STAR-BULLETIN / 2002
After being closed for more than a year for mold cleanup costing $55 million, the 453-room Kalia Tower at Hilton Hawaiian Village is scheduled to reopen on Sept. 1.
Hilton turning
the page on moldThe Waikiki resort is ready
to reopen its Kalia Tower
after fixing a mold problem
More than one year and $55 million in cleanup costs later, the mold is gone, and the Hilton Hawaiian Village is ready to reopen its 453-room Kalia Tower, shut down just a year after it was built.
Except for a small ceremony for employees, officials say little fanfare is expected on Sept. 1, when the 25-story tower reopens to guests.
"It took a while to get it fixed, but we wanted to make sure we did it right," said Kathy Shepard, a Hilton Hotels Corp. spokeswoman in Beverly Hills, Calif.
The reopening of the tower, which cost $95 million to build, caps a tumultuous 13 months for Hilton that included accusations that the hotel chain did not address the problem early enough, mounting cleanup costs, lawsuits and millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Year-old furnishings in all the rooms were removed and replaced, and any found with mold were destroyed. Drapes and wallpaper throughout the hotel also were replaced.
No serious health problems have been reported from the mold, but the tab for cleanup alone was more than five times the original $10 million estimate. The Hilton complex, with 2,979 other rooms, remained open throughout the cleanup.
"Obviously, we wanted the situation to be remedied," Shepard said. "We just worked as quickly as possible to get it fixed."
When it opened in May 2001, the Kalia Tower was touted as a symbol of a revitalized Waikiki, adding rooms to the sprawling beachfront complex that has played host to everyone from U.S. presidents and international leaders to show biz royalty such as Michael Jackson. It was the first new commercial hotel structure to open in Waikiki in a decade.
Mold -- the unwelcome guest -- first was discovered June 7 last year, prompting the hotel to cordon off sections of the tower until the infestation became so pervasive that the health risk forced the closure of all rooms on July 24.
Outside consultants flown in to study the problem identified the grayish mildew as belonging to the group of eurotium mold, which can irritate the eyes, nose and throat. Exposure to the mold also can trigger more serious respiratory diseases such as asthma and an inflammatory reaction called hypersensitivity pneumonitis, Hilton officials said.
Another form of mold found in one of the village's other five towers was contained using a special kind of paint, said George Hayward, a Hilton Hawaiian Village spokesman.
Solving the problem in the new Kalia Tower was not as simple.
Hilton spent $20 million on consulting and investigation fees and another $35 million for capital costs such as replacing furniture and cleaning ventilation systems, Shepard said.
Company officials had no estimates on how much revenue has been lost while the rooms sat empty.
According to an Internet rate search, a room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village during the week of Aug. 11 would run from $219 to $619 per night. While rates vary per season, if the Kalia Tower averaged an occupancy of 200 rooms per day in August all at the $219 rate, the lost room revenue would be about $1.4 million for this month alone.
Hilton has sued 18 companies and individuals, blaming architects, engineers, construction companies and inspection firms for the massive mold problem.
In the lawsuit, Hilton says several design and construction defects were discovered that were "substantial factors" leading to the proliferation of mold. Hilton contends that the tower, as designed, basically acted as a giant vacuum that sucked in humid outside air because of low internal pressure.
Hayward said Hilton would not comment on pending litigation.
The hotel also is being sued by a Florida man seeking a refund of rent he paid during an 18-day stay at the Kalia Tower last July. According to the lawsuit, Jeff Moffett, his wife and son asked four times to be moved after noticing damp bedsheets, and were given four different reasons why they could not be moved.
Moffett, who is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit, contends Hilton knew of the mold problem, accusing the company of deception and nondisclosure. The lawsuit seeks only room rent refunds and does not make any health-related claims.
Most health complaints came from workers who said they suffered from eye, nose and throat irritation, although a survey of 300 employees performed by a Utah doctor hired by Hilton found no serious problems.
About 40 employees, mostly housekeepers, were put to work in other towers but had to have their hours cut, said Jason Ward, a spokesman for Local 5 of the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees union.
The union, which represents 1,500 workers at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, said it had brought reports of mold to the attention of management months before the announced closing of the tower.
Ward said he believes Hilton could have saved itself a lot of money -- and headache -- simply by acting earlier.
"We had heard from our members that some of the housekeepers had reported mold long before" the closure, Ward said. "I think Local 5 has full confidence in the remediation work that has been done, but we still are not satisfied with the way Hilton handled the whole mold issue."
