Outrigger Hotels & Resorts: No longer a family owned business in Hawaii

The Kelley family is no longer running Outrigger Hotels and Resorts.

The Kelley family is no longer running Outrigger Hotels and Resorts.

In November 2016 KSL Resorts announced that it planned to buy the family business started about seven decades ago by Roy and Estelle Kelley. The transaction included all 37 hotels, condominiums and vacation resort properties operated, owned and managed by Outrigger.

Outrigger was founded by Roy and Estelle Kelley who opened their first hotel in 1947. The company’s first hotel to carry the Outrigger name was the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach, which opened in 1967. In 1986, Outrigger became the largest hotel chain in Hawaii when its room count pushed over 7,000.

In 1999, Outrigger created a new brand, Ohana Hotels and Resorts to better market its more moderately priced three-star properties, while keeping the Outrigger brand for its higher-end four-star and luxury properties. Ohana is a Hawaiian word meaning “family”.


David Carey, who is married to the former Kathy Kelley, granddaughter of Outriggerโ€™s founders, will step down as president and CEO to serve on the companyโ€™s advisory board.

The company announced last week that KSL Resorts coโ€founder and CEO Scott Dalecio overlook Outrigger.

Dalecio, who has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, said KSL plans to build on Outriggerโ€™s strengths and take the company to its next phase of growth. The company, which once owned the Grand Wailea on Maui and currently provides management services for California-based Hotel del Coronado, has significant hospitality experience.

Besides being known as the largest privately owned Hawaiian Hotel Group, Outrigger also owned hotels in Guam, Thailand, and Maldives. KSL Capital, the new owner is planning to expand in North America and Mexico,

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Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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