if we’re to go back, it’d be a tough decision whether to stay if one of those or go back for another terrific experience at the Outrigger.
Does it need a bit of work? You bet and maybe, maybe the purchase by Outrigger will address the industrial style toilets in the bathrooms. :)
We’ll see! Outrigger did a pretty good job with the Beachcomber. It’ll be interesting to see how they evolve all of their properties since many of they are extremely dated.
As the name “Stinger Ray’s” alludes to…one of this property’s biggest draws is being home to a “swim with the Mantas” attraction (the rays are swimming free and are attracted by lights/food). It’s a pretty cool experience (not affiliated with the hotel per se) and worth a stay.
This is true. But it’s not someplace I’d likely spend more than a couple of nights at 🤷🏻♂️
I have March 2022 nights booked on Cat 5 (35k) certificates. The Marriot email was unclear about how certificates or points would cover the Outrigger reservation, so I reached out to the Sheraton Kona front desk. Their response is that the certificates would be returned and instead they will withdraw points! What?!
That is not good. I had managed to use my relatively restrictive certificates, and now Marriott is going to reverse this and take the more flexible points instead? Not acceptable.
I am trying to get clarification from Marriott before Aug 21, but they are slow to respond. The call-in reps have no say in this, and only tell me that Marriott will email me in 3 – 6 business days. Almost out of time.
Anyone else have info on this?
That’s terrible and makes absolutely no sense at all! Much luck to you dealing with Bonvoy!
Resolved. Marriott clarified that a certificate booking will remain as such.
Awesome! I’m glad it worked out for you!