My fellow Ko'olauloans, the end of an era is imminent.

La'ie Inn, Laniloa Lodge, Hukilau Inn/Resort, however you remember it, will close its doors at the end of this month.

The lease is up on the 46 year old facility, and you can tell just by driving by that the structure is simply falling apart. Without major renovations and new construction, the building can't continue to be used.

Demolition will start next month, with a new hotel planned by local land management company Hawaii Reserves, Inc. On their website, they describe the new hotel as follows:

Current plans call for a total redevelopment of the antiquated Laie Inn. The new hotel will provide an affordable, convenient place to stay for those planning a multi-day visit to the Polynesian Cultural Center, and it will also fill a standing community need — serving visiting families of Brigham Young University-Hawaii students and patrons of the nearby LDS Temple. Already zoned for resort development, the new, modestly-sized hotel will incorporate beautiful landscaping and walkable open space, generous set backs and a 40-foot height limitation. Designed to showcase a "Polynesian sense of place," conceptual plans call for grass hut type roofing for the reception building, and other Pacific Island architectural elements. Read more

A new and updated structure sounds great, but I seem to remember opposition to a huge resort-type hotel when this was first proposed. I do like that the current plan as described will not exceed 40 feet in height, and will incorporate a Polynesian-style architecture and ambiance.

Any thoughts?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 9:19 am and is filed under Laie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.