| Waikiki Biltmore Hotel | |
| Address: | 2424 Kalākaua Avenue |
| Location City: | Honolulu, Hawaiʻi |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 21.2761°N -157.8253°W |
| Groundbreaking Date: | November 1953 |
| Opened Date: | February 19, 1955 |
| Demolition Date: | May 28, 1974 |
| Cost: | $4,000,000 |
| Floor Count: | 11 |
| Elevator Count: | 3 |
| Architect: | D.N. Ivanitsky and R.G. Waanabe |
| Developer: | Joseph Greenbach |
| Main Contractor: | Sawai Brothers |
| Rooms: | 274 |
| Parking: | underground |
The Waikiki Biltmore Hotel was a resort hotel in Waikīkī, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, that operated from 1955 to 1974. The Biltmore was the first high-rise hotel on Waikīkī but operated for only 19 years, after which it was demolished and replaced with the Hyatt Regency.[1]
Permits were filed for an eight-story hotel in March 1953, with groundbreaking taking place in November of that year.[2] Joseph Greenbach constructed the building, which opened on February 19, 1955. Construction cost $4 million.[3] The hotel was built on the site of Canlis Charcoal Broiler, the first restaurant opened by Peter Canlis, which opened in 1947.[4] The opening was met with great fanfare, including a flight from California chartered by Greenbach.[5]
The hotel opened with 247 rooms, featuring amenities such as the Top of the Isle club on the 11th floor, the Kiki Room, and the Luau Lounge.[3] D.N. Ivanitsky and R.G. Wanabe were the architects of record.[6]
In late 1955, Greenbach sold the hotel to Massaglia Hotels, Inc.[7]
The hotel was sold again to the Kimi chain, operator of the Hukilau hotels, in 1966 for $2.5 million. The Kimi owners spent $100,000 on a renovation, but a planned renaming never occurred.[8]
In 1973, a man fired a shot at a woman sitting at an adjacent hotel from a room at the Biltmore.[9]
The hotel suffered a small fire on the 10th floor in August 1973 caused by a discarded cigarette, and a larger fire in November 1973 that destroyed the second-story Port O' Paradise nightclub.[10]
The King's Alley shopping center opened near the hotel in 1972, and after the hotel's purchase by developer Christopher Hemmeter there were plans to renovate the hotel as part of a $20 million area rejuvenation.[11] [12] In 1973, the hotel began offering monthly rentals due to an oversupply of hotel rooms.[13] By 1974, the plans had changed to redevelop the hotel as two 40-story towers, which became the Hyatt Regency.[14]
The hotel was imploded at 8 a.m. on May 28, 1974.[15]