![]() ![]() In 1918, two massive Italian Renaissance-style wings were built flanking the main building, designed with care to repeat its distinctive arches. The hotel was so popular that within two decades of opening, it got an extensive addition. The local newspaper reported, “Moana Hotel opened last evening with glitter and good cheer.” Its arrival heralded the beginning of Hawaii’s tourist industry, and the Moana soon came to be known as the First Lady of Waikiki. The Beaux Arts-style building opened in March 1901, with 75 modern guest rooms and a distinctive porte-cochere entrance, and was an immediate success. He thought it the perfect spot for a hotel, and commissioned architect Oliver Traphagen to build one. But the beautiful beach, a short tram ride from downtown Honolulu, beckoned to local landowner Walter Chamberlain Peacock. When construction began on the Moana Hotel in late 1899, Waikiki was a backwater, surrounded by taro fields and duck ponds. Today, Waikiki Beach is packed shoulder-to-shoulder with high-rises, but at the turn of the 20th century, there was just a solitary hotel on the entire stretch of oceanfront: the Moana, whose name means “broad expanse of ocean.” (Photo: John Loggins)Įach year, people travel to Hawaii in droves to bask in the islands’ sunshine and enjoy the famous beaches of Oahu. Grand columns on the porte-cochere were but a memory before restoration brought back the Moana’s original glory. ![]()
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