WAILUKU >> A luxury resort on Maui will be remodeled to make it more family-oriented.

“It’ll be a new, fresh look, but it’s still going to have that old Hawaii Hana feel,” David MacIlwraith told the Maui News.

MacIlwraith, the new general manager of Travaasa Hana, says the hotel’s $12 million facelift should be complete by early spring. Its 70 guest rooms will remain open during the changes.

“We’re just transitioning more toward a family feel,” MacIlwraith said. “We’ve seen a greater demand. All our family rooms sell out, so we’re looking to offer more of those rooms.”

Travaasa will allow children and families anywhere on its property by the end of July. Currently, children under 16 are banned from the resort’s Sea Ranch Cottage side except during designated “family-friendly periods.”

MacIlwraith is a South Carolina native who previously worked as the general manager at the Volcano House in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. He’s also been the general manager at Death Valley national Park and worked for Vail Resorts Management Company in Colorado.

Moving to Hana has “been great so far,” said MacIlwraith, who officially started his new position on June 8. “We look for unique, beautiful places to work and to raise our son,” who is 11.