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| Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort | |
|---|---|
 Hilton Hawaiian Village | |
 Interactive map of Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort | |
| Hotel chain | Hilton Hotels & Resorts |
| General information | |
| Location | 2005 Kalia Road,Honolulu,Hawaii, United States |
| Opening | September 5, 1955; 70 years ago (1955-09-05) |
| Owner | Park Hotels & Resorts |
| Management | Hilton Worldwide |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Edwin L. Bauer |
| Main contractor | Fritz B. Burns |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 3,386 |
| Website | |
| hiltonhawaiianvillage | |
TheHilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is a resort hotel onWaikiki Beach inHonolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955,[1] and since has grown to become the largest in theHilton chain of hotels. It is one oflargest hotels in the world and the largest in the US outside ofLas Vegas.
Located on the Hawaiian island ofO'ahu. The site was the former village ofKālia, which had many ancient aquaculturefishponds.[2] It was later part of the formerBernice Pauahi Bishop estate (until 1912), and was also the childhood home ofDuke 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]
TheHawaiian Village Hotel was conceived, constructed and first administered byHenry J. Kaiser, the same industrialist who built theHoover Dam andGrand Coulee Dam and founded theKaiser Permanente health system.
In 1954, Kaiser and developer Fritz B. Burns bought the 16 acres (6.5 ha) Kalia estate ofJohn 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.
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 theHilton Hawaiian Village.[8][12] It cost $21.5 millionUSD when it was purchased in 1961, which was considered an unusually high price.[12]Elvis Presley stayed at the hotel soon after while filmingBlue 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 seriesHawaiian 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 atWarner Bros.' studio in Burbank.
In 1999, The Hilton Hawaiian Village was used as a taping location for two weeks ofWheel 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 overtoxic mold grown in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Kalia Tower.[15] Then, in 2015, the hotel was inducted intoHistoric Hotels of America, the official program of theNational Trust for Historic Preservation.[16]
Today, the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel sits on over 22 acres (8.9 ha) of beachfront property, near theAla 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 theBishop Museum.
On September 24, 2024, 1,800 employees at the hotel would go on strike.[17] As of October 30, 2024, all of these 1,800 Hilton Hawaiian Village employees remained on strike.[18] On November 4, 2024, the strike ended after the over 1,800 striking workers, all of whom where members ofUNITE HERE Local 5, voted to ratify a new labor contract.[19][20] The striking workers would return to work by November 6, 2024.[21]
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.[22]
Kaiser's village plan is now used in various layouts of hotels and resorts throughout the world.
The Village Hotel includes a small pond filled with several types ofturtles (box andsoft-shelled). Other animals that live on the grounds include several types ofducks,lesser flamingos,sacred ibis,black-crowned night herons,koi fish,chameleons,macaws, andparakeets. As of 2014, Hilton Hawaiian Village relocated their 3 remaining South Africanblack-footed penguins to theMaryland Zoo inBaltimore.[23][24]
The village was the site one of the earliergeodesic domes constructed in the United States, named theKaiser Aluminum Dome. It was used as a music and entertainment venue.
Wanting an auditorium at the Honolulu village, Henry Kaiser acquired the license to producegeodesic domes following the design work ofBuckminster Fuller. An aluminum-skinned dome with a 145 ft (44 m)-wide span was manufactured at the company's plant inOakland, 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.[25]
Many records of the golden age ofExotica, notably most ofArthur 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.[25][26]
21°16′58″N157°50′15″W / 21.282656°N 157.837389°W /21.282656; -157.837389
