Waikoloa Vacation Rental Management

Within the Christmas season all the resorts on the Big Island try to make the resort and the hotels more festive.  None of them do it as well as the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel.  Every year I look forward to going to the hotel to see what they have to offer.

The lobby is filled with various Christmas trees decorated by classes at local schools as well as non profit organizations around the island.  You will also find the palms decorated with lights as well as beautiful poinsettias spread throughout the lobby.

If you vacation to Hawaii during the Christmas holidays I would highly recommend spending an evening dining at the CanoeHouse at Mauna Lani Bay and walking around enjoying the festive setting.

Mauna Lani Terrace offers some upscale vacation rental condos nearby.

In addition to a full schedule of activities at Waikoloa Beach Resort, there will several special Christmas activities throughout the month at Waikoloa Beach Resort.

On December 18 Santa comes to Waikoloa Beach Resort and has breakfast at Romanos Macaroni Grill from 10- 11:30 am.  From that day on Santa will be seen around the Queens Shops from 12-2 and 5-7 for photos until December 23.

On Christmas Eve Four Chrismases will be shown at Movie Under the Stars at Dusk.  The Waikoloa Beach Marriott will also have a luau for those who want to experience a Hawaiian Christmas.

On Christmas Day the Hilton Waikoloa will have a luau and the Waikoloa Beach Marriott will have a Christmas Day Brunch.

For children two great things to do are to visit the Mauna Lani Bay hotel and the Hilton Waikoloa.  The Mauna Lani Bay hotel is typically filled with Christmas trees, which many of them have been decorated by children of local schools.  The Hilton Waikoloa has a beautiful setup in the entry with a large train track, gingerbread house, and much more.

While the real estate market across the United States has continued to struggle, Kolea at Waikoloa Beach Resort has seen a steady increase in sales over the course of the last two years.  Along with Kolea being the premiere vacation rental complex at Waikoloa Beach Resort, attractive pricing has made these beautiful villas a “must buy” during this struggling economy.

In 2009 there were six sales.  Most of the sales were either foreclosures, short sales, or villas priced low.  In 2010 there were eleven sales with multiple contracts in escrow at the end of the year.  Although most of them were still short sales and foreclosures, there was a slight increase in the sales price. 

Looking forward, Kolea should contiune to see an increase in interest in sales.  Being the only beachfront vacation rental community at Waikoloa Beach Resort helps make it the most desireable place to own investment property on the Big Island of Hawaii.

August was one of the busiest non-winter months Waikoloa Vacation Rentals has experienced since being in the vacation rental business. Talking with other professionals involved in lodging on the island, they also enjoyed more success than preceding months.  Many speculated that we may be in “recovery” mode.  With the recent release of vacation rental statistics it proved the exact opposite on a national level.

During August 2010, arrivals and revenues for the vacation rental industry fell 15% from August 2009.  August caused the vacation rental industry to fall 3% behind 2009 in terms of arrivals.  With over half of the year gone and the bulk of the traveling months passed, it is tough to tell if the vacation rental industry will have a better year in 2010 than 2009.

On a positive note, Hawaii fared the best out of all the states. The rental rates, arrivals, and length of stay were all up, generating a 19% increase in revenue.  Considering that the states that fared the worst were the ones affected by the oil spill, many speculate that Hawaii did so well due to it being a viable alternative for those states.  Looking at flight rates, which are also a large factor in contributing to Hawaii tourism, they were very similar to 2009 so that is not the cause of the increase in tourism.

Although we are extremely happy that August was a great month in Hawaii for the vacation rental industry, looking at the national figures it still appears that the vacation rental industry is far from recovery.

Merriman’s is not as well known as some of the fine dining restaurants within the resorts on the Kohala Coast, but it offers a great cuisine and it is always a nice change to visit the town of Waimea one evening while staying in the resorts.

Located in Wiamea, if you venture to Merriman’s one evening you may find it a bit chilly compared to the resorts.  It is a beautiful little community.  The vast majority of our guests say “If I was going to live in Hawaii, I would live in Waimea.”  Merriman’s is a fairly small restaurant so you will want to call (808) 885-6822 and make reservations in advance. 

** Just recently I had the opportunity to dine at Merriman’s……for the fifth time.  One thing that I give them credit for is that their food is consistantly good.  Many of the restaurants our here are very inconsistant and it is nice to know what you are going to get when you go to Merriman’s. 

It was also interesting to see the below wine list to come along with their typical wine list.

