Written by Mellisa Tanji

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If you want to stay at a Wailea hotel, be prepared for your credit card to take a hit as the high-end resort area continues to top the state with the highest rates.

Hotel rooms in Wailea averaged a daily rate of $1,000 in March, well ahead of the closest competitor, the Kohala Coast on Hawaii island, which had an average daily rate of around $660 during the same month.

The average daily rate of a Wailea hotel room at $1,000.43 is up nearly 25 percent from the same time last year, when it was $802.72, and up nearly 56 percent from pre-pandemic levels in March 2019, when average rates were $641.76, according to the Hawaii Hotel Performance Report released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority last month.

Occupancy was also up at Wailea hotels to 66.6 percent in March, up 21.4 percentage points from March 2021, when occupancy was 45.2 percent. The state’s Safe Travels program, which was still in full effect last year, ended on March 26, no longer requiring domestic travelers to Hawaii to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to bypass quarantine.

But March’s occupancy rate in Wailea still lagged behind pre-pandemic levels and was down 24 percentage points from March 2019, when Wailea hotels were at 90.6 percent occupancy, according to the report.

Revenue per available room for Wailea hotels was $666.44 in March, up 83.8 percent from $362.68 in March 2021 and up 14.6 percent from $581.66 in March 2019.

Overall, Hawaii hotels statewide reported substantially higher revenue per available room, average daily rate and occupancy in March compared to March 2021, the HTA said.

Average daily rates and revenue per available room throughout the state were all up from 2019 as well. However, the state’s hotels still trailed in terms of occupancy at 75.2 percent, 3.6 percentage points less than the occupancy rate of 78.8 percent in March 2019.

For Maui County hotels in March, occupancy was at 73.5 percent, up 24.3 percentage points from 49.2 percent in 2021 but down 4.9 percentage points from March 2019 when occupancy rates were at 78.4 percent.

Overall, Maui County hotels had an average daily rate of $632.27, up 36 percent from March 2021, when average daily rates were at $464.92, and also up 48.9 percent from the average daily rate of $424.51 in March 2019.

Countywide, revenue per available room in March was $464.66, up 103.1 percent from March 2021, when revenue per available room was at $228.75, and up 39.6 percent from March 2019, when revenue per available room was at $332.89.

Maui County led all islands in average daily rates and revenue per available room but lagged behind all counties in occupancy levels.

The highest hotel occupancy rate was on Hawaii island with 80.3 percent in March, followed by Kauai at 80.1 percent and Oahu with 74 percent.

As for vacation rentals, Maui County had the largest vacation rental supply of all four counties with 197,400 available unit nights in March, down 16.9 percent from March 2021, and down 11.6 percent from March 2019, according to a separate report from the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

Unit demand was 151,000 unit nights, down 6.1 percent from March 2021 and down 18.6 percent from March 2019, resulting in a 76.5 occupancy rate, which is up 8.8 percentage points from March 2021 and down 6.6 percentage points from March 2019.

Average daily rate was at $366, up 29.9 percent from March 2021 and up 33 percent from March 2019.

Overall, vacation rentals across the state reported increase in demand, occupancy and average daily rate in March compared to the same time in 2021, the report said.

In comparison to March 2019, average daily rates was higher this year, but vacation rental supply, demand and occupancy were down.