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Hotels flush On Thursday night, the toilet in Peggy Painter's Waikiki hotel room wasn't flushing.
with marathoners
but no running water
Nearly 400 rooms at the
Park Shore and Aston
Waikiki Grand went dryBy Rosemarie Bernardo
Star-Bulletin"The next thing you knew, it was the next morning and there was no water at all," said Painter, 51, of Phoenix, Ariz. "My husband showered at Waikiki Beach."
The Painters were among numerous guests at the Park Shore and Aston Waikiki Grand hotels who went without running water from early morning until at least noon yesterday.
A 12-inch water main break on Kapahulu Avenue yesterday morning caused the problem.
The Park Shore Hotel was at its full 227-room capacity because of the Honolulu Marathon tomorrow. About 180 rooms from the 6th to 18th floors still didn't have running water as of late yesterday.
The Board of Water Supply was notified at 4:17 a.m. yesterday about the break. Crew members closed six valves and stopped the flow of water at around 6:30 a.m.
Workers used jackhammers and backhoes to dig six feet under the street to replace the ruptured pipe.
The Board of Water Supply provided the hotels with a water wagon until crew members hooked a bypass from a nearby fire hydrant yesterday afternoon to bring water to the hotel. McDonalds of Palolo provided the Park Shore water coolers in the lobby, pool deck and employee area.Board of Water Supply supervisor Sheldon Ganeau said pipe conditions or traffic are possible reasons for the rupture.
ABC store manager Kevin Chung said he and his staff spent three hours yesterday morning clearing water about three inches deep that had flowed along Kapahulu Avenue into the store.
Park Shore general manager Paul Tomonari said the disruption led to several hotel patrons checking out because there was no guarantee what time water would be made available. Hotel management rented four rooms at the hotel's expense -- two at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel and two at the Hawaiian Waikiki Beach Hotel --to provide guests with showers.
"The hotel was really sweet and really apologetic," Painter said. "It wasn't their fault."
Tomonari said, "We're trying to do the best we can to provide the most remedies."
Susie Anglin of Minnesota, who arrived at the Park Shore with her husband, Dennis, Thursday night, agreed the situation "was a little inconvenient."
About 172 rooms at the Aston Waikiki Grand Hotel were affected by the break, said general manager Charlotte Caster. Management provided guests with showers in the recreation room at a sister hotel, the Aston Waikiki Sunset on Paoakalani Avenue.
"I didn't really have anybody that was extremely upset," she said. "Under the circumstances, it all went pretty well."