Orchid Island Hotel, Hilo, HI (hotel) - Locating Tiki

S Shortie Member Banta, CA Joined: Feb 17, 2011 Posts: 1	S Shortie Posted posted on Thu, Feb 17, 2011 11:13 AM That was originally a penthouse for the owners (my Dad was one of them) to stay in while they were on the Big Island. It did not work out because of some height restrictions for the area. The government wanted to keep it low key and homey in those days. I agree. We still ended up with some pretty cool suites in the corner of the A frame. My Mom did most of the decor at the hotel, with the help of a designer. It was a great place, and the employees were awesome. Unfortunately for the owners, they had a schyster of an accountant who basically stole the hotel from them. Then it burnt down due to shoddy electrical workmanship (guess who hired the contractors???) that was in 1986. The guy died of a heart attack soon thereafter and (I hope) is getting bitch-slapped in hell by Hitler (now tell us how you really feel...). The monkey bar was actually my Dad's idea. He lived in Panama as a teenager and had a pet monkey. he thought it would be cool for the bar guests to see the monkeys playing there. Anybody remember Arthur Lyman playing in the Monkey Bar?? He sang me happy birthday for my tenth BD. I thought that was cool. So - the original renderings were done before they got any permits. The architect who did the drawing was from a firm in Los Angeles (where all the dentists who owned the place were from). Anyway - I hope that answers your questions. Update - I had to do a lot of to get the scoop. The tiki went up with the hotel. It was wood. A local guy named Steve carved it, and it was AWESOME! I loved that tiki. One resource: http://archives.starbulletin.com/96/06/17/features/story1.html - skip tot he part about the slowest elevator. I agree. The only other thing I found was facebook blogs and my older sisters excellent memory. I'm glad to see everyone's interest in this hotel. It was a neat few years of my childhood. Shortie Hawaii Kai resident from 1967 to 1982 Missing sno-cones, laulau, lihimoi, and Michaela Lau (you punk - where are you?) [ Edited by: Shortie 2014-12-16 16:37 ]

That was originally a penthouse for the owners (my Dad was one of them) to stay in while they were on the Big Island. It did not work out because of some height restrictions for the area. The government wanted to keep it low key and homey in those days. I agree. We still ended up with some pretty cool suites in the corner of the A frame. My Mom did most of the decor at the hotel, with the help of a designer. It was a great place, and the employees were awesome.
Unfortunately for the owners, they had a schyster of an accountant who basically stole the hotel from them. Then it burnt down due to shoddy electrical workmanship (guess who hired the contractors???) that was in 1986. The guy died of a heart attack soon thereafter and (I hope) is getting bitch-slapped in hell by Hitler (now tell us how you really feel...).
The monkey bar was actually my Dad's idea. He lived in Panama as a teenager and had a pet monkey. he thought it would be cool for the bar guests to see the monkeys playing there. Anybody remember Arthur Lyman playing in the Monkey Bar?? He sang me happy birthday for my tenth BD. I thought that was cool.
So - the original renderings were done before they got any permits. The architect who did the drawing was from a firm in Los Angeles (where all the dentists who owned the place were from).
Anyway - I hope that answers your questions.

Update - I had to do a lot of to get the scoop. The tiki went up with the hotel. It was wood. A local guy named Steve carved it, and it was AWESOME! I loved that tiki.
One resource:
http://archives.starbulletin.com/96/06/17/features/story1.html - skip tot he part about the slowest elevator. I agree.

The only other thing I found was facebook blogs and my older sisters excellent memory.

I'm glad to see everyone's interest in this hotel. It was a neat few years of my childhood.

Shortie
Hawaii Kai resident from 1967 to 1982
Missing sno-cones, laulau, lihimoi, and Michaela Lau (you punk - where are you?)

[ Edited by: Shortie 2014-12-16 16:37 ]

Post #576569 by Shortie on Thu, Feb 17, 2011 11:13 AM