For years, the proposed return of Coco Palms on Kauai has felt like one of those hotel projects that was always coming soon, but never quite arriving.
That may finally be changing — although not as quickly as originally promised.
The long-closed Kauai resort, which has been shut down since Hurricane Iniki damaged the property in 1992, has secured a major financing package for its redevelopment. X-Caliber announced that it has provided $431 million in financing for the Coco Palms project. But there’s also a catch: the opening date has moved.
When the project was announced as Coco Palms, A Kimpton Resort, the target opening was 2026. That timeline now appears to be gone. The latest reports point to a projected 2028 opening instead.
Coco Palms Gets $431 Million In Financing
According to X-Caliber, the financing package includes $185.6 million in conventional senior-secured financing and $245.35 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing.
In plain English, part of the money is a more traditional real estate loan, while the rest comes through a financing program tied to energy efficiency and property improvements. For most travelers, the specific structure matters less than the larger takeaway: the Coco Palms redevelopment now has a major funding package behind it.
That’s a significant amount of money for a project that has had more than its share of false starts.
The planned resort is expected to have 351 rooms, including a mix of guest rooms, suites and cottages. The project is also expected to include multiple restaurants and bars, a spa, pools, cultural spaces and other resort amenities.
But The Opening Date Has Slipped To 2028
That said, the timing has changed.
When I wrote about the Coco Palms project earlier this year, the big question was whether Kimpton’s planned Kauai resort was really moving forward, and what kind of market it appeared to be targeting.
At the time, earlier announcements still pointed to a 2026 opening. But that date was already not reasonable since there was no construction on the site. In March, the property owners, Reef Capital Partners, estimated that the property would probably not open until 2028, citing construction delays in Hawaii and on Kauai.
So the story has shifted. This is no longer “Kimpton’s Kauai resort is planned to open in 2026.” It’s now closer to: “Coco Palms finally has serious financing behind it, and an opening target date sometime in 2028.”
A Project With A Long, Complicated History
Coco Palms is not just another closed hotel. The resort was once one of Kauai’s most famous properties. It opened in the 1950s, became associated with old Hawaii glamour and Hollywood travel, and was famously connected to Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii.
But after Hurricane Iniki in 1992, the resort closed and never reopened.
Since then, there have been multiple attempts to bring Coco Palms back. Some plans involved major hotel brands. Others were derailed by financial issues, legal disputes, local opposition, permitting challenges or a combination of all of the above.
That’s why any story about Coco Palms comes with a healthy amount of skepticism. The property has been down this road before, and a projected opening date is not the same thing as an open hotel. And even with financing now in place, this remains a large and complex project, especially on Kauai, where construction is rarely simple.
Why This Update Matters
The reason this latest development feels different is that the project now appears to have actual money behind it.
I know from watching hotel announcements in Orlando that when projects are first announced, it’s easy for the language to get ahead of the reality. We’ve seen way too many hotels that never came to fruition. Renderings, brand announcements and investor materials can make a project sound much further along than it actually is.
That’s what makes the Coco Palms situation compelling. Kimpton and IHG clearly have a vision for the property, positioning it for Hawaii’s growing luxury travel market. But there’s still a difference between a planned resort and one that is actually under construction. This financing announcement narrows that gap.
It doesn’t guarantee that Coco Palms will open in 2028, or even at all. It also doesn’t erase the property’s complicated history. And it doesn’t answer every question about how the finished resort will be received by locals, travelers or long-time observers of the project.
Final Thought
For now, the best way to describe Coco Palms is this: the project looks more real than it has in years, but it’s also going to take longer than originally expected.
The 2026 opening date is now off, with the new target set for 2028. And with $431 million in financing now announced, Coco Palms has moved from “maybe someday” a little closer to “this might actually happen.”
Given the resort’s history, I still wouldn’t treat any opening date as guaranteed until guests are checking in. But this is a meaningful step forward for one of Hawaii’s most closely watched hotel redevelopments.
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