Merrimans Wine List

Kua Bay is becoming one of the more popular beaches on the island. Just recently the road was paved allowing easy access from the highway. At Kua Bay you will find a large white sand beach with very few rocks around the swimming areas. If you go to the left or the right of the main swimming area there are some amazing areas for snorkeling. During the summer months there are typically smaller waves making it great for young children. In the winter months the waves are a bit larger, which makes for some great boogie boarding. There is limited parking so you will often find yourself parking along the side of the road. The facilities include restrooms along with picnic tables under trees overlooking the bay area.

Kua Bay

Snorkeling at Kua Bay

Picnic Area at Kua Bay

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Waikoloa Vacation Rentals added four new villas throughout Kolea to their vacation rental program giving them the largest selection of vacation rentals at Kolea of any management company.  The new villas are spread out among Kolea and all offer unique characteristics helping to give them a great variety of villas at Kolea.

Kolea 4F and Kolea 4D are both three bedroom villas and new to the rental program and still have a very new feel to them.  The location of these two villas within Kolea is a very private setting and overlooks one of the few vacant lots remaining at Kolea.  Kolea 4F is located on the third floor and offers a spectacular panoramic ocean view and offers a great setting for sunsets and whale watching in the winter.  Kolea 4D is located on the ground floor and has a nice spacious lawn area in front of the villa.  Due to there being a vacant lot in front of building 4, Kolea 4D still has a nice ocean view.

Kolea 7D just recently switched over from another management company and also is one of the few three bedroom ground floor villas at Kolea that still offers a nice ocean view.  The Kolea Beach Club is just a minute away from the lanai of Kolea 7D giving it a very desirable location.

Kolea 9J is a two bedroom villa that was just recently purchased.  9J offers a nice corridor ocean view and offers closer proximity to the Kolea Beach Club and ocean than most two bedroom villas at Kolea.

The vacation rental statistics have been released for the first half of 2010.  While many people felt that tourism was doing better throughout the US in 2010 versus 2009, the statistics show the two years to be just about even.  Hawaii was one of the few states that shows a large increase in occupancy in 2010 versus 2009.  Hawaii enjoyed an increase of 24% in the number of nights reserved in the first half of 2010 versus 2009.  There are a couple speculated reasons for this.

The first speculation is that many annual Florida vacationers chose to go to Hawaii due to the recent oil spill.  Florida had a decrease in 3% in the number of nights reserved.  A neighboring state, Alabama had a 15% decrease, which was one one of the largest.

The second speculation is that there were several large scale conferences held throughout the islands in the first quarter, which brought in a large number of people.  Due to the economy in 2009, there were several large companies that canceled conferences in Hawaii that typically have conferences every year.  A lot of hotels offered unprecedented deals on wedding packages bringing in groups to the resort areas.

The first quarter of 2010 started off strong and has steadily decreased throughout the US.  This decrease will more than likely carry into the second half of 2010.  From what is currently reserved Hawaii looks as though it will have a strong half of 2010 as opposed to 2009.

Mahaiula Bay offers a great supplement to visitors of Kekaha Kai State Park. To get to Mahaiula Bay you park at Kekaha Kai State Park and walk about 10 minutes north to this beautiful white sand beach. The beach spans about ¼ mile long and although there are some rocks in the water, they are not too intrusive. This beach offers great swimming and snorkeling. After you are done swimming you can go hike behind the beach where there is an old vacant house and lots of wildlife. There are two porta potties here for your use. The other restrooms are at Kekaha Kai State Park.

Mahaiula Bay

Family of Goats at Mahaiula Bay

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Mahaiula Bay is just a short hike north of the Kekaha Kai State Park public parking.

Kekaha Kai State Park offers a nice setting for people that like to enjoy the outdoors. The main entrance to the state park is about 2 miles off of Highway 19 along an unpaved road. Once you arrive at the state park there is limited parking so you may have to park in some of the areas along the road further from the water. There are restrooms for your use at the parking lot. Once you head to the beach you will find beautiful white sand and the beautiful blue water Hawaii is known for. The water here is filled with rocks so it is not the greatest area to swim. Mahaiula Bay and Makalawena Beach are also part of Kekaha Kai State Park and offering better areas for swimming. Along the beach you will find picnic tables along with grills nestled under trees. We also ran into a large family of goats, which seemed to be regulars at this beach. If you want to see this area, but want a better beach experience you can hike north to the beach at Mahaiula Bay and if you go even further north you will find a beautiful beach called Makalawena Beach.

Picnic Tables at Kekaha Kai State Park

BBQ Pit and Wildlife at Kekaha Kai State Park

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