Name change set for Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort Kaua’i

Effective Monday, July 8, the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort Kaua’i, where the Wailua River meets the sea, will become the Aloha Beach Resort Kaua’i.

That same date next month ends a five-year contractual agreement between the hotel owner and operator and management entity Holiday Inn, explained Ronald Kikumoto, hotel general manager.

The resort property was originally named the Kauai Resort and was developed in the late 1960s. The current owners completed major renovations to the property prior to reopening five years ago.

“We have decided to depart from the Holiday Inn system and to move out on our own as an independent resort,” said Kikumoto, who will continue as general manager.

While the owner had considered hiring at least one Hawai’i-based management firm to run the hotel, a decision was made by the owner for the current hotel management to continue managing the property, he continued.

Owned by Kauai Beachfront Hotel, L.L.C. (limited liability company) and operated by Equinox Hotel Management, Inc., essentially the same people, Kikumoto said, the hotel had in previous names been the Kauai Resort Hotel.

Ownership, management, most employees, phone (823-6000), fax (823-6666), and mailing address (3-5920 Kuhio Hwy., Kapa’a, 96746) remain the same in the “seamless” transition, he continued.

Besides the name, only the e-mail and Web site addresses will change, he said.

The hotel immediately plans to shift focus onto the “historical and cultural aspects of sacred Wailua,” and offer special activities that will allow guests to take home with them knowledge of the Wailua area that is important to Native Hawaiians and Kaua’i’s history, Kikumoto said.

“Local management will allow us to offer guests more value,” he said. With guests being able to take home pieces of Kaua’i, the resort hopes to influence repeat visits to the island and property, he concluded.