Today's A Building Work

Aloha Kakou:

Masking continues on the A building today as second floor railings were covered. Painting will begin tomorrow, most likely near the 111/211 end and continuing southward. All of that patio furniture does not belong to any Outrigger owner - Outrigger Maui Eldorado owners' furniture is tucked securely inside their units to protect it from paint overspray, sprinklers and other potential damage.

Kekaa Dr Repaving

Aloha Kakou:

This morning, the crew from Maui Paving was on hand to repair the street where it had been opened to replace the force main. First they rotomilled, then tarred, then finally the black ribbon of asphalt was placed. Maybe tomorrow they do the little section between the highway and Kekaa - they left all of their toys in the parking lot across the street.

A Building's Progress

Aloha Kakou:

A building painting continues with the painters working to mask both service lanais and golf course side lanais. The crew of 7 has been working all day to prepare the building for painting by covering the sliding glass doors, the futura stone floors, lanai tiles and sun shades with plastic sheeting. The support posts for the railings are masked with blue painter's tape prior to the railings themselves being covered in plastic.

A Building Painting Progress (& A Little C)

Aloha Kakou:

Work on the B and D buildings is now complete. The painters have begun masking the service lanai areas of A building. It looks as though all of the new sconce back plates have been installed in A building, as well. Work on the sconces has moved onward to the C building, where the old service lanai sconces have been removed and the new back plates are in the process of being installed.

Long Road To Pricing Recovery

Aloha Kakou:

The value conscious traveller, combined with the now-prevalent deep discounts in the lodging sector, may mean that pricing recovery may not be attained until 2011, or later.

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/09/27/20090927biz-hoteloutlook0927side.html

PanAm Introduces The Jet Clipper

Aloha Kakou:

Well dressed, smiling passengers with plenty of leg room, lobster tails and tablecloths, and get a load of that floral arrangement! Air travel isn't like this anymore!

Friday's Painting Progress

Aloha Kakou:


The painting project is proceeding nicely. Today, handrails are being prepped and painted in both B and D buildings. The painters are making progress on doors and trim in the B building. Power washing has commenced in the A building in preparation for next week's painting. Additionally, the sconce back plates have also been installed in A building.

Steady Arrivals Reason To Be Pleased

Aloha Kakou:

"After 17 months of declining arrivals, we are pleased to see that visitor arrivals overall have held steady for the past two months and that arrivals from our main market, U.S. West, have shown an increase for four consecutive months," said Mike McCartney, president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Of course, these numbers are compared to '08's already low numbers, so perhaps we've reached the bottom.

August's per-person per-day spending on Maui was down 13.7 percent to $156.60 from last year.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/524097.html?nav=10

B Building Almost Complete

Aloha Kakou:

Work on the B building is almost complete. Today the painters were removing the masking from the doors and windows on the service lanai and were hard at work painting these areas with oil based paint. Tomorrow, they'll work on the handrails in both B and D buildings.

August Arrivals Flat, Spending Down

Aloha Kakou:

While visitor arrivals to Hawaii rose 7% in August, that increase did not offset declines in other sectors, leaving visitor arrivals flat for August.

Additionally, with lowered hotel rates and continued frugality on the part of tourists, visitor spending overall was down almost 14% (from $176 per day per person to $153) this August when compared with 2008's statistics.

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/breaking/61218557.html
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090924/BREAKING01/90924038/Visitor+arrivals+for+August+hold+steady++but+spending+down

B Building Continued

Aloha Kakou:

Windows, walkways and even the shrubbery gets masked as the painters continue their assault on B building. The crew is working on both sides of the building today with an eye toward adding the finishing touches on both B and D by the end of the day on Friday.

Painting Begins On B Building

Aloha Kakou:

The painting process for the B building began yesterday as the painters masked the walkways, lanais and metal railings. Today, the painters started to paint on the lanai side. Nick worked to install the new backing plates of the sconces on the service lanai.

Spa-Cation Press

Aloha Kakou:

Check out this entry from the Hawaii Traveler about the Outrigger Maui Eldorado's new spa promotion with the Spa at Black Rock:

http://www.thehawaiitraveler.com/

HA Adding CA - HI Routes In 2010

Aloha Kakou:

Hawaiian Airlines is adding new routes from LAX to HNL and from SAN and OAK to OGG. The new routes will start next summer and coincide with the delivery of Hawaiian Air's new Airbus A330-200s.

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/9/22/8188/29104/travel/Hawaiian+Airlines+Eager+To+Bring+Cali+Tourists+To+The+Islands

Continuing The Five Star Discussion

Aloha Kakou:

Another author discussing star/diamond ratings and what they mean:

http://www.consumertraveler.com/today/whats-in-a-five-star-hotel-and-do-you-want-such-digs/

HI State Unemployment Insurance Up Plenty

Aloha Kakou:

Adding to the cost of doing business in Hawaii, the state is raising the amount it charges employers to maintain the state unemployment insurance fund. The cost is going up from $90 per year per employee to $1040 - $1250 (yes, it will be over $1000!) per employee, depending upon how low the fund gets.

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090918_Unemployment_fund_running_dry.html
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090918/NEWS01/909180371/Hawaii+businesses+to+be+hit+with+soaring+unemployment+tax

Women Sues Over Monkey Mishap

Aloha Kakou:

Thank goodness we don't have any monkeys on Maui:

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,26091138-5014090,00.html

Hamai Appliance

Aloha Kakou:

You may have heard us mention Hamai from time to time as we talk about appliances or television sets. Here's more information about the 40 year old, family owned company from an article in the Maui News.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/523635.html?nav=10

GSA Magazine Ad

Aloha Kakou:

Please take a look at this co-op advertisement for Holiday House, one of our wholesale partners, which appeared in the September 8th edition of GSA magazine.

GSA350

D Building Wrap-up (Or Unwrap-up)

Aloha Kakou:

Painters were putting the finishing touches on the D building today. In addition to removing the masking from windows, walkways, and stairs, they are finishing by painting the dark brown front doors, window trim and handrails in oil based paint.