Week #3

We went for breakfast this morning to the SeaWatch Restaurant in Wailea, the trendiest area of Maui. The restaurant is part of the Wailea Golf Club and green fees are $199. The restaurant was surprisingly reasonably priced for the area. If you are going to eat out, breakfast is definitely the meal to do it. Unfortunately, the weather could have been better, but the view was spectacular, and we were with two other couples who provided good company, one from Oregon and one from Winnipeg.
Afterwards, we stopped at the Shops of Wailea, also very trendy – “Gucci, Rolex, Tommy Bahama, etc”. Marlene ordered her outfit for Katrina’s wedding, so that item is off her to do list. She will miss the looking, with still nine weeks here to do it in!
On Wednesday I attended a social of the Kihei-Wailea Rotary Club, which is the Club I attend while here. Their weekly meeting was Thursday this week, so they could attend an Interact meeting at a school upcountry, so thus the social on their regular meeting day. I met a Rotarian on Wednesday who is a realtor/property manager who works in the Wailea area, and his numbers are mind boggling. In his property management business, he only does 30 day rentals, but his rates are from $9,000 to $35,000 per month. He thinks his $35m unit; at $1,250 per night is exceptional value. Why anyone who can afford property of this value would want some stranger sleeping in his bed is beyond me. On the other hand, maybe that is the only way they can afford it, by renting out when they don’t use. He did add that his occupancy rate is only 35-40%! (That's the occupancy, not the vacancy rate)
We are greeting new participants this weekend and it is a small class. Not only is funding tight, but getting participants to leave careers for four weeks to attend here, is also a challenge. We always look forward to meeting new participants from Asia, Africa, Latin and South America.