# Coco Palms to reopen under the Hyatt brand [On fire on 7/4/14]



## slip (May 16, 2014)

I just heard the Coco Palms will be under Hyatt. Most people seem to take this 
As good news. I think it's just nice that things are moving at the property. They
Have a long wag pay to go. I'll check it out again in October.


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## myhrse11 (May 17, 2014)

I'll be on Kauai in just 2 weeks. I'll take a look to see if they have started anything. I know that they have submitted site plans and gotten approvals already. Perhaps they will have started clean up in a few weeks or maybe put up signage. 

The also plan to build a pedestrian bridge over the highway so guests have access to the beach.


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## Kauai Kid (May 17, 2014)

Great news.  The place is a dump now.  I wonder how they will get guests.  It is far from a prime location in my opinion.

Sterling


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## BocaBoy (May 17, 2014)

Kauai Kid said:


> Great news.  The place is a dump now.  I wonder how they will get guests.  It is far from a prime location in my opinion.
> 
> Sterling



I actually think the location is pretty decent except for being across the road from the ocean. And the place still has great mystique, which is why it is still getting so much attention.  We spent some of our honeymoon there 40 years ago and we would love to go back again.


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## myhrse11 (May 17, 2014)

It's one of the few places to stay on Kauai where everything is within walking distance. It's certainly in the center of the action.


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## linsj (May 17, 2014)

myhrse11 said:


> It's one of the few places to stay on Kauai where everything is within walking distance. It's certainly in the center of the action.



Not really. It's a little more than a mile to Coconut Marketplace for shops and restaurants and almost three miles to Safeway, Foodland, and surrounding shops and restaurants. Close drive anyway.

Plus it's a good central location for seeing both north and south sides of the island.


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## ondeadlin (May 17, 2014)

I imagine they'll essentially be starting completely over.  It'll be interesting to see if they can integrate any of the place's considerable history.


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## BocaBoy (May 18, 2014)

ondeadlin said:


> I imagine they'll essentially be starting completely over.  It'll be interesting to see if they can integrate any of the place's considerable history.



I expect that they will.  All other previous plans for the property have wanted to capitalize on that history.  I think there will be a HUGE demand to stay there if they do it right.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 18, 2014)

That is great news.  Is it to be just a hotel, or are they thinking timeshare too?  The Maui Hyatt is in an ideal location, oceanfront, so across the street from the ocean is going to make the rent a little less.  

I think it's a great spot, and I hope they make it great.  We like the area.  I would love to see them copy what it was in its heyday. The place looked charming.  

It's obvious to me that The Polynesian hotel in Disneyword was inspired by Coco Palms.


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## slip (May 18, 2014)

Aulani also took inspiration from Coco Palms. It will be rebuilt like it was but
I doubt if it can be run like it was. Grace is gone and she was Coco Palms. The 
Island has changed a lot since it closed. The nostalgia will only take them so far.
We'll have to see if it can compete with what's available now.


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## BocaBoy (May 18, 2014)

slip said:


> Aulani also took inspiration from Coco Palms. It will be rebuilt like it was but
> I doubt if it can be run like it was. Grace is gone and she was Coco Palms. The
> Island has changed a lot since it closed. The nostalgia will only take them so far.
> *We'll have to see if it can compete with what's available now*.



This is absolutely correct.  I think it has a huge advantage over other new hotels, but it still has to be run very well.  With Hyatt, I think it will be.  With luck, I truly believe it could easily again become one of Kauai's most popular resort hotels.  It has some of the same old high end Hawaii mystique that you find with the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki.  I have my fingers crossed.


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## Kauai Kid (May 18, 2014)

BocaBoy said:


> I actually think the location is pretty decent except for being across the road from the ocean. And the place still has great mystique, which is why it is still getting so much attention.  We spent some of our honeymoon there 40 years ago and we would love to go back again.





How about going  back for your 50th and reaffirming your wedding vows??

We reaffirmed our wedding vows at Waioli Hui'ia Church in Hanalei.  Most memorable and highly recommended.

Sterling


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## BocaBoy (May 18, 2014)

Kauai Kid said:


> How about going  back for your 50th and reaffirming your wedding vows??
> 
> We reaffirmed our wedding vows at Waioli Hui'ia Church in Hanalei.  Most memorable and highly recommended.
> 
> Sterling



An interesting idea.  If we did do something like that it would probably be at either the Coco Palms or the Royal Hawaiian.  It would most definitely be in Hawaii.


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## danb (May 18, 2014)

*Coco Palms*

We drove by a few times the week before last, not much going on. It looks like they still have tours of some type going on on some days.


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## rifleman69 (May 18, 2014)

Just drove by there about two hours ago, doesn't look any different than what any of us remember.


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## Kauai Kid (May 19, 2014)

danb said:


> We drove by a few times the week before last, not much going on. It looks like they still have tours of some type going on on some days.




One of the tour companies has rights to show the property.  I hope someone is photographing the history of Coco Palms from the time Elvis was filming, to its demise, and what the new Coco Palms will look like.  I suspect the Elvis impersonators from Vegas are licking their chops.

Sterling


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## rifleman69 (Jul 4, 2014)

Coco Palms is on fire currently.

http://khon2.com/2014/07/04/fire-flares-up-at-coco-palms-on-kauai/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMaO_kf0rnQ


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## DeniseM (Jul 4, 2014)

You can see the smoke for miles.  It's right on the beach and the trade winds are blowing hard today, so this old, dry structure isn't going to be easy to put out.  *It's been burning for almost 2 hours now, and the smoke keeps increasing.


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## taffy19 (Jul 4, 2014)

rifleman69 said:


> Coco Palms is on fire currently.
> 
> http://khon2.com/2014/07/04/fire-flares-up-at-coco-palms-on-kauai/
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMaO_kf0rnQ


I wonder how it started?  I hope that it wasn't arson.  It's too early yet for the 4th of July fireworks.


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## SnowDogDad (Jul 4, 2014)

iconnections said:


> I wonder how it started?  I hope that it wasn't arson.  It's too early yet for the 4th of July fireworks.



I passed by the CoCo Palms a few weeks ago.  It was in BAD shape.  Looks like there was homeless people living there.  Honestly, if I had been a developer, I would have considered just bulldozing it and starting over. 

I wonder how much it is ensured for.


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## vacationhopeful (Jul 4, 2014)

I am so surprised! (NOT)

When I rode by the place 2+ years ago, I thought .. That has been vacant WAY TOO long to be restored. When I learned its history, I thought .. Whoever buys that is going to go thru MASSIVE feasibility studies and bids AND will most likely just walk away. Or it will burn eventually.

Beautiful location. Hope no one was hurt. And I truly hope it was either an act of nature (lightening) or mechanical issue (like an electrical short). Nice to have read the location's history is deeper than a Elvis movie. :ignore:


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## rifleman69 (Jul 4, 2014)

Well if anything, this will definitely get rid of the rest of the existing structures (whatever's left after this fire) as it's now a health/safety hazard.  Hope to see it rebuilt into whatever it was supposed to be in 2017!


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## SnowDogDad (Jul 4, 2014)

rifleman69 said:


> Well if anything, this will definitely get rid of the rest of the existing structures (whatever's left after this fire) as it's now a health/safety hazard.  Hope to see it rebuilt into whatever it was supposed to be in 2017!



I'm guessing here on all points, but I suspect it was insured for a significant amount of money.  And, I also suspect the developer had figured out it was going to cost far too much to restore the property and break even.  And, I'll bet if the developer proposed tearing it down and rebuilding it that he would have gotten a lot of push-back from people that would want to see it preserved.

It will be interesting to follow the news of this.


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## letsgosteelers (Jul 10, 2014)

I was hoping it would be Hilton to finally bring a presence on Kauai and add to the HGVC portfolio.  Oh well...


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## mj2vacation (Jul 11, 2014)

We did the Kauai movie tour a few years back, and they took us there.  It was really interesting, but also sad.   

It is amazing that a few people have really prevented every opportunity to redevelop the resort.   I guess a decaying hulk of flammable material was preferable to development.


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## MikeB2620 (Jul 12, 2014)

Here is a YouTube video of the aftermath of the fire. 

http://youtu.be/soUkeNO-gHI


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## california-bighorn (Jul 12, 2014)

*Anything to Save?*

Sad, but, last year we stopped to look at the property as much as we could and we didn't see where the buildings could be saved.  Viewing the YouTube video I was thinking maybe they could still save and use the rock entry steps (seen in the video) if they could do something to make them ADA compliant and maybe some of the decorative woodwork could be restored and re-used in a new structure.  Even prior to the fire the buildings themselves appeared to be way past saving.


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