MAUI The estate of King Kamehameha III, who ruled Hawaii from 1825 to 1854, has filed a notice with a U.S. bankruptcy court claiming ownership of Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui.
The land on which the Waldorf Astoria-branded resort is located is part of the king’s estate and was inherited by his children, according to the estate. The 780-key resort is part of a portfolio controlled by MSR Resorts, which filed for bankruptcy protection last month after being seized by lenders, including Paulson & Co.
Claims on royal properties are “misinformed,” the estate says, and it demands that legal claims for the resort be withdrawn. The U.S. “is obligated by law to refrain from intermeddling in foreign royal patented probate estates affairs,” the letter says, according to Bloomberg.
Other properties included in the bankruptcy are La Quinta Resort & Club PGA West in California, Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Claremont Resort & Spa in California and Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix.