"It’s a beautiful part of the island, away from Waikiki," points out Pat & Doug Bowers from Canada.
They have spent the past 3 years vacationing in Hawaii at the Makaha Resort. But this year only days into their 3-week holiday they discovered their stay would be cut short.
The 300-acre Resort is closing October 31st. The Bowers’ are booked through November 7th.
"If they even had an inkling this was going to happen they should have not booked us for that length of time, it’s very frustrating," says Pat Bowers.
The Makaha Resort is citing financial reasons for shutting its doors at the end of this month. The owners, Northwynd Properties Ltd., says it is closing for renovation and is trying to refinance, but has not secured the capital yet.
95 employees at the resort were notified during a staff meeting Thursday they will be let go including full-time, part-time and on-call workers.
"And it wasn’t only housekeepers there were more, like cooks," says Makaha resident Dejah Kunewa. "I think it’s bad, there’s a lot of people that need help out here, yeah."
Workers were told by managers not to talk about the closure.
"I don’t know why but they said cannot," said an employee as she was leaving work.
Makaha residents say resort employees rely on the hotel for a convenient and nearby place to work.
"It’s a bad time now too because Christmas is coming around the corner, everybody needs money before Christmas and more unemployment is a lot worse on this side because it’s hard to find jobs," says Zach Apao, Makaha resident.
"Oh and the staff that’s who we really feel sorry for them, they’ve always been, all 3 times we’ve been here to the resort, they’ve always been top notch," says Bowers.
In the meantime the Bowers’ will have to find another place to stay.
"We’ve emailed the company, Northwynd to see what will happen if they move us or if we’ll be there with no water and soap," says Bowers.
Makaha Resort says the closure is only temporary, but the owners have not given an anticipated date for re-opening.
See the original article at: KHON2 Developing Stories
