Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / Kawaihae / Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Autograph Collection
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Autograph Collection
Kawaihae, Hawaii, United States · Autograph Collection · High Luxury
Laurance S. Rockefeller picked Kaunaʻoa Bay after a 1960 swim and leased 500 acres from Parker Ranch to build Hawaii's modern resort prototype. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Edward Charles Bassett designed the open-air hotel that opened July 2, 1965, earning an AIA Honor Award in 1967 and a later place on the AIA's America's Favorite Architecture list. Robert Trent Jones shaped the golf course first; guest rooms famously ran without televisions until 1995.
- 252 rooms
- Opened 1965
- Neighborhood: Puako
- Architect: Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
- Interiors: Phyllis Brownlee
About Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Autograph Collection
- Governor William F. Quinn asked Rockefeller to help develop tourism beyond Oahu after Hawaii became the 50th state.
- Early cottage plans by John Carl Warnecke were dropped in favor of Bassett's striking modern main building for RockResorts.
- Esquire travel writer Richard Joseph compared walking the interiors to an open-air museum of Pacific and Asian art and textiles.
- A $150 million rebuild followed damage from the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake, with the hotel reopening in March 2009.
- Inducted into Historic Hotels of America in 2016, the resort joined Autograph Collection the year before.
History
Laurance S. Rockefeller swam at Kaunaʻoa Bay in 1960 after Governor William F. Quinn asked him to help develop tourism beyond Oahu, then leased 500 acres from Parker Ranch owner Richard Smart in August 1961. Early cottage plans by John Carl Warnecke were dropped. Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the open-air hotel; Davis Allen of SOM, with Margo Grant Walsh, shaped interiors as an open-air museum of Pacific and Asian art. Robert Trent Jones's golf course began construction on 8 August 1963 and opened 1 February 1965; the hotel opened 2 July 1965 under RockResorts. A 102-room addition by Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo followed in 1967. Guest rooms ran without televisions until 1995. The 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake closed the house; a $150 million rebuild reopened it in March 2009 at 252 rooms, down from 310. It joined Autograph Collection in 2015 and Historic Hotels of America in 2016.
The setting
2.4 miles from Hapuna Beach State Recreation Area. 13.6 miles from fishing village ruins of Lapakahi State Historical Park.
Restaurants and bars
- Copper Bar — Bar · Bar
- Hau Tree — Bar · Bar
- Manta Restaurant — Restaurant · Pacific Rim
- Number 3 Restaurant — Restaurant · Lunch
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Fitness center
- Tennis
- Water sports
- Golf course
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