Here are some cool tidbits from the site
Earlier this summer, Starbucks Coffee opened on the ground floor of Kalia Tower. The enormously popular coffee chain happily serves guests daily, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village’s ongoing “Village Rejuvenation” project is entering a new phase with enhancements of the porte cochere and main lobby. The work will help facilitate traffic flow, reduce congestion, and be limited to the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry and exit to and from the porte cochere will be augmented beginning Monday, July 30. Valet and taxi service will still be available throughout the duration of the work. To better assist guests with arrivals and departures, the Hilton Hawaiian Village will have increased signage near the main lobby, and is increasing the number of safety and security staff posted in those areas. The work will be done in phases with the front desk remaining fully operational. During the second phase of this project, beginning in late fall, the bell desk will be relocated to another area within the main lobby. The overall lobby renovation plan includes a more open front-desk area, a dedicated Hilton HHonors check-in station, and even a 2,500-gallon saltwater aquarium measuring 30 feet long. There will be a South Pacific coral reef interior motif with marine life including both local and South Pacific fish.
The historic Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Lagoon is returning to the people of Hawaii. The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, together with Hilton Grand Vacations Company, closed the lagoon a year ago for an unprecedented, $15 million restoration project. It is set to re-open in late November.
Named after Hawaii’s aquatic legend, it’s a man-made body of water that was part of Henry J. Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village development in the early 1950s (the hotel became a Hilton in 1961). Together he and the government expanded the old Fort DeRussy Channel, creating a beach and a lagoon fronting his new hotel. In the early days after the lagoon opened, many island families enjoyed the ocean-fed lagoon. However, over the years, a variety of marine life made their home in the lagoon, along with pufferfish and jellyfish. The lagoon’s bottom also began to turn murky and dark from the decomposition of organic material, making it an unpleasant swimming experience.
The magnificent, 5-acre jewel re-opens slightly smaller in size, but with a state-of-the-art water circulation system featuring seven saltwater wells 195-250 feet below the surface of the ocean. The wells will draw in about 15,000 gallons of water per minute from the ocean, helping to turn over the water about five times a day. The lagoon’s depth has gone from about 12 feet to approximately five feet, and more than 33,000 tons of sand have been used to replenish the beach and bottom of the lagoon. In addition, one of the new aesthetic features of the project includes an island with a two-tier waterfall, a boardwalk with benches and landscaping that will create a park-like setting. About 60 coconut trees have been added, along with a number of native Hawaiian plants, as well as a boardwalk, making the area even more inviting and relaxing than ever before. In the near future, recreation opportunities will expand as hotel guests will be able to rent a variety of beach equipment from the Hilton’s Waikiki Beach Activities desk, including aquacycles and rafts.
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