For Sale

Aloha Kakou:

As of today, there are 19 units for sale at the Maui Eldorado, with prices ranging from $289,000 to $1,499,000.

Click on the link to see the entire list.

http://www.ramaui.com/Results.php?MLS=&WhatStartPrice=&WhatEndPrice=&WhatCondo%5B%5D=Maui+Eldorado+I&WhatCondo%5B%5D=Maui+Eldorado+II&WhatStartBed=&WhatEndBed=&WhatStartBath=&WhatEndBath=&WhatStartIntArea=&WhatEndIntArea=&WhatStartExtArea=&WhatEndExtArea=&WhatSortType1=ListPrice&WhatSortDirection1=ASC&WhatSortType2=&WhatSortDirection2=ASC&Task=Search&WhatPage=1

May Visitors Down

Aloha Kakou:

The number of Maui visitors was down almost 14% this year as compared to last, according to the latest Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) numbers.

Per person spending declined $20 to $165 per day, compared to May, 2008.

http://mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/520248.html?nav=10

Trip Advisor - Real or Fake?

Aloha Kakou:

There have been a number of articles in the news lately about TripAdvisor, the site where hotel and restaurant reviews are allegedly written by the guests who have actually experienced the hotel or restaurant.

I say "allegedly" as these articles (see links below) would have you believe that those TripAdvisor reviews may be the result of either puffery by the venue itself or by attacks from competitors.

For the record, we here at the Outrigger Maui Eldorado do not write positive reviews about our property; our reviews are written by the guests themselves with no help, coaxing or cajoling from us. Similarly, we do not stoop to writing negative reviews of our competitors.

Should you trust TripAdvisor? Perhaps if you throw out the most glowing and the most egregious reviews, you may find a happy medium. From my perspective as a hotel general manager, TripAdvisor's lack of understanding of the vacation rental condominium business model makes it difficult to remove non-rental reviews which appear under the Outrigger name from time to time. While I personally do not take TripAdvisor seriously, enough potential guests apparently do. I review all new entries under our name to make sure that they are accurate and when they're not, I work to get them removed, with varying degrees of success. I do find that persistence pays off, though, and if at first I don't succeed, I try, try again.


http://www.tripso.com/today/new-tripadvisor-whistleblower-claims-some-reviews-are-totally-fraudulent/
http://travelweekly.texterity.com/travelweekly/20090622/
http://www.elliott.org/blog/does-tripadvisor-hotel-manipulation-scandal-render-the-site-completely-useless/

Hotel Stacking - Final

Aloha Kakou:

The Maui County Planning Commission yesterday elected to recommend not to amend the section of the Maui County zoning law to eliminate the stacked zoning in hotel zoned districts.

The Planning Commission will recommend to the Maui County Council to leave the ordinance as is.

The vast majority of testimony was against this change. Opposition came from Maui Hotel and Lodging Association as well as other hotel groups, most notably the Kaanapali hotels.

While the Maui County Planning Commission is against this provision, this issue is still to come before the county council and it could still be approved.

Expedia's Latest Tax Ruling

Aloha Kakou:

The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled that Expedia is liable for the hotel tax on the room rate that it charges the consumer, not on the rate that it pays the hotel for the room.

Expedia, like all wholesalers, negotiates lower room rates directly with the individual hotels, marks up that rate when it sells rooms to the public,

The Georgia law, while not defining Expedia as a hotel, motel or innkeeper, is an "entity" that collects taxes and is therefore required to remit taxes to the city (of Columbus, GA, where this suit was based).

Expedia admitted that it had paid the increased taxes on the marked-up rooms in the last few months, in cooperation with a previously issued injunction.

Tourism authorities have decried the court's actions, saying that municipalities that insisted on collecting the additional taxes were shooting themselves in the foot since agencies such as Expedia might no longer choose to represent that area's lodging interests. Indeed, Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz no longer list Columbus, GA hotels on their websites.

As I mentioned previously, the state of Hawaii has tried a similar tactic in the past. While they didn't get away with it then, fiscal pressures now may make Hawaii's legislators tempted to try it again. We know Hawaii is not the most business-friendly state in the Union; time will tell if our legislature attempts another assassination attempt on the golden goose of tourism.

http://travelweekly.texterity.com/travelweekly/20090622/

Oh, We'll Get Calls...

Aloha Kakou:

It seems the Sheraton Maui is now offering a $25 food and beverage credit to guests who forgo daily maid service.

We at the Outrigger Maui Eldorado have had calls from potential guests who, in the past, have suggested to us that we lower their rate and decrease their housekeeping service. You know that housekeeping is not only about cleaning the guest's room but also about keeping an eye on your asset while it is occupied. These requests are always met with a polite but firm "no".

While offering an additional discount with less service may work for our neighbor in this case, your investment is too valuable to be discounted by us in this way.

http://www.tripso.com/today/now-optional-at-the-sheraton-maui-maid-service/

Gone The Way Of The Iconic Holiday Inn Sign

Aloha Kakou:

When I was a kid, and we took our annual cross-country motor trip to visit the family, my brother and sisters and I always looked forward to playing with that Magic Fingers attached to the bed in our Holiday Inn motel room.

The inventor of the Magic Fingers, John Joseph Houghtaling, passed away Wednesday at the age of 92.

Too bad you can't get these for hotel rooms anymore - I'm sure the Outrigger Maui Eldorado would be raking in the quarters!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31450090/ns/business-small_business/