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Hilton Hawaiian Village

Coordinates: 21°16′58″N 157°50′15″W / 21.282656°N 157.837389°W / 21.282656; -157.837389
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Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Map
Hotel chainHilton Hotels & Resorts
General information
LocationHonolulu, Hawaii, United States
Address2005 Kalia Road
OpeningSeptember 5, 1955; 69 years ago (1955-09-05)
OwnerPark Hotels & Resorts
ManagementHilton Worldwide
Design and construction
Architect(s)Edwin L. Bauer
Main contractorFritz B. Burns
Other information
Number of rooms3,386
Website
hiltonhawaiianvillage.com
Hilton Hawaiian Village sign (2015)

The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a resort hotel on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955,[1] and since has grown to become the largest in the Hilton chain of hotels, and one of largest hotels in the world.

Pre-history

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Located on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu. The site was the former village of Kālia, which had many ancient aquaculture fishponds.[2] It was later part of the former Bernice Pauahi Bishop estate (until 1912), and was also the childhood home of Duke Kahanamoku and his many cousins from the Paoa family.[3][4]

The portion of the Bishop estate nearest the ocean beach was developed around 1900 as a small hotel, named the Old Waikiki; then redeveloped in 1928 as the Niumalu Hotel.[5][6][7]

History

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Hawaiian Village Hotel (1955–1960)

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View from the Tapa Tower (2014)

The Hawaiian Village Hotel was conceived, constructed and first administered by Henry J. Kaiser, the same industrialist who built the Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam and founded the Kaiser Permanente health system.

In 1954, Kaiser and developer Fritz B. Burns bought the 16 acres (6.5 ha) Kalia estate of John Ena Jr. and combined it adjacent properties,[8] including the Niumalu Hotel,[5] to construct the Hawaiian Village, converting the flat to a lagoon.[9] They built thatched-roof cottages with 70 guest rooms, The Tapa Room, gardens and three swimming pools and the hotel opened on September 15, 1955.[10] On May 1, 1956, Western Hotels assumed management of the Hawaiian Village Hotel.[11] In 1957, the modern Ocean Tower and the Geodesic Dome were added.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts

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Conrad Hilton bought half of the resort from Henry J. Kaiser in 1961. Hilton Hotels & Resorts assumed management on February 1, 1961, renaming the resort the Hilton Hawaiian Village.[8][12] It cost $21.5 million USD when it was purchased in 1961, which was considered an unusually high price.[12] Elvis Presley stayed at the hotel soon after while filming Blue Hawaii. In 1968, the resort's iconic Rainbow Tower opened, with the world's largest and tallest ceramic tile mosaic on its facade, an image of a rainbow measuring 26 feet wide and 286 feet tall, which required over 16,000 individual tiles. The Tapa Tower was added in 1982, and the original Ocean Tower was gutted and rebuilt in 1987, with the addition of two floors, at which point it was renamed the Ali'i Tower. The 25-story Kalia Tower was added in 2001.

The hotel might be best known as the location for the popular TV series Hawaiian Eye, which aired on ABC from 1959 to 1963. (The purchase by Hilton was duly noted by the changed signage in 1961.) However, only second-unit footage was filmed there; the bulk of the series was shot at Warner Bros.' studio in Burbank.

In 1999, The Hilton Hawaiian Village was used as a taping location for two weeks of Wheel of Fortune episodes.[13] It would again be used for taping sessions in 2001.[14]

In 2006, Hilton Hotels received $25 million in settlement of its lawsuit over toxic mold grown in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower.[15] Then, in 2015, the hotel was inducted into Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[16]

Today, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel sits on over 22 acres (8.9 ha) of beachfront property, near the Ala Moana Center. It features the largest swimming pool in Waikiki, over twenty-two restaurants, exotic wildlife, and botanical gardens, Duke's Lagoon and historical exhibits on loan from the Bishop Museum.

2024 strike

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On September 24, 2024, 1,800 employees at the hotel would go on strike.[17] As of October 23, 2024, all of these 1,800 Hilton Hawaiian Villege employees remain on strike.[18]

Village plan

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The Grand Islander (2021)

The main concept of the Hawaiian Village was to provide a complete Hawaiian experience for guests without leaving the resort, meaning guests could potentially stay at the resort the whole duration of their stay and be equipped with restaurants, shops, and more.

In building the Hawaiian Village Hotel, Kaiser developed the "village plan" for his resort. In the village plan, various sections of the development were designed in specific types of motifs indicative of the culture of the hotel's surroundings. The various villages in the present-day Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa surround centerpiece towers: Diamond Head Tower, Ali'i Tower, Tapa Tower, Rainbow Tower, Lagoon Tower, Kalia Tower, Grand Waikikian and Grand Islander. The newest tower is the Grand Islander, which was opened to the public March 1, 2017.[19]

Kaiser's village plan is now used in various layouts of hotels and resorts throughout the world.

