Kahala Hotel & Resort

Kahala Hotel
Main lobby area of Kahala Hotel
Location within Hawaii
Former names	Kahala Hilton (1964-1993) Kahala Mandarin (1993-2006)
General information
Address	5000 Kahala Avenue
Town or city	Honolulu, Hawaii
Country	USA
Coordinates	21°16′18.4″N 157°46′26.3″W / 21.271778°N 157.773972°W / 21.271778; -157.773972
Groundbreaking	1960
Opened	January 1964
Cost	$11 million (USD)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	Killingsworth, Brady & Smith
Website
Official website

Kahala Hotel is a luxury resort hotel on O'ahu, Hawai'i. It was founded in 1964 and was the most expensive hotel in the world at the time. The original name of the hotel was the Kahala Hilton, in 1993 the hotel took the name Kahala Mandarin, and the facility took its current name in 2006. Since the hotel opened, every sitting President of the United States has stayed at or visited the hotel at some point during their election campaigns or presidencies. The hotel is managed by Resorttrust Inc.

The hotel’s location was a subject of some controversy during its development due to its location in a residential area. The mayor of Honolulu vetoed the city council after it granted permission to Hilton Hotels to build on their desired property. The mayor instead wanted to offer locations at Punalu’u and Makaha, as both were in more remote locations and not currently inhabited residential neighborhoods at that time. The city council, however, overruled the mayor’s veto with a 7-0 vote, and allowed the spot zoning of the Kahala Hilton in its preferred location on August 30, 1960.

The original construction planned for no convention or banquet facilities. The average cost per room of the hotel’s construction was $33,000, which was about three times the average of other hotels in the Hawaiian Islands at the time. At the time, the Kahala Hilton was the most expensive hotel in the world, costing $11 million to build. The final building was ten stories tall, designed by the architectural firm Killingsworth, Brady & Smith.

The Princeton Architectural Press wrote of the hotel that, “the simple direct building sends forth a poised sixties modern statement to the world. A distinctive concrete trellis, a motif earlier employed by Killingsworth in various residential projects, breaks up and softens the modern façade … Superimposing a near gossamer grid of prestressed-concrete beams over the primary elevations, the trellis ascends above the flat roofline to present an airy pergola.” The original hotel had 288 guest rooms spread across two wings. The hotel was located beside the Diamond Head outside of the urban center of Oahu.

The hotel was opened in January 1964. Early in its history the hotel earned the nickname “Kahollywood” for the Hollywood film stars that would ensconce themselves in the hotel away from the paparazzi. The first executive chef for the resort was Max Wilhelm.

In 1967 Danny Kaleikini developed a Hawaiian-style revue for the hotel that ran for 28 years, through 1995 on the Hala Terrace of the hotel. Following renovations over time, the hotel currently has 338 guest rooms, restaurants and banquet facilities. The Kahala’s grounds include a manmade lagoon. There is also a jetty in the ocean where snorkeling takes place. On January 22, 2014 Governor Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii issued a proclamation recognizing the 50th anniversary of the hotel’s founding.