Kona Surf Now A Sheraton
The Kona Surf, well-known to Hawaii residents and visitors as the hotel with the manta rays, has reopened as the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort & Spa and is already running fairly full.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawaii, Senior Vice President, Keith Vieira, said the 521-room hotel had 25,000 room night bookings even before it reopened last weekend following a US$70-million renovation.
The hotel has a pool deck built over the ocean, where underwater lights attracted plankton, which in turn attract manta rays.
Several resorts on the Big Island's Kohala-Kona coast have undergone ownership changes and/or renovations in the past 2-years.
Big Island hotel occupancy, while lagging other islands, has rebounded to the 70% level for most weeks so far this year, and sometimes fuller, with room rates running consistently higher than last year's levels.
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