Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 190: Hotel History: Moana Surfrider Hotel

Stanley Turkel | January 17, 2018

Moana Surfrider Hotel (1901), (Waikiki Beach, Hawaii (791 rooms) The Moana Hotel opened on March 11, 1901 as Waikiki's first hotel. It is known as the "First Lady of Waikiki." In the late 1890s, Waikiki was a swampy backwater area surrounded by duck ponds and taro fields. The beautiful beach was the site of homes of Hawaiian royalty and the wealthy kamaainas including the Honolulu landowner Walter Chamberlain Peacock. In 1896, Peacock incorporated the Moana Hotel Company and hired architect Oliver G. Traphagen (1854-1932) to design it. Traphagen designed many buildings in Duluth, Minnesota for both public and private owners which show t...