Sunday, June 09, 2013

Wailea Maui 1978

At SSP this week I met with someone who told me that they were missing their annual Hawaii holiday in Wailea this year because of circumstances beyond their control.  Here's what it looked like just after we arrived there in 1977.  These images were taken several months apart from our living room window.  The large white building was at the time a Westin Hotel and had been the first hotel in Wailea (1975).  No chain could ever make it profitable.  It had a disco but no dancers.

The land in the foreground was Kiave (Kee ah Vey) scrub land but by 1980 it was covered with condos.  The beach didn't fare much better; In 1980 we were hit with a hurricane and a lot of the sand was washed away for years thereafter.



3 comments:

Marquita said...

Great photo, but there's SO much more to the Wailea story! I moved to Maui in 1977 as well and later worked at the Inter-Continental Wailea Resort that would end up taking much of that vacant land in your photos. While I will admit to missing the days when we had so much more open space on the Island, of any commercial zone here, Wailea is the best planned and one of the most beautiful places to enjoy a visit to Maui.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Marquita. I moved to Kihei in 1977 and worked at the Intercontinental for a little under two years. I worked at the restaurant by the pool. Mostly mornings, breakfast, and lunch. I still consider it my time spent there a gift and one of the best times of my life.

MC said...

Photos were taken from the Intercontinental looking north towards the Westin Maui (now Andaz Maui). Anon I probably knew you if you worked at the pool. My father was the hotel general manager and our family lived at the hotel.