Invest West is Pacifica's parent company and the entity has a"tradition of buying underperforming hotels in good locations,renovating them and getting them back on their feet," says LoriKeller, vice president of sales and marketing for Pacifica. "Thishotel falls exactly into that model."

While the Santa Barbara group is the lead investor, otherplayers are involved in the acquisition. Those include: IWF LLC, aconsortium of Hawaii investors and real estate investors PatrickBeach and Russell Geyser.

The 460-room hotel has two six-story towers, restaurants, shopsand a historical element. "We look forward to further enhancing thevaluable relationships that exist with both Ahuena Heiau Inc. andthe Kona Historical Society," said Pacifica Hotel Co. presidentMike Barnard in a released statement. "We are dedicated to ensuringthat the rich Hawaiian heritage of the area will be incorporatedinto our design plans."