Post #723317 by kenbo-jitsu on Mon, Jul 21, 2014 4:28 PM

On 2011-08-14 18:59, bigbrotiki wrote:
Heaven knows if it is still standing, and in what condition.

I visited the Island of Hawaii this summer for the first time in my life and, remembering this thread, I made sure to check out the Polynesian Room at the Naniloa Hotel. I was staying at one of the other hotels along Banyan Drive so I just grabbed my camera and walked on over.

First off, since I don't see it anywhere in the thread yet, here is the address:
Naniloa Hotel
93 Banyan Drive
Hilo, HI 96720

In the recent past the hotel has also been called “Hilo Naniloa Hotel” and “Naniloa Volcanoes Resort”. I’m not sure what the official name is right now.

The first thing I learned is that the hotel is the midst of renovations -- while still remaining open and operational. I’ve stayed at hotels in this situation in the past and it’s not ideal. It made me glad I wasn’t staying there.

The Polynesian Room DOES still exist. It is no longer used for dining or events, but rather has now been pressed into service as a job-site construction office for the hotel’s renovation. Cubicles have been set up inside complete with computer equipment, bulletin boards, etc. The front door was open so I walked merrily on in.

There was a single man inside working at one of the desks and he was initially a bit cross seeing me wandering around with my camera. I’m not sure who or what he feared I was but after explaining my interests and intentions his countenance changed considerably and he was content to let me have the run of the place while he returned to his labors. Not wanting to jeopardize this good turn of events, I made sure to keep myself and my camera away from the cubicles.

Here are some of the photos I took:

The Polynesian Room is a separate free-standing, single-story building. It’s connected to the main hotel tower by this covered walkway featuring tiki poles. This is looking back toward the hotel.

This is looking forward toward the Polynesian Room.

A close-up of one of the poles. Perhaps they were not always painted?

The building’s design is pretty neat. The footprint is of four overlapped circles. At the center of each circle the roof rises up dramatically into a cone.

Over the years the wood shingle roof has sprouted its own ecosystem. It reminds me a little of the “Living Roof” at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, but I think the Polynesian Room had it first. Did I forget to mention it sometimes rains in Hilo?

Here is the inside. There are actually two of these big chandeliers, one on each side of the stage, plus many more smaller matching lights scattered about.

Here's the other big one.

In the center of the room is the stage.

The war clubs are still there.

Most of them.

The back of the stage has two large tiki poles. Here is one of them.

There are still some tikis and other details on the walls but, as previously mentioned, everything's been painted over.

The ocean-facing side of the restaurant is entirely window. Tiki places normally avoid windows of course, but if your Polynesian restaurant is;

1. Actually in Polynesia, and
2. Literally feet from the ocean,
   then windows work quite well. The Don the Beachcomber restaurant on the other side of the island in Kona is another good example. There are very nice views at both places.
   

As for the future of the Polynesian Room, I didn’t get a straight answer. The man working in the cubicle seemed hopeful it would return to service as an event space following the hotel renovations. A hotel employee I shot the breeze with seemed equally confident it was going to be torn down.

With some fixing up, the Polynesian Room could still be a pretty neat space. Someone needs to have the will and vision to do it though, and I’m not sure it’s there.

[ Edited by: kenbo-jitsu 2014-07-22 09:38 ]