Hilton Hawaiian Village recognized for historical significance

The Historic Hotels of America organization has recently recognized the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort for being a place of historical significance. It is among one of 20 Hilton properties worldwide to be accorded the coveted honor.

The Historic Hotels of America is being run under the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the mandate of recognizing and celebrating the hotels for maintaining and committed to their authenticity, architectural integrity and sense of place.

For being adjudged as a place of historical significance, the hotels are required to be of at least half-a-century old or listed in/eligible for being listed in the National Register of Historic Places or designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and obligatorily have a historical significance.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is being operated as a Hilton property ever since it was founded in 1957. The hotel was selected to be the setting of “Blue Hawaii” movie of Elvis Presley in 1961. The hotel has since its establishment undergone lots of changes over the past several years. The property was conceived and developed by Henry J. Kaiser before being taken over by the Hilton group.

Lora Gallagher, Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Regional Director of Marketing, said that the hotel boasts of a rich history. Before being rechristened as the Hilton Hawaiian Village, it initially functioned under the name of the Niumalu Hotel since its founding in 1928.

Gallagher said that Conrad Nicholson Hilton, renowned American hotelier and the founder of Hilton had a foresight that Hawaii was destined to be a popular tourism destination in the United States and showed keen interest in purchasing the Niumalu Hotel right after Hawaii Islands gained statehood.

She said that even today the Alii Tower, originally called the Ocean Tower, one of the original buildings is still intact and bears testimony to its historical significance.