HONOLULU (KHON2) - In the ahupuaʻa of Kawailoa, which lies in the moku of Waialua here on Oʻahu, once stood the first hotel on this side of the island.
We are speaking of Haleʻiwa Hotel.
While the Moana Hotel, now known as the Moana Surfrider, is credited as the “First Lady of Waikīkī”, the Haleʻiwa Hotel on the island’s North Shore opened one year prior by the Oʻahu Railway and Land Company.
Located at the end of the Oʻahu Railway train line, Haleʻiwa Hotel was built as a means of expanding and diversifying rail operations.
Opening on August 5, 1899, Haleʻiwa Hotel was built in Victorian fashion at a cost of $40,000 and served approximately 30 guests.
The hotel was known to grow its own fruits and vegetables, raise its own chickens, and catch fresh fish every morning.
Those days paint a stark difference to what we see today.
Picture it: rather than a boat harbor, train tracks led to depot station where passengers would disembark the train and walk on a bridge over the Anahulu River to the Haleʻiwa Hotel on the opposite side.
And this, I question if this is the foundation to what was one end of that pedestrian bridge.
In the year 1900, with a $2 roundtrip train ticket from Honolulu to Haleʻiwa, a room at the hotel cost only $3 a day.
But as more people began to drive, fewer rode the train and financial struggles increased for the rail company and its hotel.
Oʻahu Railway ceased its hotel operations in 1928 and the building was converted into a private club.
During the second World War, it was used as an army officer’s club until it was demolished in 1952.
As a new building was built in its place and the Haleʻiwa harbor replaced the train tracks, the landscape turned with time.
Today, the restaurant Haleʻiwa Joes now fills the building while the legacy and stories of Haleʻiwa Hotel lives on.
Did you know? Now you do!