The joint venture team of R.D. Olson Development and A&B Properties celebrated the opening of the Courtyard by Marriott Maui flanked by city dignitaries including County Mayor Alan Arakawa, who played a role in getting the project completed in time for the summer tourist season.
The Courtyard by Marriott Maui is the island’s first Kahului airport hotel. Its prime location at the intersection of Haleakala Highway and Keolani Place makes the hotel easily accessible to Maui’s business, commercial and governmental hub.
“The hotel’s location will attract travelers transiting the airport and those that visit the island’s North Shore for its activities and sights,” said Olson. “From the start, the hotel development has been anticipated by the community and those who travel between islands for business. Now, we’ve made it a reality.”
A&B Properties’ planners identified the hotel site years ago as an ideal location to attract business and leisure travelers alike. The company took into account that Kahului is Maui’s commercial hub and nearby Wailuku, the seat of county government. While the project was put on hold for many years in light of the shaky economy, R.D. Olson Development in 2011 saw the time was right to build and within one year, brought the $30 million development to fruition.
R.D. Olson now retains ownership of the land and the hotel. Marriott International will manage the four-story 138-room Courtyard by Marriott Maui with General Manager Kaleo Kenui at the helm. The hotel houses 49 studio king rooms, 79 studio double queen rooms, six suites and four extended stay suites. The hotel includes a fitness center, pool, lounge, convenience store, meeting space and laundry facility.
The hotel infuses Courtyard by Marriott’s new Gen 4.5 design, which reinvented the lobby centered on the concept of fusing high-tech, high-style and greater functionality.
This new contemporary design offers a sense of community within the hotel itself. It emphasizes drawing guests from their rooms into the relaxing open and user-friendly lobby area. By replacing the traditional front desk with individual welcome podiums, guests enjoy more personal and private interactions when checking in. The new lobby also houses a bistro-style restaurant. A signature element is the exclusive Courtyard interactive GoBoard™, a 58-inch LCD touch screen packed with local information, maps, weather and news, business and sports headlines.
The lobby business center allows guests to check email and print important documents, while semi-enclosed Media Pods featuring individually controlled flat-panel TVs will offer guests a place to work, meet or relax.
Johnson Braund Design Group of Seattle, Wash., is credited for the architectural and interior design services.
R.D. Olson Construction, a subsidiary of R.D. Olson Development that has its signature on other island hotel construction including its recent $40 million renovation of The Edition in Waikiki, built the hotel. In good measure, the company employed local subcontractors, thereby provided jobs for approximately 200 workers during the 12 months it took to complete the hotel.
Irvine-based R.D. Olson Development has developed many Marriott-managed hotels on the U.S. mainland as well. The company’s most recent, the San Juan Capistrano Residence Inn by Marriott was completed in February 2012 and Courtyard by Marriott in Oceanside, Calif., was completed in 2007.
R.D. Olson Construction of Irvine, Calif. built the Residence Inn by Marriott in San Juan Capistrano. Additionally, the company is building a 150-room hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott, in San Jose. It also has made major renovations to the popular Westin Gaslamp Quarter Hotel in San Diego and the Hyatt Regency Long Beach.
Robert Olson founded R.D. Olson Development in 1998, which has since gained standing as a leading hotel developer. The company recently opened the Oceanside Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn by Marriott in San Juan Capistrano. By the end of 2012, R.D. Olson Development will have opened three hotels—San Juan Capistrano Residence Inn by Marriott; Kahalui, Maui Courtyard by Marriott; and the Goleta Courtyard by Marriott, within Santa Barbara County. Other notable projects developed by R.D. Olson Development include the $70 million Marriott Renaissance ClubSport in Aliso Viejo--a combined 174-room full-service Marriott Renaissance Hotel brand and 70,000-square-foot world-class fitness center; a five-story 166-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Burbank that caters to the entertainment industry; and an eight-story 174-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Irvine near the intersection of Main and Jamboree. For more information, please visit http://www.rdodevelopment.com.
