The tsunami that swamped the Big Island’s west coast earlier this month has had very different consequences for two neighboring resorts.
At the Kona Village Resort, officials have announced that the property will close for “an extended period” due to substantial property and structural damage.
Kona Village’s more than 200 employees will be laid off April 3, and resort officials said guests with reservations at the property will be contacted by staff and receive a full refund of any deposits.
“We are very sad to close Kona Village Resort,” Patrick Fitzgerald, the property’s president and CEO, said in a statement March 18. “But the damage to the property from this natural disaster is severe enough to render it inoperable.”
More than 20 of the property’s 125 thatched-roof, bungalow-style hales suffered extensive structural damage resulting from tsunami waves that reportedly reached as high as 10 to 12 feet along the Kona coast.
According to resort officials, some of the hales were “completely removed from their foundations based upon the force of the water.” The 82-acre property’s Hale Moana and Hale Samoa restaurants were also damaged along with the Talk Story, Shipwreck and Hale Ho’omau bars, reception, the main office and the resort’s Ocean Activity Center.
Meanwhile, at the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, just a five-minute walk south along the beach, the outlook is a good deal better. Although it too is closed due to tsunami-related water damage, the Hualalai’s general manager, Robert Whitfield, said the resort would reopen April 30.
“We’re so close to the ocean, and we have a lot of furniture in our outdoor spaces, around the pool and on the beach, in the restaurants,” Whitfield said. “And naturally, as the wave came in, all that got moved around a lot. It looked very messy.
“But it’s cleaned up very well. All in all, it’s really a process of cleaning up, continuing the assessment and then restoring the resort, restoring it back to its phenomenal state, and that just takes a little time.”
The tsunami’s surge not only resulted in water damage to the property’s grounds but also dragged in a great deal of sand and debris, which caused damage to the Four Seasons’ pool areas, Beach Tree restaurant, landscaping and 12 guestrooms and suites.
“When the sea water disappears you think everything is OK,” Whitfield said. “And then plant material begins to die off, and there is just some lead time in brining that back. Our focus really is just on bringing the resort back to a pristine condition. … Our guests have expectations, and really it needs to be perfect.”
For those booked at the resort prior to April 30, Whitfield said an effort to relocate guests at the Four Seasons’ three other Hawaii properties started shortly after the decision was made to temporarily close.
“We would be thrilled if people would perhaps reorganize their plans and come back during the summer,” he added. “So anything that we can do to help our guests reorganize their plans or relocate, that’s what our focus is right now.”