Wildlife

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The Village Hotel includes a small pond filled with several types of turtles (box and soft-shelled). Other animals that live on the grounds include several types of ducks, lesser flamingos, sacred ibis, black-crowned night herons, koi fish, chameleons, macaws, and parakeets. As of 2014, Hilton Hawaiian Village relocated their 3 remaining South African black-footed penguins to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.[20][21]

Geodesic dome

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The geodesic dome (1965)

The village was the site one of the earlier geodesic domes constructed in the United States, named the Kaiser Aluminum Dome. It was used as a music and entertainment venue.

Wanting an auditorium at the Honolulu village, Henry Kaiser acquired the license to produce geodesic domes following the design work of Buckminster Fuller. An aluminum-skinned dome with a 145 ft (44 m)-wide span was manufactured at the company's plant in Oakland, California and shipped to Hawaii in 1957. When Kaiser understood that the materials had arrived in Hawaii, he flew from San Francisco to follow the construction — only to discover the building was already complete, having been constructed in only 22 hours.[22]

Many records of the golden age of Exotica, notably most of Arthur Lyman's albums, were recorded at the dome, renowned for its acoustics and natural reverberation. It was demolished in 1999 to make room for the Kalia Tower. [22][23]

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  • Hilton Hawaiian Village boardwalk
    Hilton Hawaiian Village boardwalk
  • Panorama of Hilton Hawaiian Village
    Panorama of Hilton Hawaiian Village
  • Penguins at the Hilton Hawaiian Village
    Penguins at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

References

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  1. ^ "Hilton Hawaiian Village® Waikiki Beach Resort". Historic Hotels of America.
  2. ^ Wyban, Carol Araki (August 31, 2020). Tide and Current: Fishponds of Hawai'i. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-8652-3.
  3. ^ Nendel, James D.; The Pennsylvania State University (2006). Duke Kahanamoku: Twentieth Century Hawaiian Monarch. Pennsylvania State University. pp. 1–13. ISBN 0-542-84320-X.
  4. ^ Hall, Sandra Kimberly. (2004). Duke: A Great Hawaiian. Honolulu, HI: Bess Press. p. 17. ISBN 1-57306-230-8.
  5. ^ a b "Mainland Syndicate Seeking to Buy Niumalu Hotel at Waikiki". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. January 11, 1950. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Ruymar, Lorene (1996). The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians. Centerstream Publications. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-57424-021-4.
  7. ^ Thrum, Thomas G. (1925). Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1926. Vol. 52–55. Honolulu: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. p. 125.
  8. ^ a b Clark, John R. K. (May 14, 2003). Hawaii Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites. University of Hawaii Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-8248-6278-7.
  9. ^ "Hilton Chain of Hotels Appoints Real-Estate Man to a High Post; Fritz B. Burns, a Builder and Developer, Is Named New Vice Chairman". The New York Times. August 18, 1964. p. 38. ISSN 0362-4331.
  10. ^ "Alfred Aholo Apaka: Hawaii's Golden Voice volume 5" (PDF). 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 14, 2018.
  11. ^ "Westin Hotels & Resorts - Employee Information". Archived from the original on July 17, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Schaefers, Allison (April 25, 2011). "Hilton marks 50 years in isles". Honolulu Star Advertiser. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
  13. ^ "800 make the cut to spin the Wheel of Fortune". Star-Bulletin. January 11, 1999. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  14. ^ "'Fortune' smiles on two Kaua'i game-show contestants". The Garden Island. February 21, 2001. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  15. ^ "Hilton gets $25M from mold lawsuit". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. May 3, 2006. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  16. ^ "Hotel History - Hilton Hawaiian Village® Waikiki Beach Resort". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
  17. ^ "Over 1,800 hotel workers begin 'open-ended' strike at Hawaii's largest resort". Hawaii News Now. September 24, 2024. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "Hilton Hawaiian Village workers mark 30 days on strike". Hawaii Public Radio. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
  19. ^ "Timeshare News: Hilton Grand Vacations To Acquire Diamond Resorts International". Maui Now. March 15, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  20. ^ "Penguins break the ice for visitors to the Hilton". The Honolulu Advertiser. May 11, 2007. p. 137. Retrieved March 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Honore, Marcel (August 29, 2022). "Could The End Be Near For Hawaii's Resort Penguins?". Honolulu Civil Beat. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Kaiser Aluminum Dome, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki". Docomomo-hi.org. Hawai'i Modernism Library. 1957. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  23. ^ Sigall, Bob (January 13, 2012). "Distinctive geodesic dome was razed for hotel's tower". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
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21°16′58″N 157°50′15″W / 21.282656°N 157.837389°W / 21.282656; -157.837389

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