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Hawaii’s World
THE biggest and best resort complex in Waikiki is about to get bigger and better. Already, at the intersection of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalia Road, trees are being planted that will soften the image of Hilton Hawaiian Village's newest tower. Soon lagoons and waterfalls will appear. Hawaiian Village
is expandingBy May the new Kalia Tower will be ready to take its first guests, even though its two-floor spa won't open until a month or two later.
By that time, the Bishop Museum should have opened a branch on the tower's second-floor terrace where guests and the public can learn about Hawaiian history since 400 A.D. and even learn to make and taste poi.
Peter H. Schall, the Village's managing director, used mostly superlatives to describe to me what is coming. Sketches and models suggest it is true.
The same architectural firm that designed much of the present Village and Hawaii Convention Center -- WAT&G -- is at work on this project. Kalia Tower and the convention center will be worthy partners, since both are intended to draw more business visitors to Hawaii.
Kalia Tower's rooms will have the latest in high-tech equipment for work and communicating with the world. Nearly all rooms will have superb ocean views. The roof of the Village parking structure that they look down on will be painted to resemble a giant Hawaiian quilt.
Super-posh will be the top four floors of the 25-story structure. They will have their own concierge, a special lounge and meeting rooms and amenities for their guests only.
Not to worry, though, for regular guests. They will live high on the hog, too.
The main lobby ceiling is 40 feet. Hawaiian murals will carry the outside ambience inside. The lobby's Niumalu Restaurant will have both indoor and outdoor tables.
Atop the overpass connecting the tower to the parking structure and Coral Ballroom and meeting rooms will be a pool.
With Kalia Tower, the Village will have 3,000 guest rooms in five main towers amid pools and gardened surroundings. Both former Presidents Bush and Clinton chose the beachside Alii Tower for Hawaii stopovers. In addition to the hotel rooms, the Lagoon Tower has been fancily refurbished for vacation rentals.
The Village's redesign a few years ago focuses all activity toward the beachfront and provides good viewing for weekly Friday night fireworks. Hilton has acquired future expansion room in the former Waikikian Hotel site between it and the Ilikai Hotel.
KALIA Tower is the first new hotel tower in Waikiki since the Hawaii Prince opened 10 years ago. To encourage more, the state and city are offering tax concessions for both new construction and renovation.
There is a good bit of renovation activity as a result but no new hotel towers are committed. Space controls are such that to build a new one may require tearing down an old one with income lost in the interim.
What are jumping in Waikiki are new shopping centers, just opened and under construction, that will enhance it as a major shopping destination for East-West items.
Schall watches all of this with great pride. German-born and German-trained in hotel operation at some of Europe's most famous resorts and in Paris, he joined the organization in Washington, D.C., in 1965. Hawaii has been his post for the last 14 years.
He is Hilton's area vice-president for all its Hawaii hotels. There are few places, he says, that can match Hawaii for scenic beauty, clean air, desirable climate and the Hawaiian culture of hospitality.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.