The Moana Hotel is a historic hotel building in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, located at 2365 Kalākaua Avenue in the

Waikiki Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...

neighborhood. Built in the late 19th century as the first hotel in Waikiki, the Moana opened in 1901. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The hotel was also inducted int
Historic Hotels of America
the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in 1989. The building is currently part of the resort complex known as Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa and is managed by

Westin Hotels & Resorts Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline. History Wester ...

History

Moana Hotel

The wealthy Honolulu landowner Walter Chamberlain Peacock, in an effort to establish a fine resort in the previously neglected

area of

, incorporated the Moana Hotel Company in 1896. Working with a design by architect

Oliver G. Traphagen Oliver Green Traphagen (3 September 1854 – 21 October 1932) was an American architect who designed many notable buildings in Duluth, Minnesota, during the late 19th century and in the Territory of Hawaii during the early 20th century. Among h ...

and $150,000 in capital, The Lucas Brothers contractors completed the structure in 1901. Construction of The Moana marked the beginning of tourism in

, becoming the first hotel amidst the bungalows and beach houses. In Hawaiian, ''moana'' means ''open sea'' or ''ocean.'' The Moana's

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

was influenced by European styles popular at the time, with

Ionic columns The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

and intricate woodwork and plaster detailing throughout the building. The Moana was designed with a grand porte cochere on the street side and wide lānais on the ocean side. Some of the 75 guest rooms had telephones and bathrooms (unusual at the time), and the hotel featured a billiard room, saloon, main parlor, reception area, and library. Peacock installed the first electric-powered

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

in the islands at the Moana, which is still in use. Design features of the original structure that survive to this day include extra-wide hallways (to accommodate steamer trunks), high ceilings, and cross-ventilation windows (to cool the rooms prior to air conditioning). The Moana officially opened on March 11, 1901. Its first guests were a group of

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

, who paid $1.50 per night for their rooms. Peacock did not find success with his endeavor and sold the hotel on May 2, 1905 to

Alexander Young Alexander Young may refer to: * Alexander Young (bishop) (died 1684), 17th century Scottish prelate *Alexander Young (engineer) (1833–1910), Scottish engineer and businessman who became a citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii *Alexander Young (musicia ...

, a prominent Honolulu businessman who also owned the adjacent Honolulu Seaside Hotel and the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu. After Young died in 1910, his Territorial Hotel Company operated the hotel. The Moana grew along with the popularity of Hawaiian tourism. Two floors were added in 1918, along with

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

-styled concrete wings on each side of the hotel, creating its ''H''-shape seen today. In 1925, the hotel opened a series of wood frame bungalows on a large plot of land directly across Kalakaua Avenue, where the ʻĀinahau estate of Princess Kaʻiulani had been located. The

Matson Navigation Company Matson may refer to: * Matson (surname) *Matson, Gloucester, England, a suburb of Gloucester *Matson, Missouri, an unincorporated community * 2586 Matson, an asteroid * Matson, Inc., a shipping company, formerly Matson Navigation Company * Matson F ...

and

Castle & Cooke Castle & Cooke, Inc., is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture, including becoming, through mergers with the modern Dole F ...

bought a controlling interest in the Territorial Hotel Company in 1925, in order to demolish their Honolulu Seaside Hotel and construct the

Royal Hawaiian Hotel The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is a beachfront luxury hotel located in Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It is part of The Luxury Collection brand of Marriott International. One of the first hotels established in Waikiki, the Royal ...

on the site. Tourism to Hawaii collapsed due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and the Territorial Hotel Company declared bankruptcy in September 1933, with Matson assuming control of their hotels through its Hawaii Properties Ltd. division, and Castle & Cooke writing off their investment. Throughout the 1930s, the hotel was known as the Moana-Seaside Hotel & Bungalows, taking on the name of its demolished neighbor. In 1941, Hawaii Properties Ltd. was dissolved and Matson assumed direct control of the hotel. The hotel's outward appearance was altered slightly over the years, including "updates" to such designs as

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

in the 1930s and

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

in the 1950s. From 1935 to 1975, the Moana's courtyard hosted the ''

Hawaii Calls ''Hawaii Calls'' was a radio program broadcast live from Waikiki Beach from 1935 through 1975 that reached 750 stations world-wide at the height of its popularity. It featured live Hawaiian music by an 11-piece dance orchestra conducted by Harry ...

