Four Seasons Bora Bora
As Co-Founder and Co-President of
MSD Hospitality, Ellis O’Connor has
an impressive portfolio of properties
under his leadership, including the
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai and the
Hualalai Resort, both on the Big Island
of Hawaii, and the Fairmont Miramar
Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica
California. Consulting projects he
would also cover are the Four Seasons
Bora Bora, a ground-up development
in Waikiki Beach still waiting on a
name, Oahu, and the Four Seasons
Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.
DO YOU HAVE ANY EXCITING
PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING
ON AT THE MOMENT?
Yes many! The redevelopment
of our Miramar hotel in Santa
Monica, room renovation at
the Four Seasons Maui, we are
planning a room renovation at
Hualalai, helping to stabilize Four
Seasons Ko O’lina, the sale of Four
Seasons Bora Bora and a potential
new build on the East Coast.
WHAT IS YOUR
APPROACH
WHEN
CONSIDERING
NEW
PROPERTIES?
We are long-term
capital and only
have one investor
so we look at non-
seasonal locations
for “once in a
generation” opportunities. Since our
focus is so long term we can ride the
ups and downs of the economy and
don’t have the pressure to generate
the kind of short-term returns that
institutional investors have to respond
to.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE
LATEST ECONOMIC DATA?
HOW DOES IT IMPACT LUXURY
TRAVEL?
All the data I am seeing is positive
and supports the performance we see
in our hotels. According to a STR
report in June of this year market
fundamentals are all up for the broader
US travel industry across all l