Rolf Nordahl asked about the Waikiki Grand Hotel, where he lives. I was surprised to learn its roots went back to 1892 and a hotel downtown.
Unosuke Kobayashi, an immigrant from Hiroshima, opened a 10-room hotel on Smith Street in that year. Queen Liliuokalani was on the throne in 1892.
His Kobayashi Hotel burned down in the Chinatown fire of 1900. He reopened in Palama and moved in 1903 to 250 North Beretania St. Five years later he turned over the management to his brother, Kinjiro.
In 1937, Kinjiro passed away and his son, Kanae Kobayashi took the reins. In 1967, he added a second three-story structure, which doubled the number of rooms to over 100. The hotel was 75 years old that year.
The Kobayashi Hotel was one of 13 hotels in the Aala Park area owned by local Japanese businessmen and women. They formed a Japanese Hotel Association.
Guests were neighbor islanders, local permanent residents, mainlanders, and visitors from Japan.
At the same time, they could see that visitors from Japan wanted better accommodations in a resort setting. Their vision was the 10 story Waikiki Grand Hotel on Kapahulu and Lemon Road just across from the zoo.
The Waikiki Grand Hotel welcomed its first visitors from Japan in 1963 in their own language, just as its affiliate in downtown Honolulu, the Kobayashi Hotel, has done for the previous 71 years. '
The Waikiki Grand was staffed by personnel who spoke Japanese as fluently as English.
The president of the Kobayashi Hotel corporation was Kanae Kobayashi, who was also president of the Waikiki Grand Hotel and Kaimana Hotel corporations.
Another brother, Hichiro Kobayashi, ran the Kobayashi Travel Service in the Kobayashi Hotel. The travel service began in 1955.
The Kobayashi’s created a hui to grow beyond downtown. Their Pacific Island Resorts also had hotels on Kauai, Maui and Hawaii Island. They also own Polynesian Hospitality tours.
I’ll look more at this and let you know what I find. Have a great week.
Aloha, Bob Sigall
