Queen of Waikiki has happy escort in Moana guide

Tony Bissen loves the Moana. He loves walking around the venerable hotel affectionately known as "The First Lady of Waikiki."

He loves meeting and talking to guests, many of whom return year after year.

But most of all, Bissen loves telling stories about the Moana, which is why he's perfectly suited for the role he has held as the hotel's Ambassador of Aloha for the past 10 years.

PUBLIC TOURS What: Sheraton Moana Surfrider Historical Tour Place: 2365 Kalakaua Ave., Waikiki. Meet at the Historical Room, second floor. You don't have to be a guest at the hotel. When: 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reservations not necessary. Admission: Free Call: 922-3111 Web site: www.moanasurfrider.com

One of Bissen's primary responsibilities is leading the hour-long Historical Tour, which begins in the hotel's second-floor lobby. Here, an array of memorabilia in gleaming wood-and-glass cabinets recall the Moana's colorful past.

The Moana was one of Honolulu's grandest structures when it opened on March 11, 1901. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser reported the following day, "Magnificent of exterior and interior and bearing in every detail the stately outlines of the old Colonial period, the new hostelry rivals even the finest hotels which are to be seen in the most metropolitan cities on the mainland or on the continent. Furnished throughout with rare taste -- the rooms of each floor of the hotel are models of neatness and convenience."

Standing four stories high, the Moana was Waikiki's tallest building at the time (two more stories and wings on each side were added in 1918). On the first floor were a billiard room, saloon, ladies' parlor, music room and library. The elegant dining room extended to the water's edge.

Hawaii's first electric-powered elevator provided access to the guest floors, each furnished in a different wood: white oak, oak, mahogany and maple. Rooms featured amenities such as marble washstands, shiny brass bedsteads and the brand-new innovations of a telephone and private bath. The opening-night room rate was $1.50.

Although the hotel's official name is now Sheraton Moana Surfrider, it's still known simply as "the Moana" (ocean) in reference to its locale. Over the years it has welcomed luminaries including George Burns, Shirley Temple, Amelia Earhart, Joe DiMaggio, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Will Rogers.

BISSEN SAID before he started working at the hotel, "I knew basically nothing about it. When I took the job, I was given some information, but I didn't feel it was enough."

So during his free time he frequented libraries and the archives, where he discovered little stories that added up to a colorful story that he has woven into the narration for his tours.

One of Bissen's favorite tales concerns the mammoth Indian banyan beside which guests now enjoy mai tais and live Hawaiian music. In 1904 the hotel's general manager, J.H. Hertsche, requested that a tree be planted to provide shade and beautify the seaside grounds. Recognizing it would have to be hardy enough to grow in sandy soil, the choices were narrowed to the banyan, ironwood and royal poinciana.

The hotel's owner, Walter Peacock, selected the banyan, and a 7-foot specimen was obtained from the Territory of Hawaii's Department of Agriculture.

"Workers dug a hole for the tree and threw a dead mongoose into it as fertilizer," says Bissen. "Mr. Peacock planted the tree, and it now stands 75 feet tall and 150 feet across."

For more than three decades, the banyan remained largely unnoticed. Then, in 1935, the weekly two-hour radio show "Hawaii Calls" began broadcasting beneath its branches. The show entranced audiences for the next 40 years; during its heyday in the 1950s, it was carried by 750 stations worldwide.

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In 1979 the stately banyan became one of the first trees to be recognized by the City and County of Honolulu as an "exceptional tree," defined as "a tree, stand or grove of trees with historic or cultural value because of its age, rarity, location, size, beauty or endemic status."

When the Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II, Waikiki's beaches were lined with barbed wire, and the neighboring Royal Hawaiian Hotel became an R&R center for submariners. With rooms going for 75 cents a night, the Moana remained opened to civilians, but most of its guests were military personnel.

Says Bissen, "Many veterans come on the tour and reminisce about how much they enjoyed having cocktails under the banyan and being on the beach -- even with barbed wire all around. They say, 'I remember when there was virtually nothing else in Waikiki,' and their eyes start to water. When they talk about the war, you can tell they still feel deep emotions."

AFTER THE WAR ended in 1945, Matson's sleek liners began bringing scores of visitors to Hawaii from the West Coast. Matson had purchased the Moana in 1928 and set up shops and offices where the registration desk is now.

During the extensive $50 million, 20-month restoration of the hotel that began in 1987, workers discovered the ceiling in the area actually was false; beneath it, in excellent condition, was the intricate coffered ceiling that had been installed during the 1918 renovation.

The decision was made to preserve the original ceiling, says Bissen.

The Moana has been designated one of the Historic Hotels of America, and its Banyan Wing (the central section dating to 1901) is on the National Register of Historic Places -- its architecture can't be altered in any way.

Reserve time before or after the tour to view the second-floor exhibits. Dozens of items are showcased, from postcards, room keys and photos to brochures, sheet music and the striking Matson menu covers that have become collector's items.

Displays spotlight old Waikiki; Oliver Traphagen, the Moana's architect; British tea service, a tradition introduced at the Moana in 1918 that continues today; and the christening gown worn by Julia Moana Kuhn, who was born in 1903 in the employee annex that once stood beside the hotel. Her parents were Max Kuhn, a marine engineer working at the hotel, and his Swedish wife, Sadie, whom he had met while she was working as an au pair for a vacationing family. "Baby Moana" wound up in Hollywood in the 1920s, dancing in chorus lines with other aspiring young film stars like Joan Crawford and Janet Gaynor.

There's a story behind every item, and hundreds more are kept in storage. "Unfortunately, we don't have room to display them all," Bissen says.

Each year, about 3,000 people go on the Historical Tour, and Bissen never gets tired of being their host. "I have a special relationship with this hotel, and I love sharing what I know," he says. "Some people have done the tour two, three, even four times. They say, 'Tony, I did the tour with you a year ago, but I'm doing it again because I enjoyed it so much.'"

To Bissen the Moana truly is a special landmark.

"She's beautiful," he said. "She's dignified. She has an incredible history and an air of sophistication about her. Walk down Kalakaua Avenue and you see all these high-rises. To me, so what? There are high-rises anywhere you go, but there's nothing else like the First Lady of Waikiki."

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