What Are Condo Hotels or Condotels?

In Honolulu, and especially Waikiki, there are a number of condo hotels. commonly referred to as condotels. These can make a great vacation property purchase as many offer the advantages of being able to use the property when you are on vacation and let the property be rented out to hotel guests at other times, producing income to offset some expenses of ownership.

In an interview with Joel Greene, President of the Condo Hotel Center, a brokerage “specializing in selling condo hotels in the pre-construction phases, which appeared online at “the Bigger Pockets Blog“, an online real estate magazine, someof the basics are described.

Here is a part of the interview:

“BP:
What is a condo hotel or condotel?

GREENE:
Think of it as buying a condominium, although one that is part of a 4 or 5-star hotel. Therefore, as an owner, when you are on vacation, you will get the benefit of more 4-5-star services and amenities than you’d get in a typical condominium.

The big difference between a hotel and a condo hotel is that a hotel typically has one owner, either individual or corporate, but condo hotels are sold off unit by unit. Therefore, a 300 room condo hotel could have as many as 300 unit owners. A hotel guest will likely never know that the hotel has tons of owners because every room in the rental program will look identical to every other.

Condo hotels are sold as second, third, fourth or fifth homes, for that matter, but they are not typically sold as primary residences. In fact, many of them limit the unit owner’s usage of the unit because their unit is wanted and expected to be included in the hotel’s inventory of rentable units.

As the owner of a condo hotel unit, you may place your unit into the hotel’s rental program where it will be maintained and rented out for you, just like any other room in the hotel. As owner, you receive a share of the revenue that the rental of your room generates.”

Read the rest of the Interview: What Are Condo Hotels or Condotels? A Primer