Hotel strategy to offer very, very good service

The former Diamond Resort & Spa, a unique hostelry in Maui and Hawaii with its Japanese mountain spa theme, is remaking itself this week into the boutique Hotel Wailea Maui.

General Manager Henry Perez said the hotel will still be unique, with an exceptional staffing level of 2.9 employees for each of its 72 units - more than 200 people. That compares with about 2.2 employees per unit for most luxury resorts.

To get customers to climb 300 feet above Wailea's beaches, a resort has to offer something special, and Perez said his strategy is "very, very good service."

The hotel also has a spa, Capische restaurant and meeting facilities for small groups. It also offers exclusive beach club privileges, with a butler, for guests through an arrangement with the Grand Wailea Resort, Hotel & Spa down the hill and priority tee times at Wailea Resort's three golf courses.

Although beaches and tourists in Hawaii go together like tourists and sunburn, Perez said early response indicates his target clientele actually prefers being away from the beach.

Hotel Wailea Maui emphasizes privacy and discreet service. With the beach club, vacationers can enjoy the beach as much as they want but can also retreat from the hubbub when they want.

Black Diamond Hospitality Investments took over the resort last year and selected Honolulu-based Aqua Hotels & Resorts to manage it. Perez was the opening general manager at the Embassy Suites in Honokowai and stayed there until 1994, when it converted to time-share property.

Diamond Resort was the first venture outside Japan of a chain of resorts based on natural hot springs. Although there was no hot spring on the slope of Haleakala, the resort was designed with an imitation, complete with furo baths. That spa, different from other resort spas, remains. (It is the only place on Maui offering nightingale facials, using dehydrated nightingale droppings to lighten and even out skin tone.)

Diamond Resorts had a membership-ownership arrangement, and sold Maui memberships largely to Japanese families who already had memberships in its spas in Japan. For their money, they got ownership in 900-square-foot suites (for so many days per year) grouped four to a building scattered over 15 acres. However, the club memberships had an expiration date (2010), after which they lost use of the resort's facilities but still owed maintenance fees. And there was no revenue stream.

About 90 percent of owner-members sold their interest to Black Diamond, and Perez said it is expected that all will do so as the expiration date nears.

Black Diamond has updated the public areas and is renovating the guest rooms one by one. That work is expected to be finished by October.

Perez said the resort hopes to attract high-end visitors interested in "very, very personalized service."

The boutique hotel is Aqua's first property outside Waikiki, and President Benjamin Rafter said: "The signing of Diamond Wailea Resort & Spa affirms Aqua's plan to grow throughout the islands."

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.