Hilton Hawaiian Village

Hilton Hawaiian Village
Hilton Hawaiian Village
General information
Location	Honolulu, Hawaii
Address	2005 Kalia Rd
Opening	September 15, 1955
Owner	Hilton Worldwide
Management	Hilton Hotels & Resorts
Other information
Number of rooms	3,386
Website
Official website

The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa is one of the most prominent and iconic resort hotels on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii. The resort first opened in 1955, and since has grown to become the largest in the Hilton chain of hotels, and one of largest hotels in the world. It is the largest hotel in the United States outside the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

Located on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu, the John Ena Estate was originally built on the site of the former village of Kalia, which was the childhood home of Duke Kahanamoku. It consisted of a private estate with an owners' residence, tenant houses and a salt flat. The portion of the estate nearest the ocean beach was developed around 1900 as a small hotel named the Old Waikiki, then redeveloped in 1928 as the Niumalu Hotel.

The Hawaiian Village Hotel was conceived, constructed and first administered by Henry J. Kaiser, the industrialist who built the Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam and founded the Kaiser Permanente health system. In 1954, Kaiser and developer Fritz B. Burns bought the 16 acres (6.5 ha) Kalia estate of John Ena and combined it with the Niumalu Hotel to construct the Hawaiian Village, converting the flat to a lagoon. They built thatched-roof cottages with 70 guest rooms, The Tapa Room, gardens and three swimming pools and the hotel opened on September 15, 1955. On May 1, 1956, Western Hotels assumed management of the Hawaiian Village Hotel. In 1957 the modern Ocean Tower and the famous Geodesic Dome were added. Conrad Hilton bought half of the resort from Henry J. Kaiser in 1961. Hilton Hotels & Resorts assumed management on February 1, 1961, renaming the resort the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Elvis Presley stayed at the hotel soon after while filming Blue Hawaii. In 1968 the resort's iconic Rainbow Tower opened, with the world's largest and tallest ceramic tile mosaic on its facade, an image of a rainbow measuring 26 feet wide and 286 feet tall, which required over 16,000 individual tiles. The Tapa Tower was added in 1982, and the original Ocean Tower was gutted and rebuilt in 1987, with the addition of two floors, at which point it was renamed the Ali'i Tower. The 25-story Kalia Tower was added in 2001.