| HONOLULU, Oahu, Hawaii -September 3, 1999 - Stanford Hotels
Corporation of San Francisco announced today that it has entered into an
agreement to buy the 625-room Outrigger Prince Kuhio Hotel in Waikiki for
an undisclosed amount. The sale is expected to close in mid-October
of this year, when Stanford will assume ownership and management of the
property, its first in Hawaii.
San Francisco-based Stanford Hotels owns and manages 17 full-service
hotels with more than 3,500 rooms in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida
and Virginia, all under major national franchises including Hilton, Sheraton,
Marriott, Doubletree and Holiday Inn. Stanford has indicated it will retain
the majority of current employees. Existing bookings and customer
commitments will remain unchanged, and the transition between Outrigger
and Stanford is anticipated to be smooth, with no service interruption.
Lawrence Lui, President and CEO of Stanford Hotels, said �We are pleased
to have a Hawaii property and we are all looking forward to contributing
to the Hawaii tourism industry. This investment is a strong statement
of Stanford�s belief in Hawaii�s economy.�
�This sale is part of a strategic rebalancing of our portfolio to focus
our efforts on our long-term core assets and business,� said David Carey,
president and chief executive officer of Outrigger Enterprises. �We
plan to invest the proceeds from this sale in our Hawaii properties, particularly
our newly acquired Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Hotel on the Kohala Coast of
the Big Island, as well as in the Outrigger Wailea Resort on Maui, and
our Pacific growth.
This sale fits with our strategy of positioning the Outrigger brand
on upscale, beachfront hotels and resorts throughout Hawaii and the Pacific.�
 The
Prince Kuhio Hotel was built in 1980 and was operated as an independent
hotel until it was acquired by Outrigger in 1982. The hotel is located
at the corner of Kuhio and Liliuokalani Avenues in Waikiki, one block from
Kuhio Beach. In addition to its 625 rooms, it has 8,000 square feet
of meeting and banquet space, a swimming pool, fitness facility and two
restaurants.
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is a division of Hawaii-based Outrigger
Enterprises, Inc., the largest lodging company in Hawaii and one of the
fastest growing lodging companies in the Pacific. Outrigger currently
operates or has under development 45 hotels and resort condominiums throughout
the Pacific, representing more than 12,000 hotel rooms and condominium
units in Hawaii, Micronesia, Australia, and the South Pacific. Outrigger�s
affiliate, Outrigger Lodging Services, manages nearly two dozen hotels
and resorts throughout the U.S. Mainland. |