'' live radio broadcast. Legend has it that listeners mistook the hiss of the radio transmission as the waves breaking on the beach. Upon learning of this, the host instructed the sound man to run down to the waterfront to actually record the sound, which became a staple of the show. In 1952, Matson built a new hotel adjacent to the Moana on the southeast side, called the SurfRider Hotel. In 1953, Matson demolished the Moana's bungalows across the street and, two years later, opened the new Princess Kaiulani Hotel on the site. Matson sold all of their

hotel properties to the

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Cen ...

in 1959. Sheraton sold the Moana and the SurfRider to Japanese industrialist

Kenji Osano Kenji may refer to: *Kenji (given name), a masculine Japanese given name, and list of people & characters with this name *Kenji (era), a Japanese era spanned from 1275 to 1278 * ''Kenji'' (manga) (拳児), a 1980s manga by Matsuda Ryuchi * "Kenji" ...

and his Kyo-Ya Company in December 1963 for $10.7 million, though Sheraton continued to manage them. In 1969, Kyo-Ya built a towering new hotel on the Moana's northwest side. They named it the Surfrider Hotel. The older SurfRider Hotel on the other side was turned into part of the Moana, named the Diamond Head Wing.

Moana Surfrider

In 1989, a $50 million restoration (designed by Hawaii architect Virginia D. Murison) restored the Moana to its 1901 appearance and incorporated the 1969 Sheraton Surfrider Hotel and the 1952 SurfRider Hotel buildings with the 1901 Moana Hotel building into one beachfront resort, the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. The new resort included 793 rooms (including 46 suites), a freshwater swimming pool, three restaurants, a beach bar and a poolside snack bar. The property has been recognized with the President's Historic Preservation Award, the National Preservation Honor Award, the Hawaii Renaissance Award, and the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International Golden Bell Award. The main historic section of the hotel, the Banyan Wing, has been listed on the

. The hotel was the base of operations for about 24

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

staffers who accompanied President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to his

Winter White House Listed below are the private residences of the various presidents of the United States. For a list of official residences, see President of the United States § Residence. Private homes of the presidents This is a list of homes where p ...

at Plantation Estate during Christmas visits. In 2007, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the management company of the Moana, rebranded the hotel from

. The name of the hotel became Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa. The 1901 wing is now known as the Historic Banyan Wing. The low-rise 1952 SurfRider Hotel building is today the Diamond Wing. The 1969 Surfrider Hotel building is now called the Tower Wing.

The banyan tree

In the center of the Moana Surfrider's courtyard stands a large

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

. The Indian banyan tree was planted in 1904 by Jared Smith, Director of the Department of Agriculture Experiment Station. When planted, the tree was nearly seven feet tall and about seven years old. It now stands 75 feet high and spans 150 feet across the courtyard. In 1979, the historic tree was one of the first to be listed on Hawaii's Rare and Exceptional Tree List. It has also been selected by the Board of Trustees of the America the Beautiful Fund as the site for a Hawaii Millennium Landmark Tree designation, which selects one historic tree in each state for protection in the new millennium.

Hotel lore

Rich and famous

As soon as the Moana Hotel opened, a non-stop flood of tourists from the mainland

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

poured through its doors. Its most famous guest came in 1920. The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, who would later become

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

, gallivanted around the Moana Hotel property and reportedly fell in love with the private pier, from which he frequently dove into the ocean. In August 1922, author

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

and her husband, Colonel

Archie Christie Colonel Archibald Christie (30 September 1889 – 20 December 1962) was a British businessman and military officer. He was the first husband of mystery writer Dame Agatha Christie; they married in 1914 and divorced in 1928. They separated ...

, stayed on holiday. They were traveling around the world as part of the Dominion Mission of the British Empire Exhibition, promoting the exhibition to be held in England in 1924. In February 1905,

Jane Stanford Jane Elizabeth Lathrop Stanford (August 25, 1828 – February 28, 1905) was an American philanthropist, co-founder of Stanford University in 1885 (opened 1891) along with her husband, Leland Stanford, as a memorial to their only child, Leland St ...

, co-founder of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, died of

strychnine poisoning Strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and other animals and can occur by inhalation, swallowing or absorption through eyes or mouth. It produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction, making it quite notic ...

in a room at the Moana Hotel. Stanford is believed to have been murdered, but the source of the strychnine was never identified.

Gallery

Image:Moana surfrider.JPG, Original 1901 wing Image:Ala Moana 2.JPG, Moana, with 1969 Surfrider tower behind it Image:Ala Moana 1.JPG, The porte cochere, recreated in the 1989 restoration. Image:Moana-Hotel-porte-cochere.JPG, Porte cochere Image:Moana-Hotel-column-capital.JPG, Capital of Corinthian column Image:Moana-Hotel-breadfruit-pattern-carpet.JPG, Carpet with breadfruit patterns Image:Moana-Hotel-canoe-paddle-display.JPG, Hawaiian canoe paddles on wall Image:Moana 2.jpg, View from oceanfront guestroom Image:Dinner Given at Moana Hotel Monday Evening by Mr. Morton Nichols of New York, in honor of Secretary A. L. C. Atkinson, 1905.jpg, Banquet at the hotel, 1905

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1901 establishments in Hawaii Gothic Revival architecture in Hawaii Hawaiian architecture Hotel buildings completed in 1901 Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii Hotels established in 1901 Hotels in Honolulu National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu Westin hotels Waikiki Historic Hotels